Below is a great post written by Coach John P. Please take the time to read it. It will help everyone gain some insight.
You should all know something about the coaches here at CFH – We are always listening. Not only do we listen when folks come up to share successes or failures with us or ask us questions but we hear the side talk to and try to learn from it.
One of the more recent comments was between two guys who had just completed a workout. One asked how the other did in the WOD. His reply was along the lines of “I did pretty good but I only went Rx”.
Rx for those of you who don’t know stands for “as prescribed”. It is shorthand for the standard parameters of the workout that day. It is important to note that this is a moving target that is set by the person programming the workout. At CFH this is Geo. When Geo considers “Rx” he asks himself – “what would be challenging for the best athletes in the gym?” and then acts accordingly. He does this for every workout.
At CFH we also have Rx+. This is for those who are looking to compete in CrossFit competitions or are looking for an increased challenge. By and large this is for people who have no MAJOR deficiencies in their technique. When Geo considers Rx+ he asks – “what would challenge the best 5-10 athletes in the gym?” and then acts accordingly.
At CFH we also have Fitness. This is a scaled down version of Rx for those who are not able, or do not want to use the Rx standard. When Geo considers Fitness he is attempting to be inclusive of the majority of our athletes.
There are no awards for meeting any of these standards. They are GUIDELINES that can help you get the desired stimulus for a workout.
I want to touch on that more – Each workout has a desired stimulus. A goal. Some are short, light and fast others heavy and slow. Some high skill others low. Most are somewhere in between. If you have picked a scaling option that doesn’t allow you to get that desired stimulus then you have missed the point of the workout. Often this means we have too much weight in our hands or are trying to perform a skill we have not mastered. There is little to be gained from going down this path PARTICULARLY DURING A METCON.
We are all guilty of this from time to time. The trick is to catch ourselves and remember that training day to day is for building fitness, not testing it. If you approach your training so that every day you must move faster and lift more than I have bad news – you will be disappointed frequently and probably injure yourself.
Keeping this perspective is hard. It requires us to check our ego, not compare our performance to others and constantly be thinking about why we are doing a particular workout. It also requires us to accept the fact that if we are working hard and smart then we are successful – labels be damned. Accept it!
The good news is we have coaches to help. They are surprisingly good at helping you honestly asses what level you can work at and still stay healthy. So find a coach and ask them questions!
Be damn proud of whatever work you do and the tests of our fitness will come. Day to day though remember that we are building long term fitness for life – not testing it.