Competitive fitness has been around since the Ancient Olympics, where the first pentathlon was held in 708 BC. Perseus was the credited with being the first champion of the pentathlon, making him the first “Fittest Man on Earth.”

Fast forward to 2007, The CrossFit Games were held at The Ranch in Aromas, CA. It was truly an open competition; anyone that wanted to could register and compete. This ignited the competitive fitness craze that we are seeing today.

Whether you are new to the scene or not, it is likely that you have heard of at least one of the following: The OC Throwdown, Wodapalooza, or The Garage Games. The OC Throwdown and The Garage Games have been in existence since 2010, and Wodapalooza started in 2012. All events are similar to the CrossFit Games, where there are several WODs performed over several days to in order to determine the fittest competitor participating. The CrossFit Games are harder to qualify for and have a governing body; therefore they are the gold standard when it comes to competitive fitness.

But, NONE of them have ventured out to create a league similar to other professional sports leagues, such as the National Football League, Major League Baseball, Etc. It is 2014, and Tony Budding has formed the National Pro Fitness League (NPFL). Currently, there are five official teams with a goal of having eight teams total for their inaugural season. Teams will be made up of seven male and seven female athletes; one athlete must be over the age of 40. Currently, recruited athletes are signing letters of intent and combines are being held to find talented athletes.

You may be asking yourself, “Who the hell cares?” Here’s why you should care. The growth of the NPFL means the growth of local competitions. As a CrossFit affiliate owner myself, I understand that not everyone that walks into your box wants to compete, but in my experience there are a decent amount of members in your box that do want to compete and this is a great opportunity to host a local competitive fitness event.

Why host a local competitive fitness event? Simple. You can provide your current clients with a familiar competitive environment, help build a stronger community in your city, and make extra revenue all at once.

In addition to the benefits mentioned above, hosting a competitive event gives box owners and coaches a chance to challenge themselves with programming and preparing their athletes for combines or competition. This allows you to develop athletes that think about WODs strategically, rather than just for time.

If you are currently a specialty coach or athlete, such as gymnastics, Olympic Weightlifting, or endurance, this is an opportunity for you to pick up new students and/or to provide more clinics/seminars to help improve these athletes’ skills.

If you are an athlete, the increase of competitions is a huge benefit for you. It could mean more sponsorship opportunities, a chance to truly get paid to be a competitive fitness athlete, and it also provides you with a platform outside of The CrossFit Games to prove your fitness.

What does it mean for the sport of competitive fitness? It gives us the opportunity to continue to solidify that we are not a fad, that we are a legitimate business that continues to see growth year after year. This also allows for more business opportunities for entrepreneurs.

Several small businesses started and have flourished because of the popularity and success of CrossFit. I’m predicting the same will happen due to the rise of competitive fitness events and The NPFL. I could also see more sponsorships happening due to the recruitment of high caliber athletes to The NPFL. The NPFL has already signed Eleiko as the official equipment provider of the league. This is just the first of many sponsors to come for the NPFL.

Things are growing in a big way for competitive fitness and if you don’t jump on it now, you will be left in the dust.

So you may be thinking, “How do I take advantage of this spike in competitive fitness?” Here are six tips on how to run a successful competitive fitness competition.

1. DO NOT try to run your first competition by yourself. Reach out to others that have run successful events before. The Garage Games is an outstanding company that helps individuals with planning and executing competitive fitness events, and they have been doing so since 2010.

2. DO Plan out EVERYTHING in advance! Here is a brief list of what needs to be planned out.

• Equipment needs
• Facility location, date(s), and time
• Team, individual competition or both
• WODs (Time caps, logistics, standards, weights, etc.)
• Volunteer needs
• Judges
• T-shirts
• Restroom needs
• Vendors

3. DO NOT stress out! You’re doing this for fun and to make a little extra money. At the same time, there are two things I know will always happen in a competition: someone will complain about judging and at least one thing will not go as planned. Plain and simple, something will always go wrong. Just do your best to have a plan B in advance.

4. DO have vendors and charge a small nominal fee for them to have a booth. This will increase your revenue and give them an opportunity to put their product directly in front of their targeted demographic. One of the vendors should be a catering company, preferably a healthy food option. This gives competitors an opportunity to eat healthy food without leaving the event. Also, make sure to talk to the catering company about comping lunches for your judges and volunteers. These hard workers need to eat more than anyone.

5. DO have a designated head judge, scorekeeper, and emcee. This will insure that judges know who to defer to for calls, scores are entered in real time, and the crowd stays awake and involved in the competition.
6. Last and most important, DO HAVE FUN! We love this sport and competition, so go out and have a good time and make it about fun. Everything will fall into place because you followed Tip #2.

Now that you have tips on how to run your own competitive fitness event, nothing’s stopping you from getting out there and doing it! If you’re still a little hesitant to host your first event, start with an in-house competition to spark the competitive fire that your athletes have. If you are a hard charger and ready to put on a huge event, contact other boxes in your community and see who would like to partner up with you and put on a great event for the community. Plain and simple, competitive fitness events are here to stay, so go ahead and pull the trigger to help grow your community in a fun competitive atmosphere.