What (if anything) does competing really tell you about your fitness?

Times

Ranks

Percentiles…

A lot of people see results as a verdict and totally or miss or ignore the bigger picture.

If we look at it from an economist perspective or anyone who really understands data, we probably wouldnt.

One test, in one year, with one set of workouts, is not a full data set - its just a small sample.

Lets break it down:

1/ The sample size is small

3-4 competition workouts dont define your fitness. They can work slightly in or out of your favour & only show you how well you handled things in that format and combination.

2/ Variance & Emotion

One workout might go well while another tanks - and your overall result is balanced.

That can reveal things about the balance in your training not reflected in the end result.

3/ Bias

Every competition has unintentional bias. Movement selection, body types, strengths, volume, skill etc. You might have a great engine that carries you despite not being strong, even if workouts have a strength element but in a fatigue building structure, it might make you look stronger than you are.

4/ Snapshots not trends

A snapshot of data would not cause an economist to make a decision. Look at the direction over time.

Look for improvements year to year. That can be tricky to do through competitions that change every time, but your own training will provide more accurate data.

5/ Identity & data

The numbers reflect performance but dont define you.

The Crossfit open, Hyrox, Athx, Metrix, Triathlon, Marathon etc etc reveals training exposure, but they dont assign worth.

Your overall health, longevity & capacity for life are not measured but are far more important.

Used well, competitions can be incredibly useful - but misunderstood or used poorly, it can be misleading or even damaging.

The intelligent economist to fitness shouldnt ask “where did i rank?”

They should ask “what can i learn?”

Thats how you turn data and feedback into progress.

When people I coach compete, I like to go away and write down some of the results to map where they’re strong or lacking.

Last year after some competitions I saw that some of my clients laid down some decent engine results, and some good maximal strength results too, but struggled more when it came to repeated strength outputs or performing under fatigue.

After that i introduced some extra ‘battery’ training to build that ability…

But remember: A monkey will never win a swimming race against a fish,

and a fish will never climb a tree like a money.

If you want to understand, improve & get more out of your training, we can help you.

FREE INTRO