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The Road to RX

We’ve all been there. You enter the gym pumped for your workout, but suddenly get stalled when trying to set up your bar.  Should I RX this one? Do I need to scale today? Then you start looking around to see what’s on everyone else’s bars? “Hey, coach!?!”

How do you determine what is right for you? Well, first off, you need to be honest with yourself and not worry about what the person next to you is doing. Secondly, listen to your coach during the workout briefing, and pay attention to what the intended stimulus is for that particular workout. Is it a 30 min long grinder where a nice consistent pace is the goal? Or, is it a short, lung burner like FRAN where from 3-2-1 GO! it’s an all out sprint til the end. It is important to select a scale that allows you to keep the appropriate intensity with good mechanics consistently throughout the workout.

Just because you can do a movement or a movement at the RX weight, doesn’t necessarily mean you should. If FRAN takes you over 10 min because the 95/65 thrusters were being done 2-3 reps at a time with questionable movement standards, then we missed the ball on that one. “But coach, I did it RX, doesn’t that count for something?!” Yes, high five! BUT if your goal is to get better and fitter, then INTENSITY = RESULTS! The person who modified to 45# thrusters and jumping pull ups but went as fast as they possibly could – the one who is left lying on the ground, coughing up a lung afterwards…they hit the nail on the head! Now, I’m not saying you need to push so hard that you puke your guts out, but you need to get out of your comfort zone and stay there as long as possible.

On the contrary, just because you can’t do a movement or a certain weight, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t practice that skill or automatically put X amount of weight on your bar because that’s where you are comfortable. IF IT DOESN’T CHALLENGE YOU, IT WON’T CHANGE YOU! So, don’t be afraid to add another 10 lbs to your bar. Try doing some double unders if you have them, even if it’s only a few.  And don’t be afraid to mentally check yourself. Are you rowing or biking in lieu of running because you physically cannot run? Or, is running just uncomfortable and you don’t like it? Hmm. Making this type of an effort to constantly improve is a choice you get to make.

We, coaches, or anyone else for that matter, don’t care how much is on your bar, whether you went “RX”, or if you had to scale a workout. We want to see how well you can move. Better yet, how well can you move with your heart rate through the roof!

So, I’ll say it again…

EFFORT IS A CHOICE. EFFORT EARNS RESPECT. INTENSITY = RESULTS. 

IF IT DOESN’T CHALLENGE YOU, IT WON’T CHANGE YOU!

Now, heres a little factoid about me…

When I first started CrossFit, my concept of fitness was nowhere near what it is today. One of my goals back then was to do be able to do 10 strict pull ups. At the time, i could barely do 5. I hated and always avoided “leg day” but “bench day” was the best day. After 6+ years of doing CrossFit, it has opened my eyes immensely! I can do things now that i never thought would be possible. I’m now 33 years old, and I am in the best shape I’ve ever been in. My pull ups went from my measly 5 to 41 unbroken butterfly pull ups. My snatch went from 85# to 220# and my back squat went from 195# to 390#. But this is a never ending road. Theres always room for improvement and I look forward to see what the next 6 years will bring.

So, be patient and stay the course because it doesn’t happen over night. No one said it would be easy. And you wouldn’t want it to be. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. You are not everyone.

You are CrossFit 8 Mile.

Cheers,

Mark Juco

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