As strength and conditioning coaches, personal trainers, and fitness professionals we have had to rethink even reshape how we do our jobs during this pandemic. During this challenging time, it has helped us all find new ways to engage with clients or athletes, hold them accountable, and challenge them.

One of the best ways to engage, challenge, and hold accountability is to create/promote competition. I have witnessed first hand how giving athletes some form of competition to complete each week has increased participation while creating a goal for them to achieve.

Competition is something everyone faces in life. Competition causes us to work harder or push our limits so we can win or succeed in what we are doing. When competing you know there will be a reward for the winner, which increases the drive and demand to succeed.

Now that most of us are remote, we need to get creative with getting our athletes/clients engaged and excited to train. I have found that following up with a reward or prize will increase buy-in and get more accountability from everyone! Below are three ways to create competition remotely:

Workout of the Day Challenge

How it works…

• Send out a workout that all your clients or athletes can do inside/outside with no or minimal equipment.
• Then have them complete the workout and send back their results.
• Results can be anything from the time to complete the workout to how many reps they completed in a certain time.

Why it works…

• Knowing that you are competing against other people in the same thing makes you work harder.
• Not being able to see how others do or know what they did, you have to make sure you give your best effort to submit a time or score that cannot be easily beaten.

Most Creative Equipment Challenge

How it works…

• Send them a weekly challenge that requires clients/athletes to submit a picture or video (proper and safe usage of course) of them doing an exercise from the workout using a household item.
• Some examples would be bags of food, groceries, loaded up suitcases/backpacks/duffels, laundry detergent, gallons of milk/water, rocks/logs, even your kids work well (personal experience).
• One of my favorites was an athlete using their couch to do seated shoulder presses!

Why it works…

• This form of remote competition allows people to get creative on ways to build resistance or increase the difficulty of an exercise.
• It opens people’s eyes to everyday objects that they might not have considered to be used for a workout.
• Plus, they now have ways to get a good effective workout in at home even after the pandemic ends.

Weekly Random Challenges

How it works…

• Choose a new athlete or client each week to create a challenge for the team, group, or individuals.
• This can range from a workout challenge to volunteering at a local non-profit to a daily movement challenge. It can be whatever the person decides, so the more creative the more fun it will be.
• Make sure you give the person a few days to a week notice for them to create or decide on something and make sure you are clear or understand what is expected in order to field questions.

Why it works…

• This form of remote competition gives everyone a chance to come up with their own challenge or competition and allows them to create ownership with it.

Staying engaged and competitive during this time has been challenging, but hopefully using these three ideas will start the process and bridge the gap. There are endless ways to create competition remotely so get creative and make the most of it! Do not hesitate to use these ideas or research others even after the pandemic has ended. Competitions and challenges can be used year-round whether in the gym, weight room, or at home.

Good luck and have fun!