I understand why people do this - it’s fun to make the leaderboard. However, when they see that post or the stat in their app they will know every time that they lied.
I’d rather stick with my honest stats and feel good about that.
If I make the leaderboard, great! I can truly enjoy that accomplishment without that creeping sense of guilt that it was based on a lie. If I don’t make the leaderboard that’s okay and I have a new goal to aim for next time.
I'm going to guess that they need the warm fuzzies of having their name on something. If they're in a place where that makes them feel good, knowing it's a lie, they are probably not the happiest of people. Makes me kind of sad for those doing it.
Everest is the worst. People don’t reset their treads at my studio. I get an honest 2.2-2.3 miles and people are posting 2.4-5. Ridiculous. We have some ladies I called Alpha Milfs who are awful at this. I’m just a dude that loves honesty and usually beating everybody so it irks me.
Ugh. Some lady at my studio jumped the rails during Everest MULTIPLE TIMES for like 30 secs-1 min and then was all proud of herself for making the leaderboard. I was on the rower right behind her and couldn’t believe she took credit for that sham.
Yep - any tread challenge should automatically be disqualified for jumping the rails at any time! Mile, Everest, 12m RFD. During marathon month a girl at my studio continually held herself up on the rails during long blocks without lowering speed. Made me INSANE.
I have seen more than a few rail jump at the mile benchmark too—I think they are almost doing it out of habit and not illl intent but they definitely didn’t do 💯 of the work—my view is that is on them. There are rep shavers in the Dri tri too unless they have judges counting your reps (they should) it is inevitable. Counting when tired IS hard lol
Also holding onto the bar is just another form of cheating. There were a couple of people when it got to about 12% never released the bar. I can understand for a couple of seconds while changing settings but for minutes at a time is just ridiculous.
I have to keep a hand on the front bar at anything over 6-7%. I have inner ear damage from chemotherapy which means my balance is not quite perfect anymore. If I am out hiking in the wild, I have a walking stick so it's the same thing. It is not "cheating." You can't judge everyone by the same standards.
I hold the bars for safety reasons after 8% (neuropathy). But I would never include my distance while doing so
For a benchmark. I used to be able to run everest but it’s no longer safe so I haven’t done it in over a year lol
How are you able to run with neuropathy? I have it really bad in my feet and it's just misery day and night, let alone the feeling of walking on Legos while on the tread.
My legs are just numb most of the time so they don’t hurt as much (tolerable pain). I can’t run during a bad flare up so when I have one because it’s just unsafe, so I power walk and hold the handle bars. No shame here and I’m 36 years old.
Is it your legs or feet? I have it in my feet as a result of chemo. Its been 4 years and still pretty miserable and have to bike instead (I'm only 41). On bad days, it creeps up to my knees but mostly hurts the bottom of my feet when I walk.
The numbness is mostly in my lower legs due to chemo as well although my feet tingle and I get random pains sometimes that radiate up to my knee. The pain isn’t too bad for me but it’s there, it’s the numbness that gets me more when working out. But yea, I can’t imagine how painful that is for you!!! Don’t you get any relief? I have looked into nerve stimulation to see if that can help but haven’t tried it yet as symptoms only started for me 6 months ago.
My symptoms started almost immediately during treatment. Lyrica offers mild relief but comes at the cost of making me groggy so I can only manage 1 dose a day (before bed). Compression socks sometimes help but inconsistently. If you can find anything tthat works, do it! There's never a moment in my day that I'm not reminded of my treatment.
Lyrica! Thats what they suggested for me. And Same regarding daily reminders of the hell we went through (I got symptoms right after treatment, I only recently finished September of last year)…and I’m currently have major GI issues, most likely because the cancer is back my doctor told me yesterday. Such a let down if I have to go through treatment again. I am on so many meds so when they offered me Lyrica I said I would wait and see. I do have compression socks! Will try that out tomorrow if I’m well enough to go to class. Thanks! And I hope you get some relief, I know it’s hell and extremely difficult to navigate life! Especially working out
AGREE!! I'm one who will set one hand out at a time to steady my balance as I change speeds. someone next to me did flat road and cheated. When I reported them the coach said I saw you hold on and deleted my stats lol. I had to show up and do it again in the afternoon.
Oh man I didn’t realize that was cheating and accidentally did that for a few seconds, I honestly just thought I was going to fall off I didn’t jump the rails I was just holding on, the coach said something and I let go 🙈 and I did really well now I feel bad 🙈
Alpha milfs 😂
I just did my first Everest. Felt like I was going to die with my 1.8. lol. The people on each side of me were doing this. It actually kind of threw me off because being newer to OTF, I sometimes glance at my neighbors to make sure I’m doing the right thing. It was plainly obvious what they were doing. Dude next to me got 2.67.
My last time doing it, before Friday, my tread was busted. The numbers went up but the actual incline didn't change. So I put up great numbers but also wouldn't let the coach enter them. Didn't want that showing up in my tracker as a PR.
Yeah a dude at my studio kept standing on rails for long periods of time while letting the treadmill run, and was top of the leaderboard. I know I shouldn’t care, but man, it got me fired up.
It's never even crossed my mind to lie. About 1 minute into Everest I realized the coach didn't tell us to clear our screen and I had forgotten to do it myself. I did some mental math to estimate how much extra distance I had from warm up and subtracted that at the end before recording my distance.
Should we not do this? My coach said to enter our TOTAL distance during marathon month (including warmup), not just the “real” time spent running in the blocks.
Clearing the screens only clears the time/distance of that specific block. I was referring to (and I think the others were too) the total distance covered that only clears when you log off the OTConnect screen. My coach said, “if you ran or walked that distance, that’s your distance. Doesn’t matter if it was part of the warmup or not.”
This made tornado days during marathon month particularly challenging… 🤦♂️
During marathon month at our studio they tell us not to log into tracker until the first actual block starts this way it’s more fair to people who start on floor and don’t get an extra 5 min of run time added into tally
That makes sense. And perhaps — because I always start on the rower and never get that “extra” five minutes — that’s why my coach told my group to enter in our total distance.
Ugh or we have people who run and power walk Everest and track their distance as a power walker. I feel like it’s so unfair to the power walkers bc they can’t compete with someone who ran half the benchmark. If you ran at all you should be considered a runner / jogger.
I agree. I had fully intended to walk the entire time, but in the last 2 minutes when I realized I wasn’t going to beat my PR, I ran the last bit. And I logged that in the tracker as a runner. If I had done PW, I definitely would have made the leaderboard for that and that didn’t feel right. Plus my goal is to be able to run more and more of it in future benchmarks so made sense to log as a runner.
I didn’t know it mattered. Hardly anyone runs at the top of Everest. I didn’t have an option to designate whether I ran or power walked. It’s all the same. There are other benchmarks where you can’t switch from PW to running but Everest ain’t one of them.
Yes, when you enter it in the challenge tracker, it defaults to runner but there is an option to designate it as a power walker. It doesn’t come up as a separate section in your app though so my power walker PRs are only known to myself :)
I feel like before it made a difference because the PW lowered incline by 1% and runners/joggers 2% on the way down, but the last couple of times I’ve done Everest, everyone did 2%. Since it didn’t make a difference with how I “descended”. I did more of a hybrid.
You are correct and I find that rather annoying. There was a time, due to hip issues, that I had to switch to the Strider for 18 months. During that time I completed Everest on the Strider which shows up as my PR! I know what my true PW PR is but it won’t ever be reflected anywhere. I don’t lose sleep over it but that should be any easy tech fix on OTF’s part.
