What's this and why would I want it?
Running competitions every now and then is a fun way for your gym to connect, something to train for, and for people in the sport of fitness, a way to prepare for other bigger competitions. It can also be a way to raise a little extra money for the gym through entrance fees, T-shirts etc.
A competition can be a good way to connect with new people that might want to join. When people enter, they share their email address so you can contact them. (Please be considerate and avoid spam)
WodUp allows you to run your competition by publishing a series of workouts, accepting people's scores and creating leaderboards for each workout event and division.
Most competitions being run in WodUp right now are in the style of the CrossFit Open, or a decathlon – they have multiple events where everyone competes, in separate divisions (which could be split based on age, sex, individual vs team, elite vs amateur etc.)
The platform could also easily be used for a running race, or rowing, biking etc.
As long as everyone is doing the same workout, they don't have to do it at the same time, although they could. An in-person event will often have "heats" for the early events. WodUp doesn't care when someone does the workout - just have everyone log their scores and the leaderboard will show all the entrants on one leaderboard.
What's it not for? It wouldn't be appropriate for a league or knockout tournament, or an "all-time record" ongoing competition without a finish time
How do I run a competition?
Decide the format, the divisions (split by age/sex/experience etc.), and when you'll do it. You can choose to reveal the workouts close to the time (so you don't have to decide the exact content right away), or have everything visible immediately, in which case, you'll want to make sure you're happy with the content. People will be logging their own scores, but you can choose when to start and finish accepting scores for each event.
Decide the name - the name should be unique, so "Arrow Fitness Winter Throwdown 2021" is better than "Throwdown".
Create the competition from the Competitions section in WodUp under your regular gym admin screen
Visuals! You have a lot of control over how your competition page will look. You can use images and video, and add welcome text to describe how things will work. You'll probably want to cover:
– Who can enter - anyone with the link will be able to sign up. You choose where you want to share it. If the competition is specifically for gym members/over-35s/women/etc, then say so.
– How to enter - this should be as simple as hitting Register and choosing an appropriate division, but if you're opening up to people outside your gym/your existing online subscribers then they will need to create an account.
– Where/when? - for an in-person competition, let people know the details. If the competition is all remote, say so.
– Entry fees or free?
– Are there prizes? 🏆 Or is it just for glory 😎
– How will you communicate the winners? (You will probably want to send an email to all the entrants, which is very easy)
Get the word out!
After you've set up your competition and filled out the details, you're ready to share. Change the status at the top to "Published", and share the Competition Link. This is the link that people will use to see your competition and register to enter. We suggest a link based on the competition name, but you can customize it.
The next step is getting that link out there – you might want to send it to your email list, put it on your social media or your gym's blog, or even make a QR code for a poster on your facility wall. You can check who's signed up any time from the "Participants" links on the competition admin page.
Do athletes need to have a WodUp account or install the WodUp app to participate?
The competition platform is set up so anyone can enter easily. If someone doesn't already have a WodUp account (e.g. if they aren't already a member of a gym on WodUp), they can create one with their email without joining your gym or paying for a subscription.
To add results and see the leaderboard, they can continue to use the competition link they originally used to sign up. This is a web-based platform optimized for mobile.
For participants who are already following one of your programs, you can make the competition part of one or more of your regular Group Programs on WodUp. Just choose which days the workouts are happening, and which programs to show them to and athletes will be able to log their results in the competition, just like they would a regular workout.
What should I do once the competition is running?
Once you've set up the competition structure, including the visuals, the divisions and workouts, the important dates etc, then people can enter their own scores and the events will open and close based on the schedule you've set. You don't need to
Communicate! Particularly if there's a long time between registration and the first event, a quick email when the first event is open for scoring will be useful. Include the competition link so people can easily get back in.
Review the chat area periodically. Each competition has a message board on the leaderboards page where people can post questions, comments etc.
Take a look at the leaderboards. You can "like" or comment on results in competitions and the participants will be notified. Encouragement, congratulations, thanks, banter... – whatever your style, you can use this as an opportunity to connect with people.
Review scores – Particularly for a remote competition, it's important to make sure that everyone is playing fair. You can review the scores from the admin area to spot any accidents or ridiculous scores and make any corrections necessary, even after the score deadline. You can also review videos that people have added to their results. Videos are optional by default, but can be made mandatory.
Announce winners. For a short competition, you might do just send an email at the end. For a competition that spans multiple days, you might want to say who's in the lead at each stage.