Can someone explain RX v scaled scoring?

[john6574]

This is my first open so Sorry for what may be a simple question for veterans. I’ve also checked the CrossFit site and I can’t a real answer on there.

Can someone explain the scoring between RX and Scaled and how it impacts going from Rx to scaled between workouts?

I did 24.1 and am in 92% for men worldwide and 94% for age group, so I’d like to try and get another good score but I can’t do double unders for 24.2.

Any help would be great

 

[srutz]

@john6574 All Rx scores are ranked higher than all scaled scores. If you row 300m, do 10 DL's at 185/125#, and then end the workout, your score will be higher than if you did 20 rounds scaled.

 

[nonamend]

@srutz Just rephrasing for clarity. #1 scaled score is one spot below the worst rx score entered.

 

[cherrystrawberrydrop]

@nonamend Yeah someone told me to do RX and just do my right side and be done. I decided not to because I got under the time cap which was my goal for scaled.

 

[john6574]

@srutz That seems really strange to me but I really appreciate the insight. Guess I’ve got a decision to make.

I think I’ll spend the weekend practicing DUs and submit on Monday

 

[fair2light]

@john6574 I’m super old (in F60-64) and despite not being able to do more than single/single/double/stop, I managed to get 93 DUs today, if that makes you feel better

 

[srutz]

@fair2light Great job!

 

[fair2light]

@srutz Thank you! I was sure I wasn’t going to out of the first round, so I’m super happy. Hit a new max HR too

 

[pterinochilus]

@fair2light Well done, I love seeing everyone in my gym and on here crush it during the open. Awesome score on those DUs!

 

[1corithians13]

@john6574 It makes sense, otherwise you’d have people cherry picking which workout to do to maximize their score which is totally unfair.

Think about .1 - you crushed it. How would you feel if you were below someone who did a lighter dumbbell?

 

[john6574]

@1corithians13 Oh I absolutely agree with the tiered scoring but I just think there is more merit than a the lowest RX score if someone was to do 10 rounds of scaled.

There are so many ways you could cut it though, so might as well accept it as it is right?!

 

[gvze]

@john6574 This is why 2024 will be my first and last Crossfit Open.

Coming into this, I had pretty low expectations - just wanted a bit of a baseline of where I was compared to similar people. Haven't been doing CF for very long and coming off of shoulder surgery less than a year ago.

I was nervous about 24.1 and the overhead movement so I scaled. All good - goals were to not get hurt, not to throw up, and not get capped - in that order and I figured #1 was the only real goal since burpees are my mortal enemy.

I finished just over the 14:00 mark and was elated. Until I saw someone did 1 RX rep and was ranked ahead of the guy who finished the scaled workout in less than 7:00. Imagine how far ahead of ME Mr. One-Rep was...

It's deflating to see that. Absolutely demotivating. I struggled all week between Rx and Scaled for 24.2. I don't have dubs. I'd get thru the Rx row & DL perfectly fine and then spend 18 minutes trying to get just one Dub in. In the end, I ended up scaling and doing a serious 24.2. Don't know if that's setting ego aside or protecting my ego by not futzing up dubs for 18 mins...

Now, in 24.2, I see a dude who did ripped off 1090 scaled reps gets placed behind a dude who recorded 1 rep. That's literally 30m. What is that - one, maybe two pulls of the handle?

Either way, the ranking stuff pretty much guarantees I won't spend the $20 again - there's no value to it as it doesn't provide any realistic comparison. I'll treat it like any other WoD next year and likely be much happier.

 

[john6574]

@gvze That’s a really interesting example and actually really helps put the scoring into perspective. Thanks for sharing

 

[tabi777]

@gvze Well, I understand your frustration but how would you solve this?

Having a "RX" workout is literally the way we make these things comparable.

"Hey community we are doing this workout this week and compare scores worldwide." is what the open boils down to. You need to scale because there's something you can't do? Well... that's fine but that also makes it less comparable, unless others scale exactly the same way. Hence the "scaled" option.

You could invent a complicated formula for each individual workout to make rx and scaled comparable but that would just lead to more confusion and bitching... what's better in 24.2: 4 rounds rx or 6 rounds scaled?

Or you could just have another completely unrelated scaled leaderboard that is set below the RX scores, which is what they are doing.

Also, I hate to be that guy but it's been like this since forever and the fact that you expected something else and paid 20$ is really your own fault...

In my opinion the only solution is to have a "minimum work requirement" to enter Rx scores but other than that there isn't really a better way to do it.

 

[gvze]

@tabi777 I don't disagree with a lot of what you said.

This being my first Open, I didn't know how the scoring worked between Rx and Scaled. And, for 98% of the scores, I have no issue being ranked lower than Rx athletes - in a lot of cases, they're able to do what I'm not (dubs, in the 24.2 example).

