Got this article from my buddy Eric LeClair at Team CrossFit Academy Good Stuff!
Opex Fitness: When does fitness make sense for health or for competition
I was just talking to a client of mine who buys our gym programming (which is decidedly HEALTH based vs competition), they used to do another great program that was more focused on competition and considered one of the best.
His members HATED it. It was monotonous. Everything had to be scaled (can a cake that has every ingredient changed still be called a cake?). It was hurting attendance. There was too much to fit into an hour long class. Clients were missing important skill/lifting days and getting poor results. People were beat up physically, and emotionally crushed (maybe 2 people in the entire gym could Rx the workout on any given day).
Now that they are doing a much more "Life" centered program, attendance is up, coaches are having more fun, classes are more fun, there are less injuries, and results are better!
When a kid needs a first car, don't get him the racecar and replace 80% of the parts with 'more sensible' components. Buy the right car the first time.
Thrive on.
-jj