More than a week has already passed since the end of the best Olympics in living memory (or at least since the last one!) and all thoughts are turning to the legacy of the London Games. Sports clubs are no doubt being overwhelmed with keen new recruits; the roads are full of runners and cyclists; kids are enthusiastically pretending to be the new Jess Ennis, Bradley Wiggins, Chris Hoy or Usain Bolt in the playgrounds.
The big question is, how to keep new converts enthused, excited and motivated as summer fades and the nights draw in. No previous Olympics has successfully solved the question of how to encourage long term increases in health and fitness in the host population.
Let’s hope this time will be different. Certainly the London Olympics seems to have captured people’s interest and enthusiasm like no previous Games, which bodes well. But set against this is the long, deep recession the UK is suffering and a strong legacy of increased sports participation that will be seen in obesity and heart disease statistics in 10 years’ time is far from a foregone conclusion. Some people may rush out to join a sports club, sign up for gym membership or embark on a fitness programme, but a sustainable increase in lifetime fitness will be harder to maintain.
As the UK Government demands more competitive sport in schools, maybe it’s time that adults started to get more competitive too? Engaging in friendly competition can be a great way to increase motivation and sports participation. Whilst many of us may daydream of becoming professional athletes and winning Olympic gold, in reality most of us will train alone or in small groups and need more than an idle dream to get us out on the road or into the gym on a dark, wet winter’s evening.
By engaging in personal challenges and competing with friends, we return to our evolutionary roots and some of the most basic aspects of what makes us human. Competition is already deeply embedded, for good or ill, in our working lives, so why do so few of us engage in friendly competition outside of work?
Or perhaps more of us already do compete at health and fitness without being prepared to openly admit it? If you’ve ever slipped a sly glance at how fast the person on the next treadmill or rowing machine is going, or sped up on a run or cycle to catch someone up in the distance, then you’ll know that the competitive instinct is a strong one, and the best motivation possible for improving your personal performance.
However, if the other person or people don’t know you’re racing them, it’s a bit of a one-sided equation!
Why are so many of us so coy about displaying our competitive side? After the celebration of sport and winning that was the London Olympics, perhaps more of us should openly proclaim “I like to win! I like to beat other people at sport and fitness challenges and push myself to be the best I can be, even if it means other people sometimes beat me in turn!”
If more of us stand up, especially women, and embrace our competitive urges, perhaps the UK stands a chance to eventually stand top of a medal table that really matters – the leaderboard for the healthiest nation.