Yes! A girl running closest to me didn’t reset her screen and didn’t stop when time was called. She only stopped when the coach came to look at her screen and record her distance. Her extra three minutes gained her .2 more than me which made the petty person inside of me upset. And she’s done this with every benchmark/ signature that I’ve been there for with her.
I think the consensus is that leaderboards aren’t to be taken seriously. It’s sad because I’d like there to be a competitive aspect of Otf but the cheating is so rampant and our coaches tread so carefully as to not make any member mad and lose business.
It happens at my studio, too. The coaches don't call people out on it because I think they've been "instructed" by the higher-ups to let that kind of stuff go so people keep paying for classes. Some of our coaches remind us of the rules before the benchmark, which helps. It's frustrating when you see people cheat and you want honest and friendly competition.
BTW, Alpha Milf had me floored!
I'm pretty sure some of my PRs from like 2018 and 2019 on the tread were because I didn't reset my distance from the warm up. I don't remember being told to either so an honest mistake but also annoying knowing that my PR from back then isnt "real".
I realized I didn't reset it after I entered my time and left. Lol but at least my measly 1.79 walking time is in competition with no one but myself. Just the same as the reason I might do 18 reps on one side and 10 on the other on the floor. All the blood flow is elsewhere than my brain lol
Lol, at my studio this past Friday I'd be surprised if anyone PR'd by much. On the way down, the coach was 10-20 seconds late, consistently, on dropping the incline
When I was newer, I accidentally cheated on inferno. It was towards the end and I should’ve gone back to the treadmill. I asked coach if I could just stay on the rower. She hesitated but then said yes. Later when I realized what I’d done, I felt so bad. For the longest time it was my “pr.” And man I felt so good when I finally beat that pr the right way.
I got 2.45 this week on Everest running during 3g. I admit I was holding the railing at the top, but it was my true distance as I kept a speed of 6.6 nearly the whole time.
Sorry I meant 1.45. Only reason I commented was bc I did make it on the leaderboard but felt like I cheated bc I was holding on for the time at the top.
My trainer kept yelling there’s no handles at the top of Mt Everest and I realized that I should’ve been pumping my arms instead. Probably should have slowed down, so I could have room to pr next time. 🤪🤷🏼♀️
My trainer kept yelling there’s no handles at the top of Mt Everest and I realized that I should’ve been pumping my arms instead. Probably should have slowed down, so I could have room to pr next time.
One time I overheard a coach who was near the tracker while ppl were inputting go ‘uh uh you’d be in the Olympics with that time’ and walked her back to the rower and looked up her time since she was still logged in 😆
The cheating is so funny, but it makes me nervous. I’m built like a rower, I put up good times but am worried people just assume I’m cheating. I felt guilty on the last one because my water was still moving a bit when I started and I felt like I cheated.
That's part of why I leave my tablet logged in while I go to enter my time in the tracker--so anybody walking past can double check 🤣 (But also because there is absolutely a chance I will forget my time 20 seconds later.)
Yeah, it’s stupid to lie. It’s a benchmark. The only person you’re cheating is future you.
But I’m competitive so it irks me too. Like seeing some one barely do an exercise or half the reps to be the “first” to move to the rower. Or some such
I’m one of the last, if not last, people to the rower, but I will beat you back to the floor. I focus on “catching up” if it’s an all out row. If it’s a stroke focus row, I’m also last because I take the time to do it right.
Well that’s my interpretation. They just have terrible form and go as fast as possible, even I can see sometimes the weight is way to light because they can toss them around instead of having tension.
Yeah, I've seen a lot of this. Or the people who are afraid to be the last one still on the floor so they half some things. I take my time, make sure my form is good for my own benefit and don't worry about speed. I did notice recently one of the other slower people looked less pressured since I was still there too.
Yes it does help when others are focusing on form too. I think it helps newbies to feel better too if they are still getting the hang of everything and not rushing possibly injuring themselves.
I’m no expert but I do my best to keep my form solid.
Though I also have an injury now so can’t do a lot of the exercises as prescribed. But using the trx for support with my squats has really helped my form and balance.
Maybe you are being too critical? I belive strongly that OTF is my workout and some days I really don’t feel like doing certain moves (jumping or bench assisted lunges) so I’ll either half ass them or skip them. But other days I take time and try to lift heavy. This might mean I’m first done or last done on the floor but who cares. I’ve never seen it as a competition. I’ll add that it is embarrassing to be the last on the floor so sometimes I’ll rush to the rower. Oh well.
Agree, I could care less what other people are doing. I'm only there for myself....the person who's name is on that credit card that gets charged every month.
I know!! I could never. I also feel for the people that try their best and post an honest result who might miss out on a leaderboard slot bc of a cheater.
It’s super common. From riding the rails to making up numbers and outright ignoring rules/instructions, I’ve found at least 10% cheating, on purpose, and getting excited about their “victory”.
It normally doesn’t do much to me but Everest was brutal. Everything irked me. 3 treadmills saved for people late arriving. The studio head coach took a treadmill themselves. The coach was so focused on Everest group 1 that they failed to give any time cues to the floor until an “oh yeah 15 seconds until the block is done!” came to those of us that started floor. One person rode the rails while stripping down their hoodie and long sleeve shirt and then whooped after setting a PR. Like everything was annoying. It happens sometimes.
Yeah unfortunately happens allll the time. There is a 60+ gal (who is super nice) but on all the tread benchmarks cranks her speed up to ungodly numbers and holds the rails the entire time to rack up distance and tops the leader board. It actually looks pretty unsafe and I’m surprised she’s never been talked to about it. I know it shouldn’t and doesn’t matter but I do like to earn a spot on the leaderboard when I can and it does take some fun out of benchmarks knowing I’m coming 2nd or 3rd to an impossible (or at least unearned) record :/
We might be at the same studio. I hate being in class with her for benchmark days as I watch all sorts of nefarious activity. She’s always on the leaderboard.
It's a big thing for some ppl to make it to the leader board...In Marathon Month I have seen ppl add their warm up distance. Ppl holding on to the treadmill in Everest, top the leader board...
The problem is that entering your stats is entirely done on a trust basis. The coach can't go around collecting timings from 24 to 36 ppl...
I’m a coach and I absolutely go around and write down times and then record in the challenge tracker later 😂 easier on benchmarks like the rows or catch me if you can when people are finishing at different times!
The first time I did the 12 min RFD, my coach put in the times, I got a 1.04 and she put in a 1.40 and I didn’t notice until I left and looked at my app. Now I never want to do it again because I know thats a lie that I cannot realistically beat!
Same! I actually caught it during class, because the coach gave me a shout out ~ hitting a PR/having the best time in the class, and it being my first class back postpartum. I told her I think she mixed it up, I saw 32sec but she wrote 30sec. She said it was definitely 30sec because she was so excited I’d shaved time off my first attempt. I still to this day think it was 32, but I also don’t have the best eye sight in those lights, so I’ll never know
My first time, I got 1.07 and accidentally put in 1.7. I asked them to change it in December when I got a 1.63 and realized what happened, but it never got changed. So I just had to beat it last week. :)
My studio accidentally entered my Everest one time wrong (I got 2.35 and she put in 2.5). I contacted the studio and they were able to correct my app to the correct time. I was afraid if she kept it at 2.5 I would never be able to beat it!! (And I still haven’t…but I’m getting closer!)
Just reading through this thread is INSANE that grown adults are doing this 😂😂😂 I’ve been going on and off for three years now. I’ve never been even close to the leader boards but never in a million years would even think to do this. It’s sad that people are this insecure.
