"I Noticed Someone 'Cheating' A Workout. What Should I Do?"

Maybe the person you noticed isn't going low enough, or standing up all the way on a squat. Maybe you were counting their reps, and you know they didn't do all of them. Maybe you saw someone scale a workout, but they logged in BTWB as "RX". There's a lot of ways that someone could "cheat" a workout, and even more reasons as to why they might be cheating, but there's only one answer as to what you should do when you notice it...

Nothing.

It's so frustrating! I know. But this should be filed under the "things outside my control that don't actually affect me" folder.

Your coach is always on the lookout for this sort of thing, and it's almost always addressed. Most of the time, other athletes don't notice it because the athlete in question makes a change. A lot of the time, the athlete had no idea they weren't reaching full range of motion. Sometimes we address it, the athlete makes a change while we're standing there, and then as soon as they walk away, they go right back to shorting reps. In that case, coaches know that they have bigger fish to fry, so we move on.

While it's hard to do nothing, there is one thing that you can do that is absolutely the wrong thing to do...

Assume.

The fact is that you don't know why someone else is doing something wrong. Maybe they don't know. Maybe they're nursing an injury, or lack range of motion. Maybe they're having a hard time at home, and just feel like they need a 'win'. Maybe they lost count. Or, in the rarest of cases, they actually do know that they're cheating and don't care.

Regardless of the reason, none of it actually affects you or your process. The only thing that you have control over is the effort that you put in. I know that this is hard because we like to create these little rivalries in our head, and have friendly competitions, and that can be a good thing. But if the person you're competing with is a suspected cheater, you shouldn't be competing with that person. If you absolutely need to say something to someone, mention it to your coach. Then s/he can get more information and address it if needed.

Comparing yourself to others is unfair. You're your own unique, beautiful snowflake (another 'frostbite' joke...), on our own journey. Take the energy that you were using on noticing what someone else was doing, and turn that into an opportunity for mindfulness. Focus on you, what you're doing, and how to do it better.

“Comparison is the thief of joy,”

~President Theodore Roosevelt