By Christina Annunziata
As some of you may or may not know, I love a good competition. I love the anxious butterflies right before the first workout that quickly disappear at the end of the 3, 2, 1. The adrenaline you feel as you leave everything out there and give it your 100%. I love the moment you realize you don’t even know what music is playing because you are so focused, until you all of a sudden tune into your friends and family cheering you on; and even more so when you realize it’s a complete stranger that is pushing you to the finish. The energy on competition day is awesome. Everyone is experiencing similar emotions and wanting to do their best in every workout.
Competition at the box is a little different. I recently read an article that talked about the importance and benefits about having a “rival” at your home gym. This doesn’t mean there is any dislike for this person, it’s more so someone to push you to reach your goals and surpass them, to keep it fun from WOD to WOD. It’s when this sense of competition and comparison takes over that it becomes a detriment rather than a complement to training.
I have found that it is much more worthwhile to focus on your own personal goals and gains. It’s important to remember, we are each individual athletes. We all have different reasons why we walk into the gym each day, with different goals, and different strengths and weaknesses. Not a single one of us is alike. In my eyes, we should complete workouts or lifts to better ourselves, not to match someone else in the gym. When that is the focus is when injury and burn out happens. And because we are all so different, why not use our strengths to help a fellow athlete out and work together to improve and grow as a crossfit community. I get just as much joy from seeing a friend at the gym hit a PR or achieve a goal as I do for myself. The energy at the gym is what makes each one of my workouts enjoyable and when I find myself at my best.
We all have our good days and our bad days in the gym. We may set a PR one day, and the next not even come close another the next. As long as we are focusing on our own personal goals and accomplishments, improvements and gains will come!