Work in Progress
July 9, 2009
Judging by all the sweat angels we saw today, our new programming is a huge success. It seems our athletes are really getting the understanding of what MetCon is supposed to feel like. "Fran" is a workout meant to kick your a$$…you will get stronger at your thrusters and pullups during our heavy lifting portion of the day and class.
With that being said we can understand some frustrations. On one hand some of you now feel as if you have to "scale" a workout that in the past you were able to complete as rx'd. But, you have to not look at these WODs as prescribed vs. scaled. What we are trying to do is make every workout as individualized as possible, and this means working with a percentage of your one rep max.
For many of you this percentage is lighter then you would have gone in the past. Our goal and belief is that by going lighter with your weights and bodyweight movements you can actually up your Power and Intensity by going Faster!. Read more about Power and Intensity on today's Morning Mayhem post.
What does this mean to you? You will have to leave your ego at the door! You may have to go lighter, you may have to use a band for pullups, but we are only doing this because we believe right now it is the best training we can offer you. For some of you it means you might have to go heavier. For example, Gene had to use 105lbs. for "Fran" today because he has a 210lb. Push Press, but then he used the green band to make his pullups chest to bar and faster.
We also understand it's frustrating when we teach you kipping chin over bar pullups and now "take that away" and tell you chest to bar or strict pullups. Two things…1) such is life (as our parents always told us growing up). 2) We are only doing this to make you better athletes and help you perform better. It is not to punish you, frustrate you, or make you feel bad about yourselves!
Another idea to remember is that for the past 3 weeks every MetCon you have done has been after heavy lifts. So, you are not fresh going into every WOD. On our 7th week of this cycle we will not be hitting heavy lifts, we expect tons of PRs on our standard WODs that week.
We like to think of ourselves as fitness whores. If we find something that is Proven to work and that is with measurable, observable, and repeatable tests we will incorporate that. Be that, chest to bar pullups, or percentage based WOD programming. In fact if Viv started rollerblading and eating donuts 5 times a day and realized her deadlift went up and "Fran" time went down…guess what we will start incorporating…rollerblading and donuts!
Do you get it? CrossFit is a work in progress and we are constantly learning. But, we always have nothing but our athletes best interest in minds. We care about each and every one of you and want nothing more then to see you succeed, so bare with us, believe us, and do your best!
"With great love, all is possible." — Sharon Gannon
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2 Responses to Work in Progress
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Dave says:
What’s the hardest part about rollerblading Jay?
So glad you discussed scaling vs. rx’d!! I almost reamed out one of my friends after Fran yesterday because after I told him I did it (for my first time EVER), he says to me, “Wait until you do it rx’d, it will be harder”.
fabulous post. definitely explained a few thoughts I had!