If your name is not Mattie Rogers or Harrison Maurus, you shouldn’t even bother competing. You’re not going to win anyways, and you will never make it to the highest levels of the sport. You probably can’t even make it to Nationals or the American Open! Better to just stick to training.

If winning were everything, the above advice would be sound. Many of us will probably never win a local meet, let alone a national meet. But luckily for us, winning isn’t everything. There are plenty of other reasons to compete! On the other hand, competition is not for everyone and isn’t always necessary to achieve one’s goals. So let’s explore some of the best reasons why you should and shouldn’t compete.
Pros

Find out what you’re made of

Going to the driving range will not prepare you to stare down the final putt at the 18^th hole at the Masters. To be comfortable on that 18^th green, you need to have nerves of steel, and to possess immense grit, tenacity, and determination. While some people learn grit, tenacity, and determination more quickly than others, these are all qualities that can be developed through practice and exposure.
While you need to train your muscles to strengthen and develop them, you also need to train the previously mentioned mental skills to develop those. Everybody will have to deal with situations in their life that are extremely challenging, and that come with potentially serious consequences. It pays to be cool, calm, and collected in these high-pressure situations. Weightlifting competitions offer the perfect outlet to get exposure to high-pressure circumstances that will require you to step up and perform.
By competing in weightlifting, you will have the chance to face adversity, to come up against a significant obstacle, and to practice succeeding and failing when the stakes are high. By facing your fears and learning to accept and deal with success and failure, you will strengthen your grit, tenacity, and determination muscles. And building these qualities will help you calmly face your fears, challenges, and obstacles in your day-to-day life, too.

Motivate you to dial in training

I love training at my home gym. I love having fun throwing around heavy weights with my friends. But sometimes, it can be hard to notice my training intensity slipping. Maybe I’m only training with 95 percent focus or not eating as disciplined or prioritizing sleep enough. This is normal, but it can be addressed.

Nothing reliably enhances focus in the training hall and discipline outside the gym better than having an upcoming weightlifting competition. When a lifter has an upcoming competition, their intensity gets dialed in, and motivation comes easier. The competition serves as the light at the end of the tunnel and also serves as something to hold on to and strive for when your training is tough and life is coming at you.

The motivation from training for a competition doesn’t end when it’s over. Most lifters will feel a significant jolt of energy, intensity, and enthusiasm for the sport immediately after competing. For me, I wanted to jump back into training right after stepping off the platform. I felt so motivated for weeks after the competition, and my teammates have reported the same feelings.

See and learn from the best

Your home gym may have a mix of new lifters and veterans, but all competitors can benefit from seeing and learning from the approaches that the best lifters—the ones you see at competitions—take. In my first competition, there were some amazing lifters around me in the training hall. It was truly fascinating to see how they prepared for competition and to just watch their movements and learn from their approach. While athletes should remain focused on themselves during competition, I believe that there are always lessons to learn when watching more accomplished practitioners prepare and compete.
When you’re watching the best prepare and compete, try to watch their body language and posture. They tend to radiate confidence and move calmly throughout the training hall and on the platform. You may also learn potential strategies for hyping up for a big lift or for better warmup pacing. The nice thing about this is that you do not have to be focused on the top competitors specifically. Just by being in their presence makes you more likely to soak up their energy, and you can take that newfound confidence back with you into your regular gym and your life.

Cons

Losing Perspective

Competition can certainly be motivating, but what happens when the competitive juices are flowing too powerfully? Time and again, athletes get into competition, work really hard for a while, compete more, and then get burned out of competition and eventually weightlifting.

Most of the time, these athletes have lost perspective for why they got into the sport in the first place. They may become fixated on the glory or adrenaline rush of competition and become bored of or unfulfilled by day-to-day training. Maybe these athletes decide to drop a weight class because they could have been third at the last local meet rather than fifth in the heavier class. Maybe athletes even begin to lose focus and interest in other areas of life to focus on their weightlifting competition results. All three of these are examples of unsustainable behaviors that arise out of a lost perspective. It would be better to allow competition to inspire an athlete rather than becoming a fixation. And it would usually be better for most athletes to focus on getting stronger rather than dropping a weight class. And it would be better to continue to meet other obligations in life outside of the gym.

Fortunately, each individual has a say in their personal outlook and perspective. It is up to the athlete and coach to use the energy derived from competing for good rather than letting this intensity completely run amok. This will keep spirits and motivation higher for the long haul and for the daily grind that is the reality for all weightlifters.

Injuries

This is actually a particularly pernicious example of losing perspective. While a looming competition can motivate an athlete to dial in their day-to-day training, it can also encourage an athlete to push past the point of personal safety. We have all seen athletes push through injuries to compete. There can certainly be a time and place for this. However, I do not believe it is healthy or sustainable to continue to push through injuries month over month. Weightlifters need to know when it is not the right time for a competition—and when to back out of one.

Working through injuries can break an athlete down mentally and physically. For most athletes, the next competition is not really that important. The injured athlete would be better served by recovering from their injuries and working on their strength deficits. When athletes give their minds and bodies time to recover, they can come back stronger and more ready to compete.

Comparing to others

Maybe you’re noticing a trend here. But this is, again, another specific way that competitors tend to lose perspective when competing in weightlifting. At the end of the day, weightlifting is really a battle between the lifter and the team of mass and gravity. However, training to compete can change the dynamic of the battle. When a lifter becomes overly focused on competing, they frequently start comparing themselves to others, rather than focusing on the true battle—the lifter vs. the bar.

When you are winning, comparing yourself to others can feel good, but this is fool’s gold. The performance of others is out of your hands. What happens when you reach a level where you aren’t winning anymore? Will you remember why you started weightlifting in the first place (to get strong, get healthy, have fun, etc.) or will you lose joy and enthusiasm for the sport? As Theodore Roosevelt said, “comparison is the thief of joy.” If you compare yourself to others, you may lose appreciation of the moment and lose gratitude and perspective on the other important things in life.

Final Thoughts

Competing in weightlifting is a truly amazing experience. It is in this realm where athletes frequently take their passion for the sport to the next level. However, it is important to take into account the reasons to not compete, too. This gives athletes the chance to mentally prepare to deal with some of these drawbacks, and it can allow you to make an informed decision that is in line with your underlying goals and reasons for choosing weightlifting in the first place.