A message about scaling. I’m sharing this with my clients tomorrow, and I figured I’d post it here first
- Thread starter expressforsuccess
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- crossfit
@joesailor61 Our gym has two of the 15# technique bars and one 5# mini bar. They’re so nice to have with some of our newer athletes and also some of our older athletes
@expressforsuccess how do YOU know i'm not going to the games in 2020
(heads up, i'm not going to the games in 2020)
great article and thoughts, thank you for sharing
(heads up, i'm not going to the games in 2020)
great article and thoughts, thank you for sharing
heatherolivia
New member
@expressforsuccess Thanks for this reminder!
Imho, it's equally as important to not feel ashamed to ask for the best way to scale down (given one's capacity on that day). I also appreciate that I have coaches that offer guidance without judgment - to them, it's more important that we move safely and as you said, hitting the intended stimulus (rather than to aim for RXes)
Imho, it's equally as important to not feel ashamed to ask for the best way to scale down (given one's capacity on that day). I also appreciate that I have coaches that offer guidance without judgment - to them, it's more important that we move safely and as you said, hitting the intended stimulus (rather than to aim for RXes)
@expressforsuccess I've been doing CrossFit for 5 years. In that time I've had 2 surgeries- 1 on my hand from a cross country ski accident (of all the sports to get hurt doing...) and 1 on my foot for a bunion that had become very painful. After the first surgery, when I was new to crossfit and just starting to be able to Rx a few things, I stayed out of the gym way longer than I needed to (3-4 months). Why? Because I'd worked hard to get to Rx and didn't want to go if that wasn't going to be possible. After the foot surgery, I was back in the gym as soon as I could drive (5-6 weeks) and for the first few weeks I. Modified. Everything. Within 3-4 months, I was back to most movements, but it took almost a year to run again. I learned during that time that 1) no one, including me, cared if I went Rx on a workout, 2) going to the gym and doing something, anything, was huge for both my mental and physical health, and 3) my coaches are really creative with awful ways to change things up and happy to help work around physical limitations to make sure I still got the best workout possible.
Now? I have 0 hangups about needing to Rx- If I can and still get the right stimulus, cool. If not, that's fine too. And my coaches purposely coach in way to encourage that kind of behavior. When explainging the workout they often give some criteria of what you need to be able to do if you want to Rx. For example, we might be doing something with strict pullups and they'll tell us that if your max is less than 5 strict, you should us a band (or another modification). I also really like that unless we're doing a named workout, the "prescribed" weight is a % of your 1 RM.
Now? I have 0 hangups about needing to Rx- If I can and still get the right stimulus, cool. If not, that's fine too. And my coaches purposely coach in way to encourage that kind of behavior. When explainging the workout they often give some criteria of what you need to be able to do if you want to Rx. For example, we might be doing something with strict pullups and they'll tell us that if your max is less than 5 strict, you should us a band (or another modification). I also really like that unless we're doing a named workout, the "prescribed" weight is a % of your 1 RM.
@dawn16 Totally unrelated to CFx, but dude! XC skiing can be more terrifying than DH on any given day. Icy , early AM descents into tight corners, no metal edges and wobbly boots... still gives me the shivers (and flashbacks- I could never figure out the wedge stop).
I’m only surprised more people don’t totally biff it on Nordics.
I’m only surprised more people don’t totally biff it on Nordics.
sistermaria
New member
@expressforsuccess Hey coach, my WOD today is 36 air squats, 12 hang power snatches @ 115, & 6 ring MUs AMRAP in 16min.
I’m functional at all of these movements, but the ring MUs will slow me down. I’m thinking of doing 3 MUs per round for a scale option to maintain intensity.
Scaling is important, let go of the ego and get more fit!
I’m functional at all of these movements, but the ring MUs will slow me down. I’m thinking of doing 3 MUs per round for a scale option to maintain intensity.
Scaling is important, let go of the ego and get more fit!
expressforsuccess
New member
@sistermaria LOVE it. Great call.
