When it comes to CrossFit, images of people lifting tremendously heavy weights, doing complicated gymnastic movements and performing workouts at super high speeds can seem like the norm on social media, and what you need to be able to do to do CrossFit.
Whilst they are, undeniably, very impressive and where many aspire to be, it simply isn't the case, and certainly isn’t where we start and wasn’t where these athletes did either.
The beauty of any movement, and with the CrossFit methodology, is there is always a progression to get to and work towards the feats these athletes do. A way for anyone to do the same workout at the same time, regardless of ability, and finish having had a great session and developed yourself so you are better, stronger and fitter for next time.
In CrossFit, these progressions are called Scales. A scale could be as simple as using a lighter load (weight), travelling a shorter distance or reducing the working time a little. It could also be breaking a complicated movement down into smaller more manageable sections or doing it in a different way to make it more achievable.
When we scale a movement it is an opportunity to work on the same area of the body as everyone else, and create the same stimulus and intensity in order to gain the strength, mobility, endurance or mechanics required to move on to a more challenging scale or movement pattern in the future.
For example, pull-ups can be scaled to:
Bent over rows, floor pull-ups, banded pull-ups, ring rows, jumping pull-ups and pull-up negatives.
Or toes to bar (T2B) can be scaled to:
Crunches, AbMat Sit ups, kip swings, hanging knee raises, hanging leg raises or knees to elbows.
This is why CrossFit is so great. The infinite scalability of the workouts and movements we do means anyone, regardless of who they are can take part. It’s why it keep things interesting and means you are constantly challenging yourself to do different or more difficult things. It provides you with a continual yardstick of your progress. A way for you to know you’ve got better, stronger and fitter. A way to keep you interested and your mind challenged and excited to see what you and your body can do next. So that one day, may be, you can do what you saw those athletes do on social media.
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