This is a letter to all those people who deliberately and consistently cheat at teh gym. It is not for the person who accidentally miscounted a round or forgot where they were up to but is for the person who deliberately misrepresents their scores so they appear better than they actually are.
If you are a cheater you should stop NOW. Here are 7 reasons why:
- People know you cheat
Others may not have noticed the first time you did it but if you consistently cut reps or cheat a score people know. If you talk to any person at any gym they can rattle off a list of people who are known “cheaters”. It may not be openly discussed but everyone knows.
- Others will count your reps
Once you are known to be a cheater people will actually start counting your reps to see how badly you cheat. I knew someone who chose to not participate in a class so they could sit down the back and count the reps of a known cheater. They then proceeded to tell the whole gym what they did.
- Even when you don’t cheat no one will believe your scores
You know the boy who cried wolf story? Well it applies here. If you are a cheater but for once you decide to do a workout legit because it contains movements you are actually good at no one will actually believe your score. Once you get a reputation as a cheater, everything you do comes into question.
- You won’t actually get better
When you cheat you are not actually doing the work required to make you a better athlete. Everyone has weaknesses and movements they are just bad at. The only way to improve is to train and do the work. If you want to be as good as you pretend to be then DO THE WORK.
- You will have less real friends at the box
If you cheat on workouts it brings into question your whole personality. The words untrustworthy, fake, dishonest and self-centred all come to mind. These are not traits that most people like. If you want to have genuine and real friendships then you need to be real.
- You undermine those in the gym who do the work and really get those scores
Most athletes work hard every day to be better. When people get PRs or a good score in a WOD it is reward for all their hard work. When someone cheats and posts a great (fake) score on the whiteboard it undermines all the hard work these other athletes do.
- It will catch up with you in the end
Eventually the truth will come to light. If you lie about your lifting then eventually there will be a time when someone actually wants to see you do the lift you say you can do. Or it could be in the Open when our WODs are judged and our real ability comes out. Or it could be that time when you misjudge how much to cheat and you end up getting the best score of the day, better than the regional athlete who trains at the gym.
In the end you are not fooling anybody with your cheating. No one actually thinks you are as good as you pretend to be. However, the damage can be undone if you decide to stop. For your own good, I challenge you to stop now. Post a real score and see that it really isn’t that bad. Who knows you might even get better and one day be as good as you pretended to be.