But I also believe with the amount of brainpower put into exercise science, there has to be a reasonable/defensible way to come up with a comparison of Rx to Scaled (if you're going to put them on the same leaderboard, anyway). Make a scaled rep = .5 of an Rx rep (or .25 or .10). There has to be some break point where 'X' DLs at 95# exceed (for the purposes of deeming someone fitter than someone else, which is kind of the purpose of the Open, no?) 'Y' DLs at 135#.

There's about 90 people who didn't even do a single deadlift but because they called their workout 'Rx', they rank above everyone who cranked out a massive amount of scaled reps. Until they pull at least one DL, it's the exact same workout as scaled! Even then, I'd love to hear the case that 31 Rx reps should be ranked higher than 900+ Scaled.

In the end, I think things would be better off if they didn't commingle the leader boards. Put Rx with Rx, put Scaled with Scaled and never shall the two meet.

I know I'm 'wrong' with how I think about this so I'm not looking to convince anyone. I'm not on the verge of getting screwed out of a spot in the QF/SF rounds, so none of this really matters for me in the end. Just feels wrong, IMO, and I let it eat away at me for way longer than it should've.

As I said, next year, I'll do the workouts but treat them like the daily WoDs and go have a beer or two afterwards with the $20

 

[naoiwi]

@john6574 It makes no sense. Just because you can’t do one completely stupid movement that is about as useful to my fitness as juggling while riding a unicycle I have to rank below tens of thousands of people less fit than me.

It would not be that hard to come up with a conversion that would favor an rx athlete but still let a scaled athlete compare somewhat fairly. 2 rounds scaled is equal to one round rx would be too far but could be a starting point. It makes absolutely no sense that I could do the row, ten deadlifts and then spend 18 minutes struggling to get a couple dubs and beat someone who did 20 rounds scaled.

And I know I typed all this out just to get an avalanche of downvotes so go ahead, I’m ready.

 

[sunnyjollie]

@naoiwi “One completely stupid movement” to you means double unders. One completely stupid movement to someone else means bar muscle ups. One completely stupid movement to another person means wall walks. See what I’m getting at here? Arbitrarily calling a movement “stupid” because you can’t do it doesn’t mean it’s stupid. Respectfully, it means you need to improve your skill set.

The ability to compete in any sport requires a skill set. I love casual and competitive golf. Imagine if I said “Look, I’m really bad at hitting from the tee so I’m just going to drop my ball in the fairway and play from there. It’s stupid that I should hit from the tee anyway. It’s not a useful skill in this sport.” If it was a casual day on the course, I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem (but I expect I would get a lot of comments indicating that hitting a good tee ball is very much a skill and required to be good at golf); however, I most assuredly would not be able to try and play in a tournament.

Now, let’s suppose that I was like you and wanted to compare myself to elite golfers. Let’s also suppose that every time I dropped the ball in the fairway I shot par or better on a hole. Can I actually compare myself to elite golfers? Can I actually say with a straight face: “Yeah, I’m a scratch golfer!” when I have eliminated an entire skill from the set I need to be a complete golfer just because it serves me? I would say with absolute certainty that would be a disingenuous statement.

Also, I would like to add that doing single unders versus double unders complete changes the fitness element of a workout. Single unders are like a 70% RPE recovery run, double unders are more like an 85% RPE run that gasses you. It is not only useful for your fitness but is also a skill, and skilled movements create a gap between athletes who can versus the ones that cannot.

Also, I would like to add that your (frankly shit) attitude of “I have to rank below tens of thousands of people less fit than me” because you don’t have a necessary skill is a fascinating one. I mean, truly intriguing logic that you think there are TENS OF THOUSANDS of athletes who are de facto worse than you because as Rx athletes they had less rounds than you as a scaled athlete when single unders and double unders hit completely different in a workout.

 

[marieeeee]

@naoiwi If someone can do a movement you can’t do, then they are fitter than you in that regard.

Juggling and unicycle riding are also both difficult skills that I’m sure would help your fitness if you’re struggling with coordination

 

[naoiwi]

@marieeeee This is a great point. Well the exact opposite of what you said is a good point.

If someone can lift a certain amount of weight. Do hspu or muscle ups I have a pretty good idea of the minimum strength or fitness they have.

There are plenty of people who are not very fit who just happen to be able to do dubs. Just shows that it’s a ‘trick’ and has nothing to do with fitness.

 

[marieeeee]

@naoiwi Fitness includes coordination. If someone can bench 400lbs but can’t walk down the stairs without falling you might consider them lacking in fitness.

It sounds like you’re aware of where your fitness is lacking and you would probably benefit from working with your coaches on those areas, unless you prefer complaining on the internet.