In CrossFit, we typically have one workout written on the board (or shown on the TV) every day. And, in most days, most people are modifying something in the workout to meet their own individual needs. They might modify the weight on the barbell, they might modify the amount of the movement that they are going to do, or they might modify the movement altogether to something that serves them better. Many days, people will do all 3.
Before anything else I say, I want you to know: This IS the way. Most people, most of the time, should do this.
CrossFit is a workout program that is written to challenge every body. The workouts are written to challenge the fittest people in the community, in the garage, or in the gym. Not everyone can or should do the workout “as prescribed.”
Now, beyond the psychology of why it is important to give people a target to “strive” towards, the “prescription” still holds it’s own merit.
I don’t want to talk about that right now.
Workouts written to challenge you
I just want to spend some time talking about how you can still get better at a movement, a workout, or your fitness in general, even if you have no hope of doing the workout as it is arbitrarily written on a little app.
Let’s take an example workout of:
For Time, in 15 minutes or Less:
75 Toes to Bar
*Run 200m every time you take a break
Now, there are plenty of people in our gym that want to get OR get better at their Toes to Bar, but this amount of volume, in this time frame, is quite unrealistic if not impossible.
So, we need to take a moment and break down the different pieces of the toes to bar.
- Grip Strength
- Core Flexion Strength
- Coordination / Body Awareness
First, let’s break down the grip strength. In this workout, you are tasked with holding on to a pull up bar for 20-30 seconds at a time, during a very dynamic movement (meaning your body is constantly adjusting positions and forcing you to hold on tighter than a farmer’s carry or static hang from the bar).
In order to be successful at a workout like this, you need to develop (work on) the grip strength to hang on to a pull up bar while moving for 20-30 seconds at a time. What this looks like for someone to modify in real time is to pick a movement variation that is not limited by their coordination or core flexion strength to allow them to hang on to the pull up bar for this long.
Some examples of this would be to modify to a kipping knee raise for the person who is most commonly limited by their grip strength OR what’s to work on that component for the day.
Next, let’s look at the core flexion strength component for a toes to bar. If you are a person who feels like your a) lats, b) hips/hip flexors, or c) abdominals always let you down when you are doing Toes to Bar, then this section is going to apply to you.
In order to be successful in a workout like the one we are looking at here, you need to be able to flex (squeeze, contract) your core muscles from your lats, to your abs, down through your hip flexors A BUNCH of times, in a repeatable manner. What this looks like for someone to modify in time is to choose movement variation or volume that will allow them to complete repeatable sets early on in the workout for about 80-90% of the total reps before capacity starts to break down.
Some examples of this would be to decrease the height of the feet from reaching the bar to reaching chest or forehead height on each rep. It might even be to bring the knees to the chest on every rep.
When given the right amount of attention, each of these movement variations will provide you the chance to work on 75 core flexion repetitions. With that focus and volume, you will certainly increase your capacity. Then, with frequent exposures over time, you will be able to further develop your ability to do a toes to bar.
Finally, it is time to look at the coordination of the movement. If you are always “falling out of rhythm” with your toes to bar even before you feel like any of the other pieces are breaking down, then you have a coordination problem. This is totally fine, but another piece of fitness that is worthwhile to focus on for a workout.
In order for you to be successful in a workout like this, you need modify the movement in such a way that you are able to maintain the rhythm of the movement for 15+ repetitions. The value here in this modification is that once you find the rhythm, you have 75 repetitions to refine and practice that component. For you, kipping knee raises or leg raises are likely going to be the best fit to build your approach for the day.
If you are reading closely, you might be noticing that the scaling options all look the same or, at least, very similar.
You are right, they are.
However, while they are all the same or similar, the reason and intention behind why we landed on each option was different.
This is a great example of how and why being intentional with your training will lead to the greatest improvements. It is not always about doing the prescribed movements or loadings in a workout. It is far more often about finding the right scaling option that is going to move your needles the furthest forward on that given day.
