Wednesday 120725- Tips on Scaling the WOD

The absolute most important thing you need to focus on in the gym is FORM. It comes before heavy load, and before intensity. I'd rather have an athlete working with a 15 lb bar and doing a movement properly than trying to "Rx" a workout and bastardizing a movement! The latter exposes the athlete to potential injury, is inefficent and creates movement patterns that can be difficult to unlearn. We have hopefully created an atmosphere at Foundry CrossFit that encourages everyone to get it right, rather than muscle through.

Why? What we practice becomes habit, and often one movement has a carryover effect to another. Ever see someone do double unders by kicking their feet back behind them? Chances are they will try to snatch or clean than way too! Also, the more dubs an athlete does by pulling the feet back (rather than keeping the body vertical) the harder it will be to do them correctly. Practice does not make perfect, PERFECT PRACTICE makes perfect.

Sometimes we get carried away by our ego when someone next to us is lifting heavier weight, sometimes we overestimate our capabilities, sometimes we just haven't nailed down the movement yet, and sometimes we need mobility and flexibility work to get into the proper positions.

Here are some things to think about when setting up for a WOD:

1. Do you understand the movement? Where does it start? End? What happens in between? If not, ASK! We have stopped people countless times after the workout started because they were doing hang power cleans from the floor, snatching with a clean grip, etc.

2. Have you performed it in a workout before, at what weight, and how many reps? If you have a 1 rep max overhead squat of 155 lbs, and the WOD has 21-15-9 reps of 135 lb overhead squats, can you RX it? Probably not! Keeping a journal, using an App, or using the free online WOD tracking system (soon to be upgraded and available to input at the gym) helps greatly in this area.

3. What is the most appropriate way to challenge yourself? Use a scaled weight you've used before, but try to be faster and more efficient than last time? Use a slightly heavier weight (assuming you've become stronger and more capable) and try to finish in the same time? Either one is a valid choice, but these are questions to ask once #1 and #2 have been figured out, and only as long as you can still maintain good FORM.

We program movements, combinations, and weight loads to give you an opportunity to become BETTER. Better and things you suck at. Better at things you're good at. Better at things you've never even tried. We expect you to struggle a bit, to be nervous about pulling yourself under the bar, to have to do pull ups one at a time at the end of the WOD. We do not expect you to make positional compromises and endanger yourself or others. If you can't maintain lumbar curve while deadlifting, lighten the weight! If you're in danger of not making it on top of the box, use a shorter box!

Weighted Pull Up 5x3

Five Rounds:

5 DB Deadlift

5 DB Hang Cleans

5 DB Push Press

5 DB Squats

Rest as needed between sets, do not set DB's down during a set.