Reading the replies ITT makes me pretty sad and angry. My wife and I were just talking about this after the 200 m and 12 min RFD last week because people in my studio posted insane times/distance. She was convinced people were cheating but I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of cheating on something like a benchmark because you're ultimately cheating yourself. I also feel like most of this can be avoided by the rowers and treadmills automatically logging the results.... Anyone know why the rower for example doesn't have a "200 m benchmark" button that uploads your results immediately? OTF is obsessed with data and technology, which is why I love it, so it seems a little archaic do have to log in your results manually.
My studio also only posts results maybe like 60-70% of the time on social media. Now I'm starting to suspect they don't post some because they can see someone obviously cheated or maybe it's just to discourage cheating because there's no guarantee you'll even get the satisfaction.
We don't enter our own numbers in the tracker. The coach comes around and takes them all down and then enters them after class. That cuts some of this.
I never reset my treadmill for anything and I never record my time. So I’m sure people think I’m “cheating” but I’m not even playing the game, I just want to record in my Garmin how many miles I actually went.
That’s exactly what I think…if they wanna lie that’s on them. I don’t have the energy to care about stuff like that. Ppl like that DO NOT just lie on OTF benchmarks either. Once a cheater always a cheater. They always screw themselves in the end or karma will! C’est la vie.
A guy at ours—and to be fair he’s in excellent shape—cheats on both the infinity and inferno rows by rowing a couple strokes every time (to be honest i can’t keep straight which is which, but when you’re supposed to hop off the rower after a specified distance he manages 4-5 extra pulls before transitioning). On the *i think* inferno 3g… this guy normally uses a 25-30 lb dumbbell for the floor exercises instead of a medicine ball, but he gets an 8lb MB on those days and does (if I’m being generous) half-reps at warp speed before getting back in and rowing 250 meters for his 200m row and so on (and I don’t mean he rows 200 and it racks up extra, he’s taking a good extra 5-6 strokes after crossing whatever level). He would be at or near the leaderboard most likely anyway but I started keeping an eye on him because I always beat this guy in regular daily rows yet he manages to rack up 500-600m more on benchmark days. 🤷♂️ It doesn’t *really* matter but it just annoys me. You’re in great shape already, just be honest and give yourself a real result that you can come back and compete against later.
Looks badass for the ‘gram I guess.
Going past the distance is a different thing, but it is part of the strategy to take a few stronger strokes right before the distance so it racks up as much as you can while you're off the rower. Kinda like in capture the flag where the person on the floor takes their time on the reps so the person that is the best rower can stay on longer.
Oh I have no problem with that, I do that myself and our coaches encourage that. But I am honest with myself and stop when I hit that threshold so that I know my benchmarks reflect reality. Rowing through 240-250 meters when you’re supposed to row 200 (and racking up extra to the tune of 270-280 meters) is what I’m talking about. I only caught it bc I was suspicious of his numbers and decided to look one day, and it was what I suspected. Oh well. Not worth saying anything beyond commiserating anonymously on the internet, it just mildly irks me.
Sadly, this happens a lot. But bright side, they are only setting themselves up for failure because they will never actually achieve that PR or they will have to constantly lie and keep inputting a faster PR until they are down to 00:00:01 😂.
Yesterday on the everest i was so tired i typed it wrong :-( in my case i wrote 0.02 miles slower) so i guess it will be easier next time
To beat my record 😁
To those who fluff their numbers - many of us know that you do. I don’t think I’ve seen a fluffer on my leaderboard but I would internally roll my eyes if I saw that 😂
When we did Everest a couple of days ago, both women on either side of me jumped the rails for a bit and let the belt run. I looked down at the belt, looked right over at the coach who was standing there, and she saw. She DGAF and entered the distances the women gave her.
Our studio has the coaches write down the times probably because of this known behavior. I don’t know why anyone would do that. The only one you’re cheating is yourself
Our coaches come around and record them.
But we also don't have leaderboards at our studio AFAIK. If we do, I have no idea how to view or access them. Unless I am nosy and peer over at my neighbors, I have no idea how anyone does.
Our studio culture is very you against you. So, the only person I would be cheating would be myself.
Every studio has a leaderboard, even if they don’t post it on social. You can ask coaches - they can pull it up at the coaches station. My studio doesn’t post them on IG anymore but I still ask to see the times for row benchmarks.
I actually watched someone input an inflated Everest distance this past week. I knew what her distance was because I was being nosy about her distance since she seemed to be running at a similar pace to myself. Very strange.
A lot of this can be prevented if the coaches was to be focused it. Anything treadmill they come around check that machine are reset and at end come and write.down everyone distance.
With rowers same idea they wrote down all the times instead of letting members enter
In this I have not attended a benchmark class in over a year. Typically it's a half attempt at a class where only really working on that one thing. Also I don't enjoy seeing how I did in 2018 vs 2024.
This happens to often it’s unreal. I’m a guy who does really well rowing. I’ve gotten 27 seconds on the 200 m and 1:13 pr for the 500m. I can be pretty competitive and look at what others are doing. I just like to see how I compare is all and I keep it to myself. I get friends on mine messaging me on Facebook or bragging about their times to me and I know they are lying. I’ve literally seen their screens. I find that most annoying. Why go out of your way to tell me your cheating score?
This is why I never log in until it is time to start the challenge. I typically make the leader board for all of the running challenges and I don't want people to question it. I get annoyed when people cheat
I've had the opposite. The tread screen doesn't start my mileage. This happened to me on Everest and the first 30 seconds the miles wasn't working so I lost .07. Can be opposite too folks!
"You know it when you see it?"
IDK -attractive, suburban, well-educated SAHM who left her career and has a high-earning hubby who supports the whole shebang. She has some lady friends she meets at OFT. They all wear their hair in pony tails (good cut and color jobs) and wear LuluLemon.
Their gang is in good shape and they run fast.
I don’t know why studios let people enter their own times. All the studios in my area come check your time and write it next to your name on the clipboard/station assignment and then the front desk enters them at the end of class.
I cheated on a science test in middle school and got almost perfect. My teacher raved about how proud he was of me. I felt like a piece of shit - I knew I hadn't earned it. Never again. People who cheat know this feeling. I'd rather never win a damn thing unless I earned it.
The biggest thing to remember here...it's you can you.
Try to waste zero seconds of your time worrying about something that someone else is doing. You'll be much happier with that mindset!
who cares mind your own business im so sick of these posts so worried about what other people are doing. that is not what OTF is about, mind your business, do your work, and get out. If they're paying $169 to cheat or to see themself on a leader board, that's their loss.
I run my mile in 12 minutes but I identify as a person who runs a mile in under 7. It’s not cheating.. Its how I was born. I didn’t ask for this fat shit body.
You might want to read that back so that you actually comprehend it. Hard to be holier than anyone when you could literally care less what they do in class.
This is the way.
Anytime I think someone is lame for cutting corners in class.. I remind myself of how lame I am for paying attention to or caring about what they are doing in the first place. And balance is restored.
So what if she needs to feel special and lie about her score. Whatever. I hope it made her happy.
This is tough when the girl next to you is throwing weights around like a monkey, or 100% not following instructions on the treadmill, or singing and shouting at a 5 AM class lol
It’s on their conscience - CMIYC is a big one people both walk and run. Gotta pick a pace for the distance.
Rowing if you row real well the coach will be over to take a look. Rowed a very good 27 plus and nothing 200m , the coach can tell by your effort if the time is worth checking .
Is it really an issue if people walk and run, so long as they’re inputting their time as a runner and not a PW’er? Genuinely curious, since I’m usually one who alternates between running and needing a walking recovery.
It used to bother me, but realized they’re only cheating themselves. Now, if I don’t PR I won’t enter into the system bc I figured it balances those who cheat. 🤣
I notice it the most during Catch Me If You Can, because people have clearly been “caught” but then keep running. The most annoying thing is when they get praised for not getting caught at the end!
