Why Should I Compete?

With CFO’s Fall Brawl in-house competition soon approaching, I thought I would sit down to write a brief post about why I feel competing in Cross Training is beneficial and share some of my experience with you.

Of course, if you have aspirations of competing at the highest level of Cross Training, it is obvious that you should try to gain as much competitive experience as possible, but what about everyone else who just goes to the box to get a workout in and to feel/look better? In these cases I still feel that doing a competition here and there is a good idea, and I’ll give you a few reasons why.

First, signing up for a competition gives you a goal to work towards. Once you register, that date is set in stone and you can’t keep pushing off your improvement. Certainly no one wants to embarrass themselves on the day of, so competing will give you the push you need to get up off the couch when you really don’t feel like working out. You’ll be surprised how much more fit you will become by having that crystal clear goal ahead of you.

Second, competing will trigger you to fall in love with Cross Training and the community even more. Your motivation to workout and improve your weaknesses will increase dramatically. You will want to hang around after class to do some double unders or work on your kip. The box isn’t just a place to come get your hour-long workout in, it is a place to hang out with friends, make plans for the weekend, and enjoy the company of others in general.

Last, competing allows you to compare your strengths and weaknesses to others in a black and white way. Although some people don’t care about this at all, there are others who do (and even more people who are afraid to admit it. It’s ok, it’s human nature). We say that Cross Training is about being good at everything and not great at one single thing. Competing gives you an answer as to what aspects you need to put more work into. Maybe you’re very strong but lack the conditioning to keep up with everyone. Or it could be that you’re mobility/stability isn’t up to par, so you aren’t very efficient at some movements and tire out very quickly. These are all things that you find out very fast when you’re in a competitive environment. Realizing where you are weak is the first step at becoming better, in fitness and in life.

Personally, I have gone through everything I’ve just mentioned above. I was unmotivated and apprehensive in the beginning of my Cross Training career. Then, after I competed the first time, a fire was lit inside of me that made me want to be the best at the sport and also improve myself as a person. If you don’t think that will happen to you, how can you know for sure until you try? We created the CFO Fall Brawl to allow only our members to compete in a familiar environment with familiar people. This is a great opportunity to try a competition for the first time. Trust me, if you hop right into a competition in a different gym with people that you don’t know, it’s a much more challenging experience than what we are offering you at the Fall Brawl.

I hope this post encourages you to sign up and join us on October 1st, for what will surely be a fun and fulfilling day.

You can find more information and sign up for the Fall Brawl here, and join the Facebook event page here.