Competition in exercise classes....good or bad?

Do you enjoy a little friendly competition in your workouts? Probably most of us do; however, it can have a positive or negative impact on you depending on how it is used.

The other day at the gym where I workout, there was a new way to track your activity and compete with others in the class. I think they have been using this method for quite a while in other classes, but it just showed up in the spin class that I regularly attend. There was a television screen showing heart rates, percentage of max heart rates, and calories burned for participants who wore a particular heart rate monitor. While we were participating in the class, you could see the colors on the screen change for each participant depending on which heart rate zone they were in.

This way of friendly competition can be a really good thing. If you are aiming to improve or maintain your fitness, tend to not push yourself very hard, or want to use a class like this as one of your difficult workouts, this is a great thing for you! Seeing where you are in comparison to other participants, or just the mere fact that your stats are plastered on a huge screen in front of everyone could be the motivation you need to kick it into high gear.

On the flip side, this type of competition can be a negative thing. If you have a very specific goal that you are training for, you may not need to push yourself at a particular class. Not all workouts should be overly hard and strenuous. Your body needs easy workouts for active recovery. If you do not give yourself easier days, it will eventually catch up to you and push you into over-training mode. That topic could be a blog post in itself, but just know that over-training will not serve you and will negatively impact your health, workouts, and general energy level. Also, if you have a difficult training day coming up, pushing yourself for the sake of competition could make it much more difficult to achieve the goal on that training day.

More is not always better. Listen to your body, focus on YOUR goals, and enjoy a fun exercise class with your friends!