It seems like competition has gotten a bad rap these days. We've gone away from keeping score. We've introduced mercy rules. High schools don't give out awards for the top male and female athletes of the year. We don't hand out finishers medals but instead everyone gets a participation medal. Sorry but this got a laugh out of me. But the truth is we now give out awards simply for showing up. And sometimes you don't even need to show up but pay the registration fee. Are we going in the right direction? Is this helping us as a society? I'd argue that it's not. And here's why. I guess we eliminate acknowledging the best athletes at the end of the year because there can only be one winner. And therefore to protect the feelings of those who don't win we just do away with the award altogether. I'd suggest that this fails on two levels. First, the best athlete is robbed of the award they worked hard to achieve. Secondly, the athletes that don't win don't feel they are equal to the one that should have won. Instead I'd suggest the ones that don't win feel worse because now we're also hoping they'll buy into the idea that all the athletes are equal. So not only do they not have the same athletic ability but we're also hoping they're dumb enough to believe it. Life is not fair. And because two athletes aren't equal has nothing to do with value. When we play this game we set young athletes up for a rude awakening. They will be surprised when they aren't selected for an interview. They will be incredulous they weren't hired for the job. And they won't understand why they were passed up for the promotion. Business tycoon Jimmy...

Are you competitive? Did you grow up playing sports? If, so there's a good chance you are competitive. I am. My family thinks I am more so than I really am. But I guess that's simply a perspective on how we interpret or understand what being competitive means. Some people think that if you are competitive that by default you believe in winning at all costs. This includes bending the rules, or out-right cheating, as well as taking liberties on a fellow opponent. And that's not me. Competition to me is about testing yourself. And exposing yourself to find your weaklinks. And it's about a continued desire to get better. I also think the more competitive you are the more you are in control of your emotions and the better job you do at sticking to your plan. For example, in team sports you will see examples of an athlete do something stupid that results in his team being penalized. And commentators will excuse or condone it saying the athlete is just 'such a competitor'. I disagree. I say they were selfish. They lost focus. They cared about exacting revenge more than about success. Or another example could be in competition when another competitor passes you. And while you have a game plan in place you get sucked in to their game, abandon your strategy and compete with them. Personally this doesn't tend to work well for me and I chalk it up to losing focus and racing someone else's race and not my own. But this all has to with defining competition and the psychology of it all. Instead I want to share the benefits of competition. And why I think everyone should compete. Below are The Top 8 Reasons to Compete. Your Learn the Most About Yourself - Competition...

I'm always curious as to why people train? Are they seeking a body transformation? More lean mass? Less fat mass? Are they looking to address an injured or painful joint? Maybe they would like to increase their performance in sport? Or maybe extend a professional career?Obviously there are lots of reasons to train. And they to achieve success in each of these would be different.But there is something that is in common with all of these different training goals. And that is the value of testing. And maybe the appropriate term these days would be 'monitoring'.So that is the question to anyone who trains...what are you doing to test or monitor your training?Do you wear a heart rate monitor? Do you use a training journal? Do you weigh yourself before or after training to check water losses? You you keep a clock on yourself to keep track of rest breaks and total duration?Besides what we do during a training session we can also measure our workouts outside of the gym as well. We can use an HRV device for recovery, we can measure our heart rate in the morning and journal our nutrition.So why even monitor or test in the first place? I mean you can usually test if something is working or not without testing right? And for athletes shouldn't the goal be success in the sport anyways?You could answer yes to both of these. It is possible to see improvement in the early stages of training without testing. And athletes may see little benefit and potential injury if testing is not appropriate.But that doesn't outweigh all of the benefits of testing or monitoring. Here are a few.1. AccountabilityI know I am competing in Tough Mudder on June 20 in Whistler. This race will be tough (pun intended) and will...