@expressforsuccess There was a guy on r/fat logic who was new to crossfit and infuriated the female coach was having him scale his workouts. Wish I could send him this!
tboymessiah
New member
@expressforsuccess If you think about every other training modality, you’re not performing at maximum effort every single training session. Look at 5/3/1, a basic strength program, you’re training numbers are based on 90% of 90% of your 1RM. Stop training with ego and train smart. Not every day is a competition day.
@expressforsuccess This is a really great write up and the type of quality posts we love here in this subreddit, thank you!
We should be taking a few minutes when talking about the workout at the whiteboard to briefly talk about the intention and stimulus of the workout for sure. At our gym we have considered also doing varied levels (masters Rx, Base, Fitness, etc) to give others options, though literally in the end people even scale off of the scale or find their own modifications that are literally tailored to them so we’ve just stuck to one “Rx” only and listed various scaling items that are push/pull/hinge/power/etc.
Any on-ramp program should focus on this piece entirely too as a key component of introducing someone to this methodology of training.
We should be taking a few minutes when talking about the workout at the whiteboard to briefly talk about the intention and stimulus of the workout for sure. At our gym we have considered also doing varied levels (masters Rx, Base, Fitness, etc) to give others options, though literally in the end people even scale off of the scale or find their own modifications that are literally tailored to them so we’ve just stuck to one “Rx” only and listed various scaling items that are push/pull/hinge/power/etc.
Any on-ramp program should focus on this piece entirely too as a key component of introducing someone to this methodology of training.
christhasrisen2000
New member
@expressforsuccess Excellent post/reminder.
When I first started, my coach always used to say "If you scale the workout, you'll still get somewhere between 80% and 90% of the RX workout. But more than that, you won't hurt yourself so you'll be able to come back tomorrow to work out, which puts you ahead of the game."
But as you point out, when you can RX the workout it takes extra effort to remind yourself that maybe you shouldn't. And that sometimes the reason isn't so much about intended stimulus but about not getting enough sleep the night before or about wanting to focus on a particular movement in the WOD that you're trying to improve on.
Thank you!
When I first started, my coach always used to say "If you scale the workout, you'll still get somewhere between 80% and 90% of the RX workout. But more than that, you won't hurt yourself so you'll be able to come back tomorrow to work out, which puts you ahead of the game."
But as you point out, when you can RX the workout it takes extra effort to remind yourself that maybe you shouldn't. And that sometimes the reason isn't so much about intended stimulus but about not getting enough sleep the night before or about wanting to focus on a particular movement in the WOD that you're trying to improve on.
Thank you!
kingsleyphang
New member
@expressforsuccess Perfectly said. I’ve been preaching this for years but this sums... well it’s not a summary... but explains it perfectly.
@expressforsuccess 5 year crossfitter and I scale often! I am not going to the games, I dont want to hurt myself, and I rather get the stimulus
@expressforsuccess How would you want to see someone scale a body weight movement they can do, but maybe volume isn’t there. Let’s say there are 20 chest to bar. You are good for like sets of 3’s. Would you rather have someone scale the movement or the reps? If I could do 7 in the time you can do 20, just do the 7? Something like that?
expressforsuccess
New member
@expressforsuccess this is my favorite post on i've ever seen on this subreddit, perfectly stated
expressforsuccess
New member
@expressforsuccess In about a year of CF I have slowly learned it.
I came from a powerlifting and bodybuilding background so during my strength sessions I was able to put out some of the larger numbers in my box (despite my technique being inferior to many other members).
So when it came to the WODS I had the mentality that because of my strength I should RX most work outs. Despite my coaches almost begging me not too. This lead to a few injuries, some burn out and me not finishing WODs within the time caps.
I have learned that I will probably get more benefit out of higher volume and more work done than a higher load and less overall work. And the risk to reward ratio is far lower.
I came from a powerlifting and bodybuilding background so during my strength sessions I was able to put out some of the larger numbers in my box (despite my technique being inferior to many other members).
So when it came to the WODS I had the mentality that because of my strength I should RX most work outs. Despite my coaches almost begging me not too. This lead to a few injuries, some burn out and me not finishing WODs within the time caps.
I have learned that I will probably get more benefit out of higher volume and more work done than a higher load and less overall work. And the risk to reward ratio is far lower.