Last week at CFES we had a simple workout that had 5 rounds of 500m rows and 20 push-ups. It always sounds simple before it gets going. Whoever is running the workout takes time to answer questions, discuss what techniques are going to be in play, so everybody has a chance to think it over.
For me, and I suspect 90% of the people in Crossfit, the key to any workout is scaling. And after a year at it I know how it’s supposed to work: scale the intensity down to a level where you get the most out of workout. This means bringing the intensity down to the point where it’s not too intense but still enough to be useful. It’s a judgement call.
So on that day I decided I would try it do the workout as prescribed. 20 pushups, no big deal right? Well the total was 100 and I knew I would get bogged down. But I went ahead anyway. By the 3rd set I was doing knee pushups. By the end of the 5th set I was doing them one-at-a-time. A tough 19 minutes. I should have scaled down to 10 pushups and gone as fast as possible on the rowing. I think I would have gotten more out of the workout; in fact I think I would have incresased the intensity.
So today we had a workout that involved a one-mile run, and 4 rounds of 15 kettlebell swings, 15 pullups, 15 pushups, followed by 60 squats. So I ran the mile in 8:30, took a few seconds to catch my breath, and said, this time I’ll do pushups off the knees! Then I picked up a 44# kb. Right. 7 swings in I case to my senses and switched to a 35# kb. So I had scaled down to a 35# kb, did the pushups off the knees, but did the pullups as perscribed. Which I’m thinking was a mistake. I should have been using a band and just gone all out as fast as I could. Those pull-ups were really, really slow.
I’ve begun to think that what’s behind these decisions is ego. As many times as I’ve been warned about that, it’s still a problem. The goal is not to Rx the WOD, the goal is to create the most intense set of dynamics you can reasonably manage. And get stronger by doing it.
It took me 29:16 minutes to finish the workout. I honestly thought I was going to cry at the end. I came close to throwing up. It was about as much intensity as I could stand, so I’m getting closer to actually mastering the situation. I don’t doubt I need to work harder, but at this point I also need to start focusing on getting the most out of the workouts.
Well that’s it for now. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.
