Journal: Scaling: How Less Can Be More

J O U R N A L ARTICLES
Scaling: How Less Can Be More

Theres no shame in scaling a WOD. Here are some ideas on how to do it effectively.
Clea Weiss
Luis Albuquerque
Scaling is an important aspect of CrossFit, but one thats often misunderstood. Correctly altering and
customizing workouts can increase your work capacity, make training more gratifying and keep your Fran
times well under 20 minutesall good things.
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Scaling ... (continued)
Start SlowOr Not

The Start Here page on crossfit.com suggests athletes
without experience in weightlifting or gymnastics should
spend a month or two learning the correct technique for
exercises while substituting simplified workouts for the
main-site WODs.
For example, a guy named Jason Khalipa posted a
scaled Fran time of over 12 minutes his first time around
back in late 2007. He was able to do the RXd weight on
the thrusters but had to substitute jumping pull-ups. A
few years later he completed the thruster-pull-up WOD
at the 2008 CrossFit Games in 3:56 on his way to the
overall title.
Some elite athletes may realize they have to scale when
starting out with CrossFit, but the message hasnt
always filtered down to everyone. How often do you see
a comment like this posted after a brutal WOD: This
was my first CrossFit workoutawesome! If jumping
into doing the workouts full-tilt gets people started out
happily, that may be preferable to not starting CrossFit
at all. On the other hand, being overwhelmed early on
will drive some athletes out of the box.
If youre starting, its always best to work with a good
coach. But not everyone has the money, and good
coaches arent always available. Training yourself can
also work and may be preferable to working with bad
coaches. With enough patience, you can teach yourself
all the exercises in CrossFits arsenal. If youre a solitary
CrossFitter, its worth making the drive to your closest
affiliate every couple of months for refinements and
improvements on exercises that you cannot teach
yourself.
If you dont work out at an affiliate, then you are ulti-
mately the one responsible for learning to scale. It can
Scaling handstand push-ups is a great way to work up the
strength to complete the full movement. take months to learn scaling and apply it to yourself.
Expect to make mistakes. Everyone does.
The simple fact is that the WODs posted on crossfit. Scaling: The Pursuit of Power
com are designed for elite athletes with CrossFit expe-
rience, and almost all new CrossFitters will have to Some novice athletes will have to scale their entire
scale their workouts. But scaling properly isnt easy. program. For athletes just learning weightlifting
It requires careful consideration and testing. It isnt as movements, scaling may mean completing only body-
simple as picking a random weight and stripping a few weight movements in metabolic conditioning workouts.
bumpers off the bar before a WOD. Similarly, substitut- Once youve reached a level of proficiency with weight-
ing movements can be pretty tricky if you dont know lifting movements that allows you to complete them
what youre doing. for time, you can begin to work them into your met-con
workouts. The first month or so for a beginning athlete
So how do you scale to achieve the best results?
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may lack variation, but developing competence and 65 pounds has a power output of 64.3 watts. If the
virtuosity in the basic movements is more important same athlete scales the weight down to 45 pounds and
than doing complex movements as soon as possible. completes the workout two minutes faster, her power
output rises to 72.9 watts.
There are various ways to scale. How to elicit the most
effective response is both subtle and complex. You dont Once again, reducing the weight and completing the
always scale by reducing the duration of workouts, for workout faster increased average power. But that
instance. Scaling correctly will increase work capacity isnt always the most important component in every
more efficiently than attempting to complete workouts workout, particularly for beginners. This brings us back
as prescribed before youre ready for them. Properly to the basic question: how do you scale?
lowering the weight and achieving a faster time will
actually yield a higher level of power.
The work and power output calculator on the Catalyst
Athletics website shows that a 5-foot-10, 180-pound If the WOD calls for 30 clean and
athlete who completes Fran with 95 pounds in nine jerks at 155 pounds, its clearly
minutes has a power output of 98.2 watts. If the same
athlete scales the weight down to 75 pounds and a met-con WOD. If you turn the
completes the workout two minutes faster, his power workout into 30 single reps with a
output actually rises to 115.7 watts. So using less weight
can sometimes be better.
minute rest between them,
Heres another example of how using less weight can be
youve missed the point.
the right thing to do: a five-foot-five athlete who weighs
130 pounds and completes Fran in nine minutes using
Alex Cibiri/Element CrossFit
Using less weight can actually increase power output if you finish the WOD in less time.
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Lose the Ego, Lower the Weight

How low should you go when reducing the load? Probably
lower than you think. If youre female or just starting
out and weigh significantly less than 175 pounds, the
prescribed weight will be too much. While elite women
can complete workouts with the weights prescribed for
men, many consider two-thirds or three-quarters of the
mens weight to be the prescribed weight for women.
Women commonly use 65 pounds for a 95-pound
workout and 95 pounds for a 135-pound workout.
When you do a workout for the first time, pick a weight
that ensures you will complete all the reps. Consider
50 percent of the prescribed weight, or even an empty Jason Khalipas 12-Minute Fran
bar. Take a look at your time. Was it as fast and easy
as you thought it would be? If so, increase the weight I had a hard time but still finished sub-five.
the next time you do the workout. The increase could be Thats how 2008 CrossFit Games fourth-place
just a few pounds or right up to the prescribed weight. finisher Pat Barber described his first Fran to the
It all depends on how you did. Many workouts appear CrossFit Journal.
infrequently. You might find you can increase weight on
virtual shoveling because your deadlift has improved. We promptly told him to go to hell and continued
searching for an elite athlete who struggled with
Its also critical to scale weight on workouts that include his or her introduction to CrossFit.
Olympic lifts or high reps of weight that might be too
heavy for you. You need to evaluate the point of the WOD. We found such an athlete in Jason Khalipa.
In CrossFit, one-rep max days exist for a reason: to build Khalipa, youll remember, won the 2008 CrossFit
strength while struggling with a heavy load. If the WOD Gamesbut his nice-to-meet-you WOD was
calls for 30 clean and jerks at 155 pounds, its clearly a neither fast nor pretty. When he ran into Fran back
met-con WOD. If you turn the workout into 30 single in December 2007, the champ had to scale things
reps with a minute rest between them, youve missed back.
the point. You want to scale the weight appropriately to
preserve the metabolic challenge. Find something thats My first CrossFit workout was at Crossfit One
heavy enough to challenge you but light enough to allow World in Union City