How quick? How big? How far? How high? How long? How much?

Have you ever noticed in these social media times how quantity prevails over quality? It’s not as much about the sport itself and how you live it out, but about how much you do of it. The more, the merrier. The quicker, the better. Numbers, numbers, always numbers.

I know – for some of us it’s a hard job competing with hundreds of other friends’ updates on Facebook. It’s like back in the days when we used to compete with each other in kindergarten – “My father’s got a bigger car than yours!”, “I’ve got more hair on my willy than you”… But frankly, kindergarten competition is so last century!

Don’t worship the numbers. Consider the goal and understand the process instead! Sometimes when I train, I’m done after 30-40 minutes. You should see the looks I get! Like “you must be joking – how can you possibly be done by now?” I’ve seen in some people’s eyes that they almost feel embarrassed for me. But hey – who’s said you had to kill yourself at it for hours before it works? Every training session has a goal. If you’re committed and the goal is achieved, why should you do more just for the sake of publishing higher numbers? If you’re done for today, then it’s much more productive to recover. So why don’t we publish updates about us recovering at home, in our newest high-tech recovery gear, with an average pace of 0,2 km/hour and full GPS coverage from our sofa to our fridge? (There should be an app for it!) Isn’t it with sport as it is with sex? Don’t we perform better when we’re well rested and fully loaded?

Unfortunately kindergarten competition seems to be everywhere. I see it with the people I coach as well. It’s all about comparisons and overwhelming numbers. You don’t believe me? Then, let’s try a little experiment! If you usually run 10-15 km, try to publish a post like “Today I’ve run 4 km” and see how many “Great!”, “Cool!”, “Respect!” or “My hero!” you get. My guess is you’re more likely to get comments like “Shit, what went wrong? Did you fall and break your leg or something?”.

I’m not exposing anyone in particular. It’s the general tendency I’m denouncing. Numbers are a precious tool in order to plan your training sessions and track your progress, but there’s no need to compare yourself and compete with everyone and anyone around you. You won’t improve by trying to set new records every single day so you can publish impressive numbers around the clock.

There is a time to train and a time to race. Training is not about competition. Training is about you enjoying your sport and progressing. Racing, on the contrary, is where you can kick ass and achieve results you can brag of for the rest of your life! But in the meantime, you’ve got to keep any urge to display your virility under control and use it smartly.

So, next time you ask somebody insistently about all the numbers in their training or you tell them about yours, remember they might get serious doubts about the quality of your sex life. Instead try to get a better feeling of their goal and their process.

Because I bet the last thing you want is other people questioning your potency… 😉