Training vs. Competing in CrossFit: What’s the Difference and Why It Matters

By Todd Davis & Ashley Baxter

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CrossFit thrives on intensity, community, and pushing boundaries—but not every workout should feel like the CrossFit Games. There’s a vital difference between training and competing inside the gym, and understanding this difference is key to long-term progress, performance, and injury prevention.

Let’s break it down.

What Is a Training Session?

Training is the daily grind. It’s focused, intentional, and often doesn’t feel like a PR party. These sessions are where you build the foundation for improvement—working on mechanics, increasing strength, developing skills, and maintaining consistency.

Purpose of Training:

• Improve movement quality

• Build capacity gradually

• Address weaknesses

• Recover while still progressing

• Focus on long-term goals

In training, you scale movements when needed, dial back intensity when necessary, and prioritize movement standards. Training is where you can slow down a rep to fix form, focus on breathing, or choose a modification that pushes you just enough without breaking you.

What Is a Competing Session?

Competition days are a chance to go all in—to test the skills, strength, and capacity you’ve developed. Whether you’re participating in the CrossFit Open, an in-house throwdown, or just racing your gym buddy on a Friday, competition is about intensity, pushing limits, and testing your edge.

Purpose of Competing:

• Test your capacity under pressure

• Embrace discomfort

• Push intensity

• Benchmark progress

• Have fun with a competitive mindset

Competing isn't just for elite athletes. It’s for everyone—but it should be reserved for certain days, not your everyday mindset. Treating every workout like a competition can lead to burnout, injury, and plateaus.

Key Differences

Feature	Training Session	Competing Session
Mindset	Patient, intentional	Aggressive, fast-paced
Pacing	Controlled, focused on form	Max effort, redline risk
Scaling	Used often to maintain stimulus	Minimized to push limits
Feedback	Self-awareness and coach corrections	Focused more on outcome or leaderboard
Purpose	Build and develop	Test and evaluate

Why You Need Both

It’s tempting to chase leaderboard spots every day, but the real gains are made when you train smart. Think of training as the work, and competing as the test. Without one, the other loses meaning.

• Too much competition = burnout and poor movement

• Too much training with no testing = no proof of progress

The sweet spot? Train with purpose 90% of the time, and compete with fire when it counts.

At Aberrant CrossFit, We Believe In the Balance

Whether you're working through a scaled WOD or throwing down in the Open, we help you understand the “why” behind every session. It’s not just about showing up—it's about showing up with purpose.

So the next time you walk into class, ask yourself:

“Is today about getting better, or about seeing how far I’ve come?”

Either way, we’ve got your back.