There is such a stigma that people have about modifying or scaling workouts.
First I want to discuss modifying…
Modifying workouts means that your coach changed a movement possibly to a different movement in order to allow you to continue training when the original movement is causing pain due to some kind of injury, tweak, issue, etc. We are active people. Sometimes joints get flared up. It’s not ideal and it’s annoying but it happens. There is inherent risk in any physical movement. In fact, more people get hurt running every year then any other type of movement or exercise. When a joint is bothering you, it’s important to let it recover and get better. That does not however mean to stop training. In fact, training due to increased blood flow, hormonal response etc, can actually expedite the healing process. Even if we have a joint issue, there is no reason why we can’t modify the workout and still receive the overall benefit and physiological intent of the workout. There are a million ways to work your hamstrings, just because you can’t do deadlifts today doesn’t mean you are a loser. We can modify and you’ll still progress towards your goals.
I have modified 1000’s of workouts in my 19 years of training hard. There’s no shame in it. It’s just part of training. So when we are modifying something for you, take yourself off the hook and look at the bigger picture….. you are still progressing towards your goals. In fact, you’re actually blessed to be in a place like LivLimitless where the staff has the knowledge they do to be able to accommodate you and keep you moving regardless of your issue.
Next let’s talk about scaling….
Scaling is when we do a version of the movement, but it’s not the most advanced version of the movement. Pull ups is a common example of when this happens. We have 100’s of people in the gym and only a few can do unassisted pull ups. That doesn’t make you a loser. It doesn’t make you less of a person. It just means you haven’t worked on pull ups enough to be able to do pull ups. That’s it. So what do we do? We scale the movement. We start some people off with ring rows, we move you to different versions of bands, and then eventually you can work your way up to pull ups. For some people that might take 3 months for others it might take 3 years. It just all depends on where you are at. So many of our people get down on themselves for scaling a workout. I hear things like, ‘Well I only used 15lbs,’ or, ‘I had to use a black and red band.’ Ladies and gentlemen, you did your very best effort. You trained in a facility where you were encouraged and taught how to progress properly and then allowed to do your best in order to accomplish the task. You will get better and better the longer you stick with it. There’s no shame in scaling a workout. Today, I scaled a workout. It was supposed to be elevated hand stand push ups. I did the first round elevated and then could not complete one more rep elevated, so I scaled down to regular hand stand push ups. I did my best and I’m proud of my effort. Always give perfect effort is our core value and that’s what I always focus on. Scaling is something everyone has to do at some point. Even adjusting weight is scaling. Not many people expect to get off the couch and then deadlift 1,000 lbs. They understand that it takes years and years of dedication and hard work to build up the strength to do something like that, and even then, many many many people do not achieve it. If we can grasp the concept in that example, back it down a little bit and look at what you’re accomplishing. It may take years of work to get to where you want to go but keep on keepin’ on and you’ll get there.
5-22-18
Strength:
Snatch Wave
MetCon:
Deadlift x 5
50m run
Deadlift x 4
100m run
Deadlift x 3
200m run
Deadlift x 2
400m run
Deadlift x 1
800m run
For time