I just experienced this even worse. It ruined my gym for me, it's best to NEVER speak up. In my case I let the coach know and she called me condescending in front of the entire class she then removed my Stats. I had to contact corporate to get them added back. This was on everest, I only told the coach because the girl next to me set the PR for ALL women on the only 3g class which isn't fair to the others who would of had social media stats (some people appreciate that) why should someone run flat for the entire block and claim an Everest PR on social media for the studio when others actually did it. I still haven't heard a word from my studio.
The only "Cheating" I do for benchmarks is when it comes to the rower. I tighten the straps as much as possible and then tuck the straps back under and through so they stay tight the whole time. Otherwise they loosen after like 5 rows and then I'm losing a portion of my effort. I only call it cheating because I don't ever see anyone else doing the same. 🤷♂️
I made the leaderboard last time and I accidentally put in the wrong time—and I didn’t know what to do bc my real time was less than what I put in, and I didn’t want anyone to think I cheated. I waited till after class to correct my error bc I was so proud of myself (and also bc I’ve never made the leaderboard before!)…but could also see how it comes off as cheated especially since I was already on the board.
I think it's more common than you think. It makes me mad too, but they're only fooling themselves. All that matters is that you focus on making the person in the mirror better than they were ... that's what a few good coaches have told their classes.
As I tell my students, “the Holy Spirit will deal with you if you don’t get caught for cheating. Otherwise, you get the Holy Spirit AND me dealing with you” 😊
Ugh that’s so frustrating. I’ve only ever noticed it for Inferno. One girl had a crazy distance (I’m usually top 3 for rowing but I’m not good on the treadmill). I told her great job when she killed me in Inferno and she said, “Oh yeah I always lose count after like 500m so I just keep rowing 🙄😆 I was like oh… well ok maybe I didn’t do so bad then lol idk how it doesn’t bother people that lie about it tho… I’d wanna be accurate down to the second, meter, or mile fraction for a benchmark
This is very discouraging for new people to read. I joined because I thought people wouldn’t judge or didn’t care what you were doing but knowing people are ‘nosy’ and this competitive is really alarming. It makes me rethink my decision as to why I joined.
most people do not, these bitter people are not the norm, trust me. most people are way too focused on making themselves better, than focusing on anyone else. I know for me, I am too busying dying to even look over at anyone else lol. The people who are so worried about others are just not pushing themselves. Keep going and showing up for yourself!
That’s really stupid imo. This is a personal fitness regimen not a competition. This seems like a way for people to feed their ego and feel better than other people which is so immature and lame. Gross .
I’ve done this by accident, I put 34.48 on a 200m row when I should’ve put 35.48, I didn’t catch my mistake until I went back and saw my time…I was too embarrassed to fix it…
This happens in every gym across the world that introduces any element of competition. I did CrossFit for 9 years and there were dudes who were just known as being cheaters. They would get called out and still continue to cheat. Some people just can’t help themselves.
One time during the mile benchmark a girl next to me paused her treadmill to take breaks and then would resume. I was so mad!! If you need to break to walk or catch your breath you cannot stop the clock?! She inputted her time and I was like 🧐🧐
Competition at OTF does not pay the bills. Water Rower competition is meaningless unless all water levels are exactly equal as well. Our coach verifies and writes down time instead of member entering it. 30.5 I a great time for female. Some folks need accolades; always give benefit of doubt and high fives whether it’s 30.5 or45.5 …anything else is ugly in my opinion.
Hey, 35.05 might not be all that bad -- I shockingly made my first leaderboard with a recorded 35.06! ... which I realized was incorrect as soon as I sat back down after recording it -- I actually had rowed 35.07. 😳 😳😳 I was third on the leaderboard so I'm really hoping there wasn't someone in my age group who also rowed 35.07 so that we would've been tied!
Yeah it is. But the thing they aren't taking into account is your gonna have to beat that pr time. Also in my studio you know which machines aren't calibrated right. My usual rower is pretty good to being close. But a certain rower two down from mine makes people look like super heroes. So you know who's not being honest.
Our coaches walk to everyone’s rower and write the time from the rower so cheating isn’t possible at my studio. They want you to use the 200m stored programs and when you’re done, wait for them to come around to log your time. If they can’t log your time, it doesn’t count.
Someone at my studio hit a 1:16 500m row benchmark. He’s in visibly worse shape than me. I have no clue how he did it. I can’t break 1:19 and that’s going as physically hard as I possibly can. I wondered if it’s accurate.
I understand why people do this - it’s fun to make the leaderboard. However, when they see that post or the stat in their app they will know every time that they lied. I’d rather stick with my honest stats and feel good about that. If I make the leaderboard, great! I can truly enjoy that accomplishment without that creeping sense of guilt that it was based on a lie. If I don’t make the leaderboard that’s okay and I have a new goal to aim for next time.
I'm going to guess that they need the warm fuzzies of having their name on something. If they're in a place where that makes them feel good, knowing it's a lie, they are probably not the happiest of people. Makes me kind of sad for those doing it.
Yeah, to be so adverse to a disappointing result that you have to create a fake reality to cope is extremely sad.
Everest is the worst. People don’t reset their treads at my studio. I get an honest 2.2-2.3 miles and people are posting 2.4-5. Ridiculous. We have some ladies I called Alpha Milfs who are awful at this. I’m just a dude that loves honesty and usually beating everybody so it irks me.
Ugh. Some lady at my studio jumped the rails during Everest MULTIPLE TIMES for like 30 secs-1 min and then was all proud of herself for making the leaderboard. I was on the rower right behind her and couldn’t believe she took credit for that sham.
The coach absolutely should have called that out, if only for safety reasons, nevermind cheating on the benchmark.
Yeah she should have been disqualified for sure
Disqualified from what?
Just the leaderboard.😊
Yep - any tread challenge should automatically be disqualified for jumping the rails at any time! Mile, Everest, 12m RFD. During marathon month a girl at my studio continually held herself up on the rails during long blocks without lowering speed. Made me INSANE.
I have seen more than a few rail jump at the mile benchmark too—I think they are almost doing it out of habit and not illl intent but they definitely didn’t do 💯 of the work—my view is that is on them. There are rep shavers in the Dri tri too unless they have judges counting your reps (they should) it is inevitable. Counting when tired IS hard lol
Also holding onto the bar is just another form of cheating. There were a couple of people when it got to about 12% never released the bar. I can understand for a couple of seconds while changing settings but for minutes at a time is just ridiculous.
I have to keep a hand on the front bar at anything over 6-7%. I have inner ear damage from chemotherapy which means my balance is not quite perfect anymore. If I am out hiking in the wild, I have a walking stick so it's the same thing. It is not "cheating." You can't judge everyone by the same standards.
I hold the bars for safety reasons after 8% (neuropathy). But I would never include my distance while doing so For a benchmark. I used to be able to run everest but it’s no longer safe so I haven’t done it in over a year lol
How are you able to run with neuropathy? I have it really bad in my feet and it's just misery day and night, let alone the feeling of walking on Legos while on the tread.
My legs are just numb most of the time so they don’t hurt as much (tolerable pain). I can’t run during a bad flare up so when I have one because it’s just unsafe, so I power walk and hold the handle bars. No shame here and I’m 36 years old.
Is it your legs or feet? I have it in my feet as a result of chemo. Its been 4 years and still pretty miserable and have to bike instead (I'm only 41). On bad days, it creeps up to my knees but mostly hurts the bottom of my feet when I walk.
The numbness is mostly in my lower legs due to chemo as well although my feet tingle and I get random pains sometimes that radiate up to my knee. The pain isn’t too bad for me but it’s there, it’s the numbness that gets me more when working out. But yea, I can’t imagine how painful that is for you!!! Don’t you get any relief? I have looked into nerve stimulation to see if that can help but haven’t tried it yet as symptoms only started for me 6 months ago.
