UNBREAKABLE ENDURANCE – Training Beyond Limits

What if your limits aren’t real? What if the wall you hit in training—or in life—is just your brain trying to protect you?

In this episode of The Highly Effective Man Podcast, we break down the truth about endurance and why your mind, not your body, is the real governor of your performance. Drawing insights from Endure by Alex Hutchinson, I’ll show you how to push past mental barriers and train your brain to go further than you ever thought possible.

🚀 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✅ Why endurance is more mental than physical – and how to break past self-imposed limits
✅ The science behind pushing through pain and training smarter
✅ How I applied these principles to have my best CrossFit Open ever—and how you can use them too
✅ The key to high-volume work capacity—how to train hard without burning out
✅ Elite-level recovery strategies to help you train harder, longer, and injury-free

💥 Who is this episode for?
👉 High-performing men (30-60) who want to build grit, discipline, and elite-level fitness
👉 Entrepreneurs, business owners, coaches, and professionals who need more endurance in fitness—and life
👉 Anyone who’s tired of quitting when things get tough and wants to train their mind for resilience

🔥 I’m opening just 5 spots for 1-on-1 coaching in April—these will fill fast. If you’re ready to take your endurance, performance, and mindset to the next level, apply now. Link in the show notes!

🎧 Listen now and start training beyond your limits!

📌 Ready to Level Up? Do This Now:

🔗 Apply for 1-on-1 Coaching (Limited spots – link below)
📲 Subscribe & Leave a Review – It helps more men find the show!
📢 Share this Episode – Send this to a friend who needs a push!

🔻 Follow me on social media for more high-performance coaching:
📸 Instagram: @thehighlyeffectiveman
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheHighlyEffectiveMan/videos
🌐 Website: https://www.higherlevelcoaching.co/

#Endurance #Mindset #Fitness #TheHighlyEffectiveMan #Grit #MentalToughness #Coaching #ElitePerformance #TrainHarder #CrossFit #Rucking #PerformanceCoaching #HardWork #Discipline

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to the Highly Effective man podcast, hosted
by former Navy SEAL turned lifeand fitness coach.
I'm your host, jp Bolwan.
This podcast is your resourcefor unlocking the healthiest,
most productive and highlyeffective man within you.
Let's go what's up, guys.

(00:31):
Welcome back to the HighlyEffective man podcast.
I'm your host, jp Bolwan, andtoday we're talking about
unbreakable endurance trainingbeyond limits.
So what if I told you that yourbody isn't the only thing
holding you back in endurancetraining, that the real limiter
isn't your legs, your lungs oryour muscles, but it's your mind

(00:54):
.
Today we're going to dive deepinto what it really takes to
develop elite endurance, andthis isn't just about running
further or rucking longer, butit's about building a body and a
mind that can handle anything.
So this week in the HighlyEffective man community, we're
doing some rucking, we're doingsome sprint work, we're doing

(01:15):
some work capacity training Allthis to build stamina,
resilience and grit, but we'realso focusing on active recovery
strategies so that my guys cantrain harder and stay injury
free.
I'll be sharing some powerfulinsights from the book Endure.
It's a book that completelychanged the way I think about

(01:36):
endurance, and it's not just youknow endurance and training,
but also in life Plus, I've gotan important announcement I'm
opening up five one-on-onecoaching spots for April, and if
you're ready to level up, staytuned for details in the end.
So let's just get into it Now.
Most guys think endurance isabout cardio or running long

(01:59):
distances, but the realendurance is your ability to
sustain high effort for extendedperiods, no matter what the
task is, whether it's rucking,sprint work, lifting, handling
the chaos of life.
The ability to push throughdiscomfort and fatigue is what
sets high performers apart.

(02:19):
One of the biggest takeawaysfrom the book Endure is this
your body can handle way morethan your brain allows you to
believe.
I'll say that again your bodycan handle way more than your
brain allows you to believe.
That means your mind acts as agovernor, pulling back your

(02:43):
effort long before you'veactually maxed out, and that
means when you hit the wall,you're nowhere near your real
limit.
You have to train your brain tostop underestimating you.
So that moment when yourworkout, where your legs feel
heavy, your lungs are on fireand your brain whispers to stop,

(03:03):
that's not your body giving out, that's your mind setting an
artificial ceiling.
In Endure, alex Hutchinsonbreaks down how elite athletes
train themselves to overridethat governor by using three key
strategies.
Number one self-talk andreframing.

