There's a lot to be said for getting out there and doing some exercise. Not only is it good for you, but playing a sport can be a great way of meeting new people and, if you're competitive, letting that competitive streak loose. However, if you're not exactly a natural athlete but you still have that urge to compete, then it can be a little deflating when you fail to make the team yet again. Thankfully there are lots of other outlets for your competitive edge; you just need to look a little harder to find them. That's where we come in! None of these competitions require an ounce of athleticism, but sometimes brains, sometimes effort, and always determination.

Poker Tournaments

If you were always more of a studier than a sports player in high school then you'll hopefully have carried that finely tuned brain into adult life with you. There are lots of competitions that value brain power over all else, but it can be difficult to seek them out unless you live in a really big city. However, turning to the online sphere means the whole world is at your fingertips. Card tournaments are a great place to start because they're friendly, fun and, if you know where to look, they're free as well. Poker is one of the simpler card games to find tournaments for; you just need to search for freerolls online to find the ones that are free to enter. Free tournaments are a good place to start as you don't need to wager any money in order to be in with a shot at the prize. Only once you start getting good results in the freerolls should your buy-in poker tournaments begin. Of course, if you do happen to live in a bigger city then you might find that there are tournaments going on in 'real life' there too. These can be a good place for the more sociable card player and a great place for those who find that they're skilled at bluffing.

Gardening Competitions

Some people love the head-down concentration of card games, whilst others love to be out and about in the great outdoors. There's a lot to be said for gardening; it gets you out in the fresh air, provides you with gentle exercise, and you can grow enough food to feed your whole family in a surprisingly small space. One side of gardening that often gets left out, though, is the competitive element, There are all kinds of ways to make gardening competitive, from the small scale to the very large. In some neighbourhoods, you'll find gardening competitions, where the task is simply to make the most beautiful garden in your area. Others include vegetable growing competitions, where you might be required to grow the largest pumpkin or the most perfect ear of corn. If you can't find a competition near you then setting one up can be a great way to meet people with similar interests and share your produce with other locals.

Eating Competitions

If you really want the opposite of a sporting competition, then this sort of event is going to be right up your street. Eating competitions are taking off in a big way and it's not hard to see why, Most people would revel in the chance to eat five litres of icecream and it turns out that, if you can do it, then you could be a winner. There are two distinct routes to go down with eating competitions: you can either compete against the clock in huge matches with other competitors, or you can try and take down mammoth challenges in the local eateries that offer them. Many burger joints, or dessert palaces, offer your food for free, your photo on the wall and even sometimes cash prizes for finishing their most enormous dishes. If that doesn't feel like competition enough then there'll sometimes be a chow-down against other competitors at places like fairs. It might not be the healthiest hobby, but it sure is a fun one.