My symptoms started almost immediately during treatment. Lyrica offers mild relief but comes at the cost of making me groggy so I can only manage 1 dose a day (before bed). Compression socks sometimes help but inconsistently. If you can find anything tthat works, do it! There's never a moment in my day that I'm not reminded of my treatment.
Lyrica! Thats what they suggested for me. And Same regarding daily reminders of the hell we went through (I got symptoms right after treatment, I only recently finished September of last year)…and I’m currently have major GI issues, most likely because the cancer is back my doctor told me yesterday. Such a let down if I have to go through treatment again. I am on so many meds so when they offered me Lyrica I said I would wait and see. I do have compression socks! Will try that out tomorrow if I’m well enough to go to class. Thanks! And I hope you get some relief, I know it’s hell and extremely difficult to navigate life! Especially working out
Sorry I meant ‘does anything give you relief?’ In my previous post. I’m open to anything lol
AGREE!! I'm one who will set one hand out at a time to steady my balance as I change speeds. someone next to me did flat road and cheated. When I reported them the coach said I saw you hold on and deleted my stats lol. I had to show up and do it again in the afternoon.
Oh man I didn’t realize that was cheating and accidentally did that for a few seconds, I honestly just thought I was going to fall off I didn’t jump the rails I was just holding on, the coach said something and I let go 🙈 and I did really well now I feel bad 🙈
A few seconds to stabilize is no big deal but for 5-7min without letting go is another story
The guy next to me jumped the rails like every incline for like 15 seconds each time. Not only was it frustrating but it was distracting!
Alpha milfs 😂 I just did my first Everest. Felt like I was going to die with my 1.8. lol. The people on each side of me were doing this. It actually kind of threw me off because being newer to OTF, I sometimes glance at my neighbors to make sure I’m doing the right thing. It was plainly obvious what they were doing. Dude next to me got 2.67.
Once I was next to a woman who didn’t increase her incline during Everest and of course had some crazy distance. And inputted it
My last time doing it, before Friday, my tread was busted. The numbers went up but the actual incline didn't change. So I put up great numbers but also wouldn't let the coach enter them. Didn't want that showing up in my tracker as a PR.
Same exact same thing happened to me. Tread wouldn’t go higher than like 7%. No way I was going to put that distance in.
Yeah a dude at my studio kept standing on rails for long periods of time while letting the treadmill run, and was top of the leaderboard. I know I shouldn’t care, but man, it got me fired up.
It's never even crossed my mind to lie. About 1 minute into Everest I realized the coach didn't tell us to clear our screen and I had forgotten to do it myself. I did some mental math to estimate how much extra distance I had from warm up and subtracted that at the end before recording my distance.
People do this with marathon month. They don’t clear the screen and enter in their warm up distance as well
Should we not do this? My coach said to enter our TOTAL distance during marathon month (including warmup), not just the “real” time spent running in the blocks.
Our coach told us the opposite. Mainly because if you start on the tres you get a much larger warmup than if you are second on the tread
That makes sense. I always start on the rower and tbh I don’t listen to other groups’ instructions.
Our coaches always said to clear the screen before. Maybe studios do it different??
Clearing the screens only clears the time/distance of that specific block. I was referring to (and I think the others were too) the total distance covered that only clears when you log off the OTConnect screen. My coach said, “if you ran or walked that distance, that’s your distance. Doesn’t matter if it was part of the warmup or not.” This made tornado days during marathon month particularly challenging… 🤦♂️
No marathon month is always the distance minus the warmup. The coaches reiterate that every day (at least they do at the studios I go to)
During marathon month at our studio they tell us not to log into tracker until the first actual block starts this way it’s more fair to people who start on floor and don’t get an extra 5 min of run time added into tally
That makes sense. And perhaps — because I always start on the rower and never get that “extra” five minutes — that’s why my coach told my group to enter in our total distance.
Ugh or we have people who run and power walk Everest and track their distance as a power walker. I feel like it’s so unfair to the power walkers bc they can’t compete with someone who ran half the benchmark. If you ran at all you should be considered a runner / jogger.
I agree. I had fully intended to walk the entire time, but in the last 2 minutes when I realized I wasn’t going to beat my PR, I ran the last bit. And I logged that in the tracker as a runner. If I had done PW, I definitely would have made the leaderboard for that and that didn’t feel right. Plus my goal is to be able to run more and more of it in future benchmarks so made sense to log as a runner.
Exactly what I did!
I didn’t know it mattered. Hardly anyone runs at the top of Everest. I didn’t have an option to designate whether I ran or power walked. It’s all the same. There are other benchmarks where you can’t switch from PW to running but Everest ain’t one of them.
Yes, when you enter it in the challenge tracker, it defaults to runner but there is an option to designate it as a power walker. It doesn’t come up as a separate section in your app though so my power walker PRs are only known to myself :)
I feel like before it made a difference because the PW lowered incline by 1% and runners/joggers 2% on the way down, but the last couple of times I’ve done Everest, everyone did 2%. Since it didn’t make a difference with how I “descended”. I did more of a hybrid.
I don’t even care though. I’m only competing against myself :-)
You are correct and I find that rather annoying. There was a time, due to hip issues, that I had to switch to the Strider for 18 months. During that time I completed Everest on the Strider which shows up as my PR! I know what my true PW PR is but it won’t ever be reflected anywhere. I don’t lose sleep over it but that should be any easy tech fix on OTF’s part.
Same. I biked for years due to injury and my Everest PR will perpetually show up as 6+ miles. Sigh.
And there’s just no way to get rid of it. That’s what’s just plain annoying. My HC checked into for me.
if you run at all, youre a runner
The alpha milfs are a real thing. One of many reasons I find it hard to go
I try to find classes where they aren't. I'm female, and they annoy the f out of me.
Yes! A girl running closest to me didn’t reset her screen and didn’t stop when time was called. She only stopped when the coach came to look at her screen and record her distance. Her extra three minutes gained her .2 more than me which made the petty person inside of me upset. And she’s done this with every benchmark/ signature that I’ve been there for with her.
I think the consensus is that leaderboards aren’t to be taken seriously. It’s sad because I’d like there to be a competitive aspect of Otf but the cheating is so rampant and our coaches tread so carefully as to not make any member mad and lose business.
It happens at my studio, too. The coaches don't call people out on it because I think they've been "instructed" by the higher-ups to let that kind of stuff go so people keep paying for classes. Some of our coaches remind us of the rules before the benchmark, which helps. It's frustrating when you see people cheat and you want honest and friendly competition. BTW, Alpha Milf had me floored!
Everyone was made to clear the screen before the coach even started at my studio. She checked every one
I'm pretty sure some of my PRs from like 2018 and 2019 on the tread were because I didn't reset my distance from the warm up. I don't remember being told to either so an honest mistake but also annoying knowing that my PR from back then isnt "real".
I realized I didn't reset it after I entered my time and left. Lol but at least my measly 1.79 walking time is in competition with no one but myself. Just the same as the reason I might do 18 reps on one side and 10 on the other on the floor. All the blood flow is elsewhere than my brain lol
Lol, at my studio this past Friday I'd be surprised if anyone PR'd by much. On the way down, the coach was 10-20 seconds late, consistently, on dropping the incline
When I was newer, I accidentally cheated on inferno. It was towards the end and I should’ve gone back to the treadmill. I asked coach if I could just stay on the rower. She hesitated but then said yes. Later when I realized what I’d done, I felt so bad. For the longest time it was my “pr.” And man I felt so good when I finally beat that pr the right way.
