More Than Fitness: What I’ve Learned Through Competition Programming
January 24, 2022 | Words by Margaux Carle
I’ve been a coach at NCFIT for a couple years now and I love to help people push to their limits. When I joined my first gym and started getting into functional fitness/CrossFit, I was immediately drawn to the competitive side of fitness because I’ve been competitive my whole life—sometimes to a fault (let’s just say board games can get a little dicey!).
Having competitive outlets through sports growing up and now through fitness has allowed me to channel that inner drive while challenging myself to grow and adapt. Competitive programming comes in many shapes and sizes, from one-hour, condensed workouts to multi-session training days. No matter what you choose or start out with, here are a few key takeaways I’ve learned over the years:
1. Go Slow To Go Further
The first lesson to learn when it comes to competitive programming and chasing that competitive high is that the small stuff matters the most. Being patient with “boring” accessory work, purposefully choosing what to push on and what to practice during a workout or training session, and not going 110% on every workout is where you improve. Slower, intentional work is where success is found, and it’s so easily eclipsed by highlight reels.
Rx, Rx+, Games-level performance, PR’s every week, high skill gymnastics and weightlifting—all of these are things I’ve always wanted to do or accomplish. These are the highs I chase when I’m in the gym, the things that make me think “Hey, all of this work really is paying off,” and the highlights I can share on social media that people will actually care about. But these are the 1% items; they don’t happen very often and they’re not what make you better. They’re the culmination of a lot of hard, boring work. Put in the work on the slow, boring, and basic items, and you’ll be amazed and how the bigger pieces fall into place.
2. Success Comes in the Form of a Growth Mindset
Having a focus on competition can be incredibly exciting and also incredibly crushing. When you set your sights on winning and constantly improving, there’s a lot of room for disappointment if you feel like you’ve fallen short. If I’ve learned one thing from my competitive programming, it’s that you either win or lose.
Every time a workout doesn’t go my way, there’s a lesson in there. Every PR I miss, there’s a clue to what I need to work on next. If you take every “loss” at face value, you’ll burn out really quickly. Commit to getting better even when you feel like you’ve failed and you’ll never disappoint yourself.
3. Play Hard, Recover Harder
Recovery has been a growing topic of conversation the last few years and it really can’t be ignored when you’re doing competitive programming. What you do in the gym is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to actually being competitive and seeing improvements.
I spent a lot of time training six days a week, feeling worn down and sore all the time, and seeing slower improvements. The second I took an extra active recovery day, dialed in my sleep, and increased my calories to match the work I was putting in, my performance skyrocketed.
Exercise—particularly competitive exercise—is a stress on the body. If you don’t manage that stress and recover from it, you’ll be fighting an uphill battle.
4. Motivation Really Has Nothing To Do With It
I used to spend a lot of time trying to motivate myself in the gym: How could I be excited about my workouts? How could I make it easier to push myself at 7:00 am on a Monday morning?
I quickly realized that motivation was the wrong thing to be focusing on. Motivation definitely makes things easier, but it’s not a starting point. Motivation is created through action, not the other way around.
When you see your hard work paying off, when you feel satisfied with a training session, when you get to see your reps add up, that’s when motivation swoops in to keep you going. Showing up and doing the work is the best way to cultivate motivation.
5. Consistency Is Key
Competitive programming is hard and often daunting. When you first start, no matter how experienced you are, there are things that make you question your own abilities. But that’s on purpose. You’re supposed to be challenged in every way so that you’re forced to put in a lot of hard work, which can take you far if you stick to it.
You might not see major improvements in a week, a month, or even a year, but if you keep stacking up the little, hard-fought wins, you’re bound to improve. Consistency is what matters above all else, and it took quite some time for me to learn that. I’m a perfectionist by nature and always wanted to do everything right the first time. But it’s not about being perfect; it’s about sticking to a program and a plan and giving it time to play out.
Competitive programming is fun and exciting, but it’s also challenging and frustrating at times. A little hard work and patience go a long way, though, and if you stick with it long enough, you will learn a lot about yourself in the process.
