Competing Online: Score Submission Best Practices

Online fitness competitions provide a unique setting in which athletes are responsible for the completion, judging, and submission of their workouts. There is a lot to keep track of, so being organized is vital to avoid possible errors that may cause athletes to receive costly penalties, or even worse; rejected submissions.

We’ve created a step-by-step guideline for competitive athletes to help them with their score submission and maximize their chances of advancing through the competitive season. Preparing for these online competitions can be tedious but if you’re looking to advance to the next stage of the season, it’s better to be thorough.

Here are some preparation tips before you head to the gym to complete the workout:

  • Know your submission deadline! Some submission deadlines are given in different time zones, it is your responsibility as a competitor to know when your submission is due in local time so the deadline is met.

  • Go online and read the rules, movement standards, start positions, and floor plans. If possible print these documents to have at hand as you set up the workout and go over the set-up with your judge.

  • Choose your judge carefully. In all cases, you want a judge that you can trust to hold you accountable, it’s better to receive a no-rep during the workout than a major penalty afterwards. Some competitions require judges to have specific credentials or courses under their belt. Be sure your judge meets all requirements.

  • Secure a reliable recording device and check the available recording space. Be sure there is enough memory space to record your workout as well as filming set ups and measurements. A spare recording device is a good idea as a fail safe, in case one camera stops working for any reason.

  • Don’t just lean your phone against a dumbbell or a box, use a stand for your phone or camera to ensure the recording device remains stable during the duration of the workout.

  • Fully charge your recording devices. If possible bring a charger and/or battery pack to the gym to power the devices while filming.

  • Wear clothing that contrasts with the gym background to allow better visibility of movement.

  • Choose royalty-free music (no copyright.) Some competitions review videos through YouTube or other public platforms, which will remove any videos with copyrighted music. Search Spotify or other music services for ‘royalty free’ or ‘no copyright’ playlists.

Setting up:

  • Measure out and set up the floor plan as closely as possible to the provided set up instructions (if they are provided).

  • Perform a recording test. Set up your recording devices and work through each of the movements making sure that they are fully captured and the view of the clock is unobstructed.

  • If possible, record at a ¾ angle from the front and set your device at least 1 meter or 3 feet off the ground.

  • Set up a Do Not Walk Zone, so that no one accidentally blocks the camera’s view of your workout.

  • If you are recording on a phone or a device with wifi/bluetooth, set it to airplane mode/do not disturb.

  • When you are ready to begin; lay out any measuring tapes on the floor beforehand then start recording on your devices. State your name and any relevant information for the workout and clearly show your measured floor plan and equipment. Return the recording devices to their location, proceed to your start position and begin.

  • Take your time when recording the setup, ensure that you can actually see the Pounds or Kilograms written on each plate. Make sure you can also see the numbers on the tape measure.

  • Make sure the attire and gear you are using are allowed within the rulebook of that competition. Here are a few rulebooks: CrossFit rulebook - IF3 rulebook - Wodapalooza rulebook.

The workout is done. Now what?

  • Before you stop the recording make sure you have filmed everything required. At the end of a workout sometimes you need to show all the plates used on the barbell after a max lift, or you have to look into the camera and speak a unique passcode. Online competitions require your video submission to be one long unedited video, so make sure you haven’t missed anything.

  • Watch your video! Review your own performance as soon as possible. Make sure that the recording devices captured the entire performance and that the appropriate reps and standards were maintained. Submitting a score for a workout that does not meet these criteria risks score invalidation and disqualification.

  • Upload your video to an online platform like YouTube as soon as possible. Remember the longer the video, the more time you need to upload, so make sure you give yourself enough time, to avoid unwarranted anxieties.

  • Go to a website like this to determine your internet upload speed. See if your home WIFI, gym WIFI, coffee shop WIFI, or your cell phone’s roaming data has the fastest uploading speeds. Connect to the fastest internet connection available. Do not use that phone or computer for any other purpose while the video is uploading. If you use your home WIFI; turn off any other electronic devices in your home that are connected to the internet, this can help increase the upload speed of your video.

  • If you have questions about the validity of your video or have difficulty uploading your score, send a link to your video along with your question to the support email of your competition before the submission deadline.  For the CrossFit Games this is support@crossfitgames.com. Wodapalooza is compete@thewodapaloooza.com.

  • Submit early. Some competitions hide the leaderboard until the competition window has closed, but some do not. There may be a strategic advantage to hiding your score until the last minute, but understand the risk of doing so. Most competitions will not accept late submissions under any circumstances.

  • Once you have submitted your score and it appears in your online portal, or on the online leaderboard, take a photo of the submission. This can be your last line of defense if there are technical issues to prove that your submission was put in on time. 

  • Understand that some competitions require video validation and some do not. For many competitions that do require videos, they may not require them at the time of submission. Be aware if you can submit your score earlier with no video and then provide the video at a later time. Don’t let the video upload time get in the way of meeting your submission deadlines!

Something has gone wrong, what do I do?

  • Your first and only course of action is to submit an appeal to the competition team.

  • Remember that the first step to giving yourself a strong chance of approval in an appeals process is to have as much evidence as possible to support your case. Following the guidelines in this article should be your first line of defense and will equip you with anything you might need for an appeal.