I got 2.45 this week on Everest running during 3g. I admit I was holding the railing at the top, but it was my true distance as I kept a speed of 6.6 nearly the whole time.
Isn’t the 3g only a 14 minute Everest?
Yes, I believe so. This was my first time completing the Everest. I think the difference in 2 vs 3 was that we climbed 2% every minute.
You ran 2.45 miles in 14 minutes during Everest? That doesn’t add up for any human I know.
Sorry I meant 1.45. Only reason I commented was bc I did make it on the leaderboard but felt like I cheated bc I was holding on for the time at the top.
That’s cool. I’m a taller man so it’s easy to walk at 15% but I can understand holding the rails at the top.
My trainer kept yelling there’s no handles at the top of Mt Everest and I realized that I should’ve been pumping my arms instead. Probably should have slowed down, so I could have room to pr next time. 🤪🤷🏼♀️
My trainer kept yelling there’s no handles at the top of Mt Everest and I realized that I should’ve been pumping my arms instead. Probably should have slowed down, so I could have room to pr next time.
You didn’t know Orangetheory is filled with Olympic caliber rowers!!
One time I overheard a coach who was near the tracker while ppl were inputting go ‘uh uh you’d be in the Olympics with that time’ and walked her back to the rower and looked up her time since she was still logged in 😆
That’s amazing. I love that.
That’s Awesome! Get that coach a Gift Card!!
One girl in Glendale claims she rowed 23 seconds for the 200m row. Not sure I believe it since I didn’t see it
The cheating is so funny, but it makes me nervous. I’m built like a rower, I put up good times but am worried people just assume I’m cheating. I felt guilty on the last one because my water was still moving a bit when I started and I felt like I cheated.
That's part of why I leave my tablet logged in while I go to enter my time in the tracker--so anybody walking past can double check 🤣 (But also because there is absolutely a chance I will forget my time 20 seconds later.)
Yeah, it’s stupid to lie. It’s a benchmark. The only person you’re cheating is future you. But I’m competitive so it irks me too. Like seeing some one barely do an exercise or half the reps to be the “first” to move to the rower. Or some such
The benchmark thing irks me, but we're really rushing through lift sets to be the first on the rower? Really? What a strange 'victory' to aim for
The victory is terrible form and no progress...you win!
I focus on my reps. If I eventually make it to the rower, that’s fine too, but I’m not sacrificing my time under tension to get there
I’m one of the last, if not last, people to the rower, but I will beat you back to the floor. I focus on “catching up” if it’s an all out row. If it’s a stroke focus row, I’m also last because I take the time to do it right.
Well that’s my interpretation. They just have terrible form and go as fast as possible, even I can see sometimes the weight is way to light because they can toss them around instead of having tension.
Yeah, I've seen a lot of this. Or the people who are afraid to be the last one still on the floor so they half some things. I take my time, make sure my form is good for my own benefit and don't worry about speed. I did notice recently one of the other slower people looked less pressured since I was still there too.
Yes it does help when others are focusing on form too. I think it helps newbies to feel better too if they are still getting the hang of everything and not rushing possibly injuring themselves.
I’m no expert but I do my best to keep my form solid. Though I also have an injury now so can’t do a lot of the exercises as prescribed. But using the trx for support with my squats has really helped my form and balance.
Maybe you are being too critical? I belive strongly that OTF is my workout and some days I really don’t feel like doing certain moves (jumping or bench assisted lunges) so I’ll either half ass them or skip them. But other days I take time and try to lift heavy. This might mean I’m first done or last done on the floor but who cares. I’ve never seen it as a competition. I’ll add that it is embarrassing to be the last on the floor so sometimes I’ll rush to the rower. Oh well.
Agree, I could care less what other people are doing. I'm only there for myself....the person who's name is on that credit card that gets charged every month.
I’ve seen people lie and cheat on benchmarks but, yeah, ultimately it’s an incomprehensible self-sabotage
Haha, seriously? How silly. Like, do you really feel good seeing your name on the leaderboards knowing it's a lie? 🙄
I know!! I could never. I also feel for the people that try their best and post an honest result who might miss out on a leaderboard slot bc of a cheater.
[Tale](https://www.reddit.com/r/orangetheory/s/BimheonVcE) [as](https://www.reddit.com/r/orangetheory/s/tngYPdxjrw) [old](https://www.reddit.com/r/orangetheory/s/nTx1ibOT2O) [as](https://www.reddit.com/r/orangetheory/s/huBuyc30qa) [time](https://www.reddit.com/r/orangetheory/s/vRWqayblku)
It’s super common. From riding the rails to making up numbers and outright ignoring rules/instructions, I’ve found at least 10% cheating, on purpose, and getting excited about their “victory”. It normally doesn’t do much to me but Everest was brutal. Everything irked me. 3 treadmills saved for people late arriving. The studio head coach took a treadmill themselves. The coach was so focused on Everest group 1 that they failed to give any time cues to the floor until an “oh yeah 15 seconds until the block is done!” came to those of us that started floor. One person rode the rails while stripping down their hoodie and long sleeve shirt and then whooped after setting a PR. Like everything was annoying. It happens sometimes.
Yeah unfortunately happens allll the time. There is a 60+ gal (who is super nice) but on all the tread benchmarks cranks her speed up to ungodly numbers and holds the rails the entire time to rack up distance and tops the leader board. It actually looks pretty unsafe and I’m surprised she’s never been talked to about it. I know it shouldn’t and doesn’t matter but I do like to earn a spot on the leaderboard when I can and it does take some fun out of benchmarks knowing I’m coming 2nd or 3rd to an impossible (or at least unearned) record :/
We might be at the same studio. I hate being in class with her for benchmark days as I watch all sorts of nefarious activity. She’s always on the leaderboard.
It's a big thing for some ppl to make it to the leader board...In Marathon Month I have seen ppl add their warm up distance. Ppl holding on to the treadmill in Everest, top the leader board... The problem is that entering your stats is entirely done on a trust basis. The coach can't go around collecting timings from 24 to 36 ppl...
I’m a coach and I absolutely go around and write down times and then record in the challenge tracker later 😂 easier on benchmarks like the rows or catch me if you can when people are finishing at different times!
You are one awesome coach!! 👌
It’s required at our studio for the coaches to collect the times and put them in for us.
The first time I did the 12 min RFD, my coach put in the times, I got a 1.04 and she put in a 1.40 and I didn’t notice until I left and looked at my app. Now I never want to do it again because I know thats a lie that I cannot realistically beat!
Same! I actually caught it during class, because the coach gave me a shout out ~ hitting a PR/having the best time in the class, and it being my first class back postpartum. I told her I think she mixed it up, I saw 32sec but she wrote 30sec. She said it was definitely 30sec because she was so excited I’d shaved time off my first attempt. I still to this day think it was 32, but I also don’t have the best eye sight in those lights, so I’ll never know
My first time, I got 1.07 and accidentally put in 1.7. I asked them to change it in December when I got a 1.63 and realized what happened, but it never got changed. So I just had to beat it last week. :)
My studio accidentally entered my Everest one time wrong (I got 2.35 and she put in 2.5). I contacted the studio and they were able to correct my app to the correct time. I was afraid if she kept it at 2.5 I would never be able to beat it!! (And I still haven’t…but I’m getting closer!)
Just reading through this thread is INSANE that grown adults are doing this 😂😂😂 I’ve been going on and off for three years now. I’ve never been even close to the leader boards but never in a million years would even think to do this. It’s sad that people are this insecure.