(03:24):
So instead of saying I'm dying,they say this is where I grow.
Number two pacing and control.
Stay disciplined and don'tredline too early.
Number three embracing the suck.
The best performers they expectand they welcome discomfort.

(03:47):
The first time I read that bookEndure it was right around the
CrossFit Open a few years back,and what's fitting is that the
Open just wrapped up here in2025.
So I know a lot of guyslistening can relate to this,
but at the time I had beentraining for a bodybuilding
competition, doing longersessions to burn calories, all

(04:08):
while still trying to stayfunctional.
I was the leanest and fittest Ihad been in a while.
But when those open workoutshit, I don't care how prepared
you are, you push to yourabsolute max and at some point
you hit a wall.
Well, that year I approachedthings differently.
I applied some of the thingsthat I had learned while reading

(04:29):
the book Endure, understandingthat my body started screaming
to me, screaming to me to stopand it wasn't because I was done
is because my brain was tryingto protect me.
I stopped fearing that moment.
Instead, I leaned into it.
That little shift in my mindsetmade all the difference.
I had my best open ever.

(04:51):
Mindset made all the difference.
I had my best open ever and Ibarely missed the top 200 in the
world for my age division.
Now that was the moment thatendurance stopped being about
how fit I was and became abouthow I thought about things
mid-workout.
And once you get that, youstart seeing endurance
everywhere, not just in trainingbut in life.

(05:16):
Now endurance isn't just aboutpushing longer, it's also about
recovering faster so you canpush harder more often.
That's where work capacity,training and active recovery
come in.
So high volume work capacity isthe ability to sustain intense
output over time.

(05:36):
This applies to lifting,sprinting, endurance work, even
your ability to handle stress inlife.
But training hard withoutrecovery discipline, that's a
shortcut for burnout.
So to train at an elite levelwithout breaking down, you need

(05:56):
active recovery strategies okay,strategies like cold exposure
and contrast therapy that helpsreduce inflammation and speed up
healing.
Breath work so that you canmanage stress and improve oxygen
efficiency, mobility and softtissue work so that you can
manage stress and improve oxygenefficiency, mobility and soft
tissue work so that you can keepyour movement efficient and

(06:17):
pain-free.
And sleep discipline, becauseall gains happen in recovery,
not just in training.
So the challenge for this weekis that, when the burn sets in
and your mind starts to look foran out, override it.
When you feel gassed, just pushfor another 10 seconds.

(06:38):
Train your brain to stopunderestimating you.
Now.
Endurance isn't just about howlong you can go.
It's about how deep you'rewilling to push when every part
of your body is screaming foryou to quit.
It's about your ability to keepshowing up, to keep moving

(07:01):
forward and to refuse to breakwhen the pressure's on.
So this week, when you feel thatburn, when exhaustion creeps in
, when your mind starts lookingfor an out, I want you to
reframe it.
Instead of seeing it as abreaking point, recognize it for

(07:22):
what it really is.
That's the proving ground,because the men who build real
endurance, the ones who performat the highest level in training
, in business and in life.
They're the ones who refuse tobe ruled by their limits.
They push past them and theysee what's on the other side.

(07:42):
And if you're serious aboutunlocking your full potential,
I've got five spots open forone-on-one coaching this April.
I've got five spots open forone-on-one coaching this April.
These won't last long.
So if you're ready to go all in, hit the link in the show notes
and let's make it happen.
Stay relentless, staydisciplined and, as always, stay
highly effective.

(08:03):
See you next time.
Thank you for listening to theHighly Effective man podcast.
If you enjoyed or learnedsomething on this episode, do me
a favor and share this withsomebody who you think needs to
hear it.
And one last thing if you wantto work with me as your coach to
help you get fit, be moreproductive and, in general, just
be the most effective versionof yourself, head over to my

(08:24):
site, higherlevelcoachingco Onceagain, that's
higherlevelcoachingco andschedule a call with me there.
Thank you again.
Let's go.