That's Fit

I used to be a big fan of MTV's reality series The Real World and Road Rules, but as the years have gone by the cast members have stopped looking like me and started looking more like my nieces and nephews. And instead of relating to the things they do on screen, I now shake my head at the poor decisions of my own youthful years. I happened to catch a rerun of this season's Real World/Road Rules competition: The Gauntlet III finale.

I was shocked. The finale consisted of two teams -- the "Rookies" and the "Vets" -- competing in a rigorous relay of sorts. One team member, Eric, on the Vets team is significantly overweight and he had a hard time completing even the first leg of the competition. The next part of the competition connected all team members together while they ran between different challenges. Eric was struggling to keep up and was holding his team members back. One other team member was trying to encourage him while begging the others to slow their pace a bit. Another team member was trying to encourage Eric by giving him a little tough love. At this point, I thought things were positive and supportive, though the frustration of the other team members was evident. (And I can't say I blame them. There was a big chunk of change at stake.)

But then Eric was showing serious signs of exhaustion. Despite the pleas of one team member to stop, the rest of the team kept forging ahead. Finally, Eric collapsed. I thought for sure the other team members would realize the severity of his exhaustion and show some concern. But, other than the one team member, they didn't. Instead they seemed angry and were trying to figure out ways to continue. While it's a reality show and it's safe to assume footage was cut out to make things more dramatic, I was appalled. I didn't see the rest of the season so I don't know what led to this event -- maybe there were previous events that added to the team's frustration. Without knowing the full story, I'm willing to give the seemingly callous team members the benefit of the doubt. And, I'm sure that medical personnel (who did intervene at one point) were constantly nearby to verify that nobody was in serious danger. I sincerely hope that what was shown on screen wasn't the full story.
Competition is a wonderful thing. It can motivate us to push ourselves a little further and work a little harder. It's fun and gives you a driving force. But, even in the heart of competition, common sense must prevail. Our bodies are equipped with alarm bells, if you will. Mild pain and discomfort is a part of working out -- but severe pain is sign that something is wrong. Being a bit tired, sweating, and breathing harder than normal is a sign that you're doing something right -- but extreme exhaustion and an inability to catch your breath is your body's way of telling you to slow down or stop. Just like a fever gives you a clue that you're sick, your body will give you signs when it just can't take any more. Listen to your body's signals and when you exercise, exercise intelligently.

If you're involved with competitive sports, by all means don't let the competition outweigh common sense. While injuries are a relatively common part of sport, you don't want to push yourself or anyone else past the point of no return. Your health -- and the health of your teammates or competitors -- is much more important than any trophy or award.