Run a better
competition.
Guides, format playbooks, templates and checklists from people who have run fitness competitions. Free to read, whether or not you run yours on Team Aretas.
Looking for help with Team Aretas?
Step-by-step answers on setting up a competition, payments, heats, scoring and the app are in the Help Centre.
How to organise a fitness competition: the complete guide
A timeline from six months out to the week after: venue and date, format, categories, pricing, workouts, staff, insurance, communications, the day itself and the follow-up. One worked example, 120 athletes on 8 lanes in a day, carried all the way through.
How to sell out a fitness competition
Launch to sell-out week by week: the announcement, the early bird deadline, workout reveals and the final push, with what the sign-up data says about timing.
ReadFitness competition budget: what it costs and how to price it
Every line of the budget from venue to prizes, which costs can be free, the break-even maths on the worked example, and when early bird, team pricing, deposits and extras earn their place.
ReadFinding sponsors for a fitness event
What sponsors are actually buying, the packages to offer them, when to ask, and the post-event report that brings them back next year.
ReadRecruiting and training judges
How many judges per lane, where to find them, a briefing that works, calibrating with video, and handling a no-rep dispute on the floor.
ReadRunning a hybrid race or HYROX sim
Station order, measuring the run loop, wave starts, the transition zone, and solo, doubles and relay categories on one day.
ReadRunning a functional fitness throwdown
Rx, scaled, masters and teens, pairs and teams of four, a movement standards document, time caps and tiebreaks.
ReadRunning a league across several gyms
One set of workouts and standards at every venue, consistent judging, video checks, results that do not leak, and a season of rounds.
ReadHeats or waves: which competition schedule fits?
How each schedule runs on the day, what it asks of your lanes and judges, and which one suits your field size and venue.
ReadFitness competition scoring explained
Points per place against rank sum, tiebreaks, time-capped workouts, versus races, Rx and scaled on one board, and holding scores back before you publish.
ReadFunctional fitness competition glossary
Heat, wave, lane, Rx, scaled, AMRAP, EMOM, time cap and tiebreak, in plain words. Useful for first-time athletes as well as organisers.
ReadCompetition planning checklist
Every job from booking the venue to opening next year's entries, as a checklist by weeks to go.
ReadRun of show
A minute-by-minute plan for the day: doors, briefing, heats, breaks, awards and pack-down.
ReadJudges' pack
A 20-minute briefing script, the rules every judge follows, a score sheet and a movement standards template.
ReadRunning a competition to time
Buffers, heat calls, what to do when you slip twenty minutes, and how to tell athletes before they ask.
ReadAfter the event: results, survey and the next competition
Publishing results, an athlete survey with ready-made questions, the sponsor report, a debrief, and opening next year's early bird while people are still excited.
ReadYour first fitness competition
What to expect, how to pick a category and what to bring on the day.
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Rather build it with us?
We will walk you through how your competition would run on Team Aretas, from sign-ups to the final leaderboard.