To cheat or not to cheat.

I recenly came across and read this blog post by CrossFit Anarchy, “CrossFfit and Cheating” http://www.crossfitanarchy.com.au/wod-blog/crossfit-and-cheating and decided to throw my two cents in on the topic of cheating.

I cheated in school one time. It was in college and it was for a history paper. I had a very busy schedule at the time - lots of drinking SoCo and Coke, sleeping and being in love with my then fiance. I couldn’t find a topic I cared enough to write about and my fiance was a history major at another school. I simply changed the cover page. I didn’t even read the paper, if that teacher had asked me one question about the paper I would have been so busted. I didn’t even really understand the title. I got an A on the paper.

That paper taught me something really important. Cheating is easy, especially in the middle of a long work out like Karen (150 Wall Balls or time). When you are 100 reps in it gives you the prime opportunity to cheat. Is anyone going to really know if you skip rep 101 and go straight to 102?

Heck yes, someone knows! You know, ding dong. You know you did it just as much as you know you didn’t go below parallel on your squat or just as much as you know you want to throw that damn medicine ball so hard you never have to see it again.

That paper was the only time I cheated in school. And I remember every bit of how I felt; that sinking feeling in my stomach telling me it wasn’t right. I remember sweating like a whore in church on turn-in day thinking for sure the teacher was going to know I had copied the paper. I remember lying to a friend in class about how long it took me to write it and the burning I could feel in my cheeks as I lied. I remember sitting there thinking, if my dad knew I had copied a paper he would probably stop paying for school and I’d have to go home. I remember everything, well except what the paper was about. I seriously have no clue. For all of the worrying I was doing, I could have just written a paper. It’s not even like it was a term paper. It was a stupid 3-5 page thing. It would have taken me max a couple of hours. And it would have been done and over with, whereas, now, 15 years later I still think about and feel guilty about cheating on that paper.

I definitely feel that when you cheat you are cheating yourself. But really, it just pisses me off, particularly during a WOD. I mean, I’m dying over here, coming in last ALL THE TIME and you’re going to cheat a couple of reps, why? I think that’s the most important question. Why do people cheat in sports?

In a 2007 NY Times article by Drake Bennit he concluded that the main reason people cheat is “a desire for fairness.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/opinion/04iht-edbadsport.1.7751929.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0) He said that decision making scholars learned that when people have a perceived notion that an opponent will cheat, they cheat to preempt a loss. Sometimes the bad decision making comes from pressure from coaches and fellow athletes to win or for financial gains, but mostly it was because people wanted a fair playing ground.

It seems in CrossFit though, there should be less cheating because the playing field is already level - all things are equal in an RX workout. The only variable is the athlete themselves. So, when a CrossFit athlete cheats during a WOD by rep shaving and then claims their score as RX, the only way they can cheat is by making a conscious decision to do so. So for the athlete that cheats - how does rep shaving make a more level playing field? Do they feel that everyone else must also be cheating?

Keep in mind, I’m not talking about those long complicated “math centric” work outs that take a rocket scientist to keep up with. I know I’ve lost count more than once and guessed which number I was on. I’m talking about the people that consistently cheat and pretend that no one notices.

And that’s the thing - if you are a perpetual cheater, someone notices. Just because no one says anything to your face, doesn’t mean they don’t notice. And if you are willing to cheat in the gym - where else are you willing to cheat? Is that really the person you want to be in life?  

(I personally am about to die during the workouts so the only thing I’m paying attention to is breath-in/breath-out/don’t die/don’t lose count. So I really have no idea if someone is cheating or not.)

On the other hand, I have a friend who I work out with regularly and she cheats all the time. You know what, she openly admits to cheating. She knows she does it and she doesn’t try to hide it and I’m totally OK with that (but trust me, she doesn’t care about my opinion at all). She doesn’t write her time or reps on the board unless a coach asks her. She works her ass off and she is totally happy with her progressions and workouts and she doesn’t pretend to be something she is not.

In the end, that’s what we should all strive for isn’t it? To be happy and to work as hard as we possibly can that day. When it comes down to it, it shouldn’t matter what we did yesterday or what we are going to do tomorrow. When we walk in that door to workout - whether it be SPIN class, Yoga or CrossFit, the goal is to clear our minds of all of life’s distractions and do the best we can do in that moment.

Cheating serves no purpose. It’s not making you faster and it’s not making you better than anyone else because you aren’t doing the same work. In a competition you can’t cheat anyway because a judge is counting your reps, so you’re setting yourself up or failure there. Are those three seconds of self gratification really worth it?

For me - the one that still feels guilty about the three page paper 15 years ago, cheating is just too much work.