TBH even if the main agenda is not about the exchanges, I would say that exchanges do it specifically to increase the volume as well as gain a lot of fees from those trades because many noobs perform wash trades (scalping type trades) and believe they have arranged the volume needed to win some part.
Groupify it
I think you need to get a group of trustworthy people interested in doing group of trading all through one account, thus giving you higher chances of winning the competition.
Never do wash trades
Urgent trades will just not get you anywhere but make you lose a lot in fees and such trades are considered invalid, so doing them will not bring in win.
Spot better entry/exit points
These competitions give a boost to some unknown, yet reputed alts which get a chance to be on top all the time while being traded on the exchange most of the time. If you can spot better entry and exit points by switching to 30 mins and higher time-frames, you can be rest assured that even if you don't win something in the competition, you are still a winner in terms of making good profits because these coins always get volume needed to pump that coin higher and even if you get 10-20% from these coins, then it's free money for you on your investment.
Of course, following the good advice of professionals, adhering to certain rules and having good knowledge of trading, you can get not a bad income from cryptocurrency trading, without any problems replacing any work, including physical labor. But you need to consider some facts that affect the results of the trader. This is primarily experience and professionalism, as well as the current situation on the cryptocurrency market. As an example, we can take what is happening on the market today, November 21. Many beginners with big eyes look at the reviews of many traders about the results of their activities and such incomes drive people crazy who think that trading and getting good results is very easy.