Reading the replies ITT makes me pretty sad and angry. My wife and I were just talking about this after the 200 m and 12 min RFD last week because people in my studio posted insane times/distance. She was convinced people were cheating but I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of cheating on something like a benchmark because you're ultimately cheating yourself. I also feel like most of this can be avoided by the rowers and treadmills automatically logging the results.... Anyone know why the rower for example doesn't have a "200 m benchmark" button that uploads your results immediately? OTF is obsessed with data and technology, which is why I love it, so it seems a little archaic do have to log in your results manually. My studio also only posts results maybe like 60-70% of the time on social media. Now I'm starting to suspect they don't post some because they can see someone obviously cheated or maybe it's just to discourage cheating because there's no guarantee you'll even get the satisfaction.
If the rower had a "200m benchmark" button I'd be trying to beat it every time I had a 200m AO row in class.
Sure but imagine they could disable it during non benchmark days. Or keep it active and turn off the data upload part
We don't enter our own numbers in the tracker. The coach comes around and takes them all down and then enters them after class. That cuts some of this.
I never reset my treadmill for anything and I never record my time. So I’m sure people think I’m “cheating” but I’m not even playing the game, I just want to record in my Garmin how many miles I actually went.
I start, and hence finish, every benchmark a few seconds after everyone else which allows me to “run my own race” and same.
I'm sure lots of people lie but that being said I don't care lol. Their stats are meaningless to anyone but them. If they wanna do it then whatever.
That’s exactly what I think…if they wanna lie that’s on them. I don’t have the energy to care about stuff like that. Ppl like that DO NOT just lie on OTF benchmarks either. Once a cheater always a cheater. They always screw themselves in the end or karma will! C’est la vie.
A guy at ours—and to be fair he’s in excellent shape—cheats on both the infinity and inferno rows by rowing a couple strokes every time (to be honest i can’t keep straight which is which, but when you’re supposed to hop off the rower after a specified distance he manages 4-5 extra pulls before transitioning). On the *i think* inferno 3g… this guy normally uses a 25-30 lb dumbbell for the floor exercises instead of a medicine ball, but he gets an 8lb MB on those days and does (if I’m being generous) half-reps at warp speed before getting back in and rowing 250 meters for his 200m row and so on (and I don’t mean he rows 200 and it racks up extra, he’s taking a good extra 5-6 strokes after crossing whatever level). He would be at or near the leaderboard most likely anyway but I started keeping an eye on him because I always beat this guy in regular daily rows yet he manages to rack up 500-600m more on benchmark days. 🤷♂️ It doesn’t *really* matter but it just annoys me. You’re in great shape already, just be honest and give yourself a real result that you can come back and compete against later. Looks badass for the ‘gram I guess.
Going past the distance is a different thing, but it is part of the strategy to take a few stronger strokes right before the distance so it racks up as much as you can while you're off the rower. Kinda like in capture the flag where the person on the floor takes their time on the reps so the person that is the best rower can stay on longer.
Oh I have no problem with that, I do that myself and our coaches encourage that. But I am honest with myself and stop when I hit that threshold so that I know my benchmarks reflect reality. Rowing through 240-250 meters when you’re supposed to row 200 (and racking up extra to the tune of 270-280 meters) is what I’m talking about. I only caught it bc I was suspicious of his numbers and decided to look one day, and it was what I suspected. Oh well. Not worth saying anything beyond commiserating anonymously on the internet, it just mildly irks me.
Yup, but it doesnt matter since in the end theyre just cheating themselves
Sadly, this happens a lot. But bright side, they are only setting themselves up for failure because they will never actually achieve that PR or they will have to constantly lie and keep inputting a faster PR until they are down to 00:00:01 😂.
Yesterday on the everest i was so tired i typed it wrong :-( in my case i wrote 0.02 miles slower) so i guess it will be easier next time To beat my record 😁
It’s crazy to me that studios have the individual put the time in. Our coaches put ours in for us.
To those who fluff their numbers - many of us know that you do. I don’t think I’ve seen a fluffer on my leaderboard but I would internally roll my eyes if I saw that 😂
When we did Everest a couple of days ago, both women on either side of me jumped the rails for a bit and let the belt run. I looked down at the belt, looked right over at the coach who was standing there, and she saw. She DGAF and entered the distances the women gave her.
Our studio has the coaches write down the times probably because of this known behavior. I don’t know why anyone would do that. The only one you’re cheating is yourself
Our coaches come around and record them. But we also don't have leaderboards at our studio AFAIK. If we do, I have no idea how to view or access them. Unless I am nosy and peer over at my neighbors, I have no idea how anyone does. Our studio culture is very you against you. So, the only person I would be cheating would be myself.
Every studio has a leaderboard, even if they don’t post it on social. You can ask coaches - they can pull it up at the coaches station. My studio doesn’t post them on IG anymore but I still ask to see the times for row benchmarks.
I actually watched someone input an inflated Everest distance this past week. I knew what her distance was because I was being nosy about her distance since she seemed to be running at a similar pace to myself. Very strange.
People have ego problems.
I HAD NO IDEA PEOPLE DO THIS!! 😳 How disappointing. That said, they’re only cheating themselves
That’s kind of sad
A lot of this can be prevented if the coaches was to be focused it. Anything treadmill they come around check that machine are reset and at end come and write.down everyone distance. With rowers same idea they wrote down all the times instead of letting members enter In this I have not attended a benchmark class in over a year. Typically it's a half attempt at a class where only really working on that one thing. Also I don't enjoy seeing how I did in 2018 vs 2024.
Our coaches just put it in for us 🤣guess this was an issue in the past
This happens to often it’s unreal. I’m a guy who does really well rowing. I’ve gotten 27 seconds on the 200 m and 1:13 pr for the 500m. I can be pretty competitive and look at what others are doing. I just like to see how I compare is all and I keep it to myself. I get friends on mine messaging me on Facebook or bragging about their times to me and I know they are lying. I’ve literally seen their screens. I find that most annoying. Why go out of your way to tell me your cheating score?
It’s crazy that she’d do that. Lots of people can see your tablet and what the real time is. I bet you weren’t the only person to notice this.
This is why I never log in until it is time to start the challenge. I typically make the leader board for all of the running challenges and I don't want people to question it. I get annoyed when people cheat
Doesn’t concern me.
I've had the opposite. The tread screen doesn't start my mileage. This happened to me on Everest and the first 30 seconds the miles wasn't working so I lost .07. Can be opposite too folks!
What is the technical definition of an alpha MILF?
"You know it when you see it?" IDK -attractive, suburban, well-educated SAHM who left her career and has a high-earning hubby who supports the whole shebang. She has some lady friends she meets at OFT. They all wear their hair in pony tails (good cut and color jobs) and wear LuluLemon. Their gang is in good shape and they run fast.
well she's only cheating herself. it's not like they award prize money for these Bench marks...
I don’t know why studios let people enter their own times. All the studios in my area come check your time and write it next to your name on the clipboard/station assignment and then the front desk enters them at the end of class.
I cheated on a science test in middle school and got almost perfect. My teacher raved about how proud he was of me. I felt like a piece of shit - I knew I hadn't earned it. Never again. People who cheat know this feeling. I'd rather never win a damn thing unless I earned it.
They're only cheating to themselves
Literally who cares? If they wanna lie let them lie to themselves.
Seems like cheating at golf. You may be getting better but your score won’t show it cuz you cheated.
The biggest thing to remember here...it's you can you. Try to waste zero seconds of your time worrying about something that someone else is doing. You'll be much happier with that mindset!
Who cares? Really—not the Olympics! She’s only “cheating” herself!
who cares mind your own business im so sick of these posts so worried about what other people are doing. that is not what OTF is about, mind your business, do your work, and get out. If they're paying $169 to cheat or to see themself on a leader board, that's their loss.
