Here's some rest day inspiration for yall, Dan Williams from 'Range of Motion' has written a great article on his blog about scaling in crossfit and the possible repercussions of habitual scaling..
Dan Williams:
As CrossFitters, we pride ourselves on the universal scaleability of our game. For the most part - this is an infinitely useful thing. It opens up the movements and programming to the masses. At Range of Motion we have had individuals as young as seven and as old as 98 CrossFitting. We have had wheelchair bound clients, and those on Australian Teams. You could line them up side by side, and the neutral observer could recognise that they are, in effect, doing the 'same thing'.
We scale weights, reps, movements and time, and we do so to keep the 'inclusive' in CrossFit's 'broad, general, inclusive fitness'.
But where do we draw the line? By conforming to scaled options, we are effectively telling ourselves that we are 'not good enough' to perform the full weight/movement etc. Now, in the majority of cases this is true - and scaling plays a vital role - but sometimes, just sometimes, we scale out of habit, out of familiarity, and out of comfort. We are placing a ceiling on our performance.
I'll again cite a previous blog I've written on the Pygmalion Effect:
The catch was, there was no scaling. Everyone used the full weights, no one used bands for assistance.
We had 18 people completing the session. At the end, we had no less than 28 virgin performances of a movement. People hit muscle-ups, pull-ups, 20 foot rope climbs, wall walks and many other movements for the first time. And they did it, because they didn't have a choice.
If they couldn't do the movement, they had five minutes of struggle to try and get the movement.
This was four weeks ago (from time of writing). Since then, the floodgates have opened. People have realised that there is in fact no ceiling. There is no limit on their performance. This 60 minutes reset their level of self belief. A cascade of 'virgin performances' have come thick and fast. Those who haven't achieved the movement have pursued them with renewed vigour.
Scaling is important. Vitally important. But sometimes it's overused. Scale out of necessity or safety, not out of habit.
Dan Williams:
As CrossFitters, we pride ourselves on the universal scaleability of our game. For the most part - this is an infinitely useful thing. It opens up the movements and programming to the masses. At Range of Motion we have had individuals as young as seven and as old as 98 CrossFitting. We have had wheelchair bound clients, and those on Australian Teams. You could line them up side by side, and the neutral observer could recognise that they are, in effect, doing the 'same thing'.
We scale weights, reps, movements and time, and we do so to keep the 'inclusive' in CrossFit's 'broad, general, inclusive fitness'.
But where do we draw the line? By conforming to scaled options, we are effectively telling ourselves that we are 'not good enough' to perform the full weight/movement etc. Now, in the majority of cases this is true - and scaling plays a vital role - but sometimes, just sometimes, we scale out of habit, out of familiarity, and out of comfort. We are placing a ceiling on our performance.
I'll again cite a previous blog I've written on the Pygmalion Effect:
A group of school children are administered a test. Unbeknown to the teachers, the test results are never looked at and are thrown away. The researchers randomly allocate the students into a ‘smart’ group, or a ‘not smart’ group. The teachers are told that the test has indicated that the children in the ‘smart group’ have a greater propensity to learn – but they are not instructed to teach the kids in the ‘smart’ group any different to those in the ‘not smart’ group.
At the end of the school year, the students are re-tested and (you guessed it) the kids in the ‘smart group’ now fit the label they have been assigned. Consciously or not, the teachers have taught these kids more advanced material – based purely on the expectation that they can handle it. Handle it they did.
How does this relate to exercise? If we base our expectations too much on age/appearance/experience or any other preconceived notion – an individual will match our expectations.
To test this theory, I recently conducted a group session. The participants ranged in ability enormously - from top level CrossFit Athletes, to those who could not perform the most basic of movements (due to lack of strength, or competency is some other component of fitness).
This session was a 'skill tester'. It contained some of the most complex movements we perform. Very heavy snatches, ring handstand push-ups, rope climbs, double unders, muscle-ups, pistols, walking handstands and many more. Your score was the total number of repetitions you completed in five minutes of each, multiplied by the number of exercises in which you completed at least one rep.The catch was, there was no scaling. Everyone used the full weights, no one used bands for assistance.
We had 18 people completing the session. At the end, we had no less than 28 virgin performances of a movement. People hit muscle-ups, pull-ups, 20 foot rope climbs, wall walks and many other movements for the first time. And they did it, because they didn't have a choice.
If they couldn't do the movement, they had five minutes of struggle to try and get the movement.
This was four weeks ago (from time of writing). Since then, the floodgates have opened. People have realised that there is in fact no ceiling. There is no limit on their performance. This 60 minutes reset their level of self belief. A cascade of 'virgin performances' have come thick and fast. Those who haven't achieved the movement have pursued them with renewed vigour.
Scaling is important. Vitally important. But sometimes it's overused. Scale out of necessity or safety, not out of habit.
This is awesome... going through the games wod taught me this - wanting to post a solid score gave me the push to go heavier or do things I hadn't done before... and yup, last night Rx-ed the pullups in a WOD... it's so true. Love this! It's why I just want to try a muscle up right now... haha.
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