Why should you try competing in CrossFit?

Contrary to what you might think, competing in CrossFit is not reserved only for the fittest and most experienced athletes. Proof of this is the increasingly extensive network of championships, tournaments and competitions of all types and for all levels that exist in Spain, and undoubtedly abroad as well.

CrossFit is a sport that many considered a fad when it first arrived, but its installation in our country is one of the most powerful in the world in recent years, being the sports facility brand with the greatest growth. And for this reason, the appearance of competitions is logical, which has grown exponentially every year.

Today, many of these competitions have international renown and are firmly established in the minds and calendars of many athletes, such as: Fittest Freakest Challenge, Taronja Games, Madrid Challenger Series, Fight Like a Woman , Battle of the Mediterranean or Madrid CrossFit Championship, among many others.

But if you are a non-professional athlete, one of those who trains 3 days a week and has a family and a job completely unrelated to sports, does it make sense for you to participate in CrossFit competitions? The answer is yes, without a doubt, and in case you have any questions, here are 5 reasons to compete in CrossFit regardless of your level.

1. Together we go further

Competing is not synonymous with doing it individually. In fact, we strongly recommend that your first competitions be in the "team" format or in teams or in pairs. The main reason is that you will have someone to support you before, during and after the competition. Someone with the same fears and passions as you and who will find it easier to understand you.

This is not a bed of roses either, you have to find athletes with a higher level and above all with similar expectations about the competition to yours. If you are going to have fun while trying as hard as possible, but your partner is going to want to win at all costs, it is likely that this tandem will not work out well.

2. Competing is within everyone's reach

Just as there are very "professional" competitions in which certain standards of movements and weights are required that are only within the reach of very fit people, events with "scaled" divisions have emerged, in which the requirements for athletes in both gymnastics and weights in Olympic movements are much more accessible. This achieves a democratization in access to competitions that are the perfect terrain for your first forays into the competitive world.

A negative aspect of these competitions is the egos of well-prepared athletes who sign up for higher divisions because they prefer to finish above less fit people than to go to competitions that they would have access to due to their physical characteristics but in which they would shine much less.

3. It's not all about CrossFit

Although we are talking about CrossFit competitions, there are more popular or mass sporting events in which you can participate to test your physical condition, and in which your training in the box will do you a lot of good but which are not of the WOD type.

We are talking, for example, about obstacle course races or OCR (obstacle course races). In Spain, the most famous is the Spartan Race, which is characterized by having 3 main distances (5, 10 and 21 kilometers respectively) between which there are a multitude of obstacles of all kinds such as spear throwing, carrying chains, climbing structures, crossing rivers...

Recently, there have also been races that are perfect for athletes who do CrossFit but are not very good at gymnastics (pull-ups, muscle-ups, handstands...) or Olympic movements, but who are fit and strong. The best known are Deka, a kind of division of Spartan Race, and Hyrox. The latter includes rowing, skiergs, sled pushing, weighted lunges and much more. But all of this with very low-tech and very accessible movements.

4. Competing will open your eyes

Whether you're doing well or "so-so" in competition, you'll see that there are things you can improve, but you'll also surely realise that other things, due to the pressure, the excitement or the adrenaline, turned out much better than you thought. All of this will be an extra motivation to get back to the box with more desire than ever.

5. The path

Competition preparation will be an experience in itself. Preparing the wods, polishing what you are good at and reinforcing your weaknesses. Preparing "synchronized" movements with partners, learning to plan strategies, choosing what clothes and accessories to wear, planning nutrition and rest... all these things are part of the competition, and if you do it in a healthy way it is very easy to enjoy them.

So now you know, choose a competition that suits you based on the type of training you do and that is accessible to you logistically (distance, accommodation, cost of participation...) and tell us about your experience.