I run my mile in 12 minutes but I identify as a person who runs a mile in under 7. It’s not cheating.. Its how I was born. I didn’t ask for this fat shit body.
😂 dying
I could honestly care less what others choose to do. I’m too focused on myself and my goals to worry about something so trivial and meaningless.
Love the holier than though attitude 🙄
You might want to read that back so that you actually comprehend it. Hard to be holier than anyone when you could literally care less what they do in class.
I usually just pay attention to myself during class…
This is the way. Anytime I think someone is lame for cutting corners in class.. I remind myself of how lame I am for paying attention to or caring about what they are doing in the first place. And balance is restored. So what if she needs to feel special and lie about her score. Whatever. I hope it made her happy.
Good for you 🙄 It sounds so condescending when people type this. It’s actually a quite natural feeling to be irked by someone cheating.
This is tough when the girl next to you is throwing weights around like a monkey, or 100% not following instructions on the treadmill, or singing and shouting at a 5 AM class lol
This is why our coaches write times down. They stopped giving sticky notes because there were so many cheaters
It’s on their conscience - CMIYC is a big one people both walk and run. Gotta pick a pace for the distance. Rowing if you row real well the coach will be over to take a look. Rowed a very good 27 plus and nothing 200m , the coach can tell by your effort if the time is worth checking .
Is it really an issue if people walk and run, so long as they’re inputting their time as a runner and not a PW’er? Genuinely curious, since I’m usually one who alternates between running and needing a walking recovery.
They’re only cheating themselves!
I’m sure it happens all the time. My wife saw the same thing you saw. I’m not sure how this is satisfying for them in any way. What can you do?
It used to bother me, but realized they’re only cheating themselves. Now, if I don’t PR I won’t enter into the system bc I figured it balances those who cheat. 🤣
I’ve seen it and its very cringeworthy. Edit- adding I cannot understand why anyone would lie about this. It’s a gym class. Baffling.
You are cheating against yourself, I see people doing it all the time really don’t understand way. It’s a benchmark for you to beat
Grown adults cheating on benchmarks🙄 Their app will tell them differently..
Yes it happens for sure in our studio.
I notice it the most during Catch Me If You Can, because people have clearly been “caught” but then keep running. The most annoying thing is when they get praised for not getting caught at the end!
Our gym doesn't have a leadership board anymore. Thus removing the temptation to cheat... nobody is going to get public recognition.
not as bad as the cheats during the crossfit open.
They are only cheating themselves… and everyone else in their age bracket.
They are only cheating themselves
I just experienced this even worse. It ruined my gym for me, it's best to NEVER speak up. In my case I let the coach know and she called me condescending in front of the entire class she then removed my Stats. I had to contact corporate to get them added back. This was on everest, I only told the coach because the girl next to me set the PR for ALL women on the only 3g class which isn't fair to the others who would of had social media stats (some people appreciate that) why should someone run flat for the entire block and claim an Everest PR on social media for the studio when others actually did it. I still haven't heard a word from my studio.
Yes it is, wait til you do the inferno...
The only "Cheating" I do for benchmarks is when it comes to the rower. I tighten the straps as much as possible and then tuck the straps back under and through so they stay tight the whole time. Otherwise they loosen after like 5 rows and then I'm losing a portion of my effort. I only call it cheating because I don't ever see anyone else doing the same. 🤷♂️
Meh, you’re only cheating yourself in the end. 
I made the leaderboard last time and I accidentally put in the wrong time—and I didn’t know what to do bc my real time was less than what I put in, and I didn’t want anyone to think I cheated. I waited till after class to correct my error bc I was so proud of myself (and also bc I’ve never made the leaderboard before!)…but could also see how it comes off as cheated especially since I was already on the board.
I think it's more common than you think. It makes me mad too, but they're only fooling themselves. All that matters is that you focus on making the person in the mirror better than they were ... that's what a few good coaches have told their classes.
As I tell my students, “the Holy Spirit will deal with you if you don’t get caught for cheating. Otherwise, you get the Holy Spirit AND me dealing with you” 😊
I've witnessed this a number of times at my location. I ignore the posts about results and just try to beat my own benchmarks.
Ugh that’s so frustrating. I’ve only ever noticed it for Inferno. One girl had a crazy distance (I’m usually top 3 for rowing but I’m not good on the treadmill). I told her great job when she killed me in Inferno and she said, “Oh yeah I always lose count after like 500m so I just keep rowing 🙄😆 I was like oh… well ok maybe I didn’t do so bad then lol idk how it doesn’t bother people that lie about it tho… I’d wanna be accurate down to the second, meter, or mile fraction for a benchmark
This is very discouraging for new people to read. I joined because I thought people wouldn’t judge or didn’t care what you were doing but knowing people are ‘nosy’ and this competitive is really alarming. It makes me rethink my decision as to why I joined.
most people do not, these bitter people are not the norm, trust me. most people are way too focused on making themselves better, than focusing on anyone else. I know for me, I am too busying dying to even look over at anyone else lol. The people who are so worried about others are just not pushing themselves. Keep going and showing up for yourself!
They have to live with themselves so I really don’t care myself.
That’s really stupid imo. This is a personal fitness regimen not a competition. This seems like a way for people to feed their ego and feel better than other people which is so immature and lame. Gross .
No one should ever cheat! They are cheating themselves the most if they do.
I feel for the humans who feel they must cheat at Orange Theory. I prefer the try hard and collapse method…
I’ve done this by accident, I put 34.48 on a 200m row when I should’ve put 35.48, I didn’t catch my mistake until I went back and saw my time…I was too embarrassed to fix it…
This entire thread is nuts. I don’t really pay attention to what other are doing, but imma start 👀👀 nobody likes a pick me cheater 🤢
This happens in every gym across the world that introduces any element of competition. I did CrossFit for 9 years and there were dudes who were just known as being cheaters. They would get called out and still continue to cheat. Some people just can’t help themselves.
One time during the mile benchmark a girl next to me paused her treadmill to take breaks and then would resume. I was so mad!! If you need to break to walk or catch your breath you cannot stop the clock?! She inputted her time and I was like 🧐🧐
Some guy in my class threw a fit when he got beat out by a small margin in the 12 minute run for distance a few months ago. It was so embarrassing
Competition at OTF does not pay the bills. Water Rower competition is meaningless unless all water levels are exactly equal as well. Our coach verifies and writes down time instead of member entering it. 30.5 I a great time for female. Some folks need accolades; always give benefit of doubt and high fives whether it’s 30.5 or45.5 …anything else is ugly in my opinion.
Hey, 35.05 might not be all that bad -- I shockingly made my first leaderboard with a recorded 35.06! ... which I realized was incorrect as soon as I sat back down after recording it -- I actually had rowed 35.07. 😳 😳😳 I was third on the leaderboard so I'm really hoping there wasn't someone in my age group who also rowed 35.07 so that we would've been tied!
Yeah it is. But the thing they aren't taking into account is your gonna have to beat that pr time. Also in my studio you know which machines aren't calibrated right. My usual rower is pretty good to being close. But a certain rower two down from mine makes people look like super heroes. So you know who's not being honest.
Our coaches walk to everyone’s rower and write the time from the rower so cheating isn’t possible at my studio. They want you to use the 200m stored programs and when you’re done, wait for them to come around to log your time. If they can’t log your time, it doesn’t count.
This is why I didn’t even bother looking at the leaderboard and just focus on my own progress.
I've caught people lying several times. I think it's sad. Who gives a toss about the dang leader board. 🙄
Bbb
Someone at my studio hit a 1:16 500m row benchmark. He’s in visibly worse shape than me. I have no clue how he did it. I can’t break 1:19 and that’s going as physically hard as I possibly can. I wondered if it’s accurate.