Scaling

Nick | 12/03/2013 | 10

Scaling is an intrinsic part of CrossFit.  While we firmly believe just about anyone can do any workout we program here, this is entirely reliant on the coach an athlete choosing the proper scaling to provide an appropriate challenge.  This means the choice needs to be feasible but hard and needs to achieve the desired stimulus of the workout.  This is a big reason why we don’t have a lot of RX weights here at CrossFit Somerville.  RX in our eyes is different for everyone.  Think about when you go to the doctor to get a prescription.  The very reason you have to get a doctor’s approval for a prescription is that you want to make sure it’s the right amount of the right medicine, something that can vary widely depending on your situation.  It’s the same thing here.  While we do believe that constantly varied functional movements done at high intensity is helpful for everyone, what that means will differ from person to person.

So why do I bring this up?  Well, today we have 150 pushups in our workout.  Can you do a beautiful chest to deck, elbows in pushup?  Awesome!  Can you do 5?  Even better!  Does that mean it’s appropriate to try to do today’s workout without scaling your pushups?  Not necessarily…

Once again, I’ll compare this to a barbell lift.  Monday we had a 5×5 push jerk for strength.  We should have found the maximum weight we could push jerk for a set of 5 with good form.  We then had shoulder to overhead in the workout.  Did you use the same weight for this as the max weight you just established?  Probably not – unless you held way back on the strength potion to work on form.

The same thing applies to bodyweight movements.  We never “graduate” to a certain scale.  The number of reps, length of the workout and compounding movements all play a factor in the load we should use for the day.  Think about scaling bodyweight movements just the same as barbell movements – adjust the load for the appropriate stimulus.

I’ll often let people change their scaling mid workout if it becomes clear that it was not the right choice.  Today, I’d like you to make a wise choice from the start.  Pick a scale that will be appropriate for all 150 reps (use your notes!) and get after it.

STR:

Gymnastic AMRAP 12

WOD:

75-50-25

pushups
KBS (1.5/1)

*We’re capping this one at 20 minutes.  Scale so you don’t need it.  Seriously.

JT’s Math-Based Postscript:

Most of you know what a 6-minute Fran feels like. It’s awful. We tell you to scale appropriately (light) so that you can do Fran in about 6 minutes – no longer than 9 minutes.

Think about that in terms of rep count: Fran is 90 Reps. 6 minutes is 360 seconds, which means one rep every 4 seconds is what it takes to get Fran done in 6 high-intensity minutes.

Today’s WOD is 300 Reps. At 4 reps per second, you’ll be done in 1200 seconds… exactly 20 minutes. When considering your scaling (for pushups especially) ask yourself this question:

“Can I go at Fran-level-of-intensity for 20 minutes at this scaling level?”

…because if you can’t, you won’t make it through this under the time cap. Scale appropriately.