Cheating yourself

I go to the gym and do crossfit, which as you know I love if you have read anything on this blog, and I am amazed that people forget why they are there. I go to get better, to improve me, to live better and feel better. It's not to compete with someone else or prove something to someone, but rather to prove to myself that I can do this. Crossfit is built around competition in a way. Each night we have a round of exercises that need to be completed. Sometimes it is for time, sometimes for number of sets or number of repetitions, and sometimes it is how much weight you can lift on that particular exercise and while you should be driven by the fact that someone next to you is working to do as many or as much or in as quick of a time right next to you. On most occasions there is also someone pushing you to do more. This I like. It drives you further than you think you can go.

I have only been doing this a month now but on a weekly basis I see people cheating. Why, I can't seem to figure out. There is no winner; you don't take home a gold medal. So what is the purpose of cheating yourself? They lie about the number of reps to try and catch up with someone else or they don't do the exercise right and the crossfit coach no reps them and they count it anyway. In the end they cheat themselves. I find this hard to grasp. How can you get better by cheating? Do you feel good when you walk out of the gym knowing that you lied to yourself. I don't get it. There is no sense of accomplishment in this type of behavior so why does it happen?

Being competitive is good, in fact I would say competition is great. I would say that competition can drive us to dig deeper, push harder, and go the distance. I am not first and I am not last. I am driven by the person that is doing less than me, but pushing to catch me. I am driven by the person that does better than me and inspires me to want more. I love it when someone is screaming in my face that I can do one more. This is the competitive spirit that should drive all of us to be and do better. Let's face it we all have good days and bad days in the gym. Sometimes we have done everything right and the result is spectacular and sometimes everything has gone wrong and the result is what it is. It's just a day; move on; get over it... but dont' cheat yourself into believing that you are doing something you are not. Let the person standing next to you that is stronger motivate you to want more; let the person on the other side of you that is last every night, but keeps coming back inspire you. Cheating is not necessary, the fact that you are there is more than most so go with what you got and be honest with your self because in the end you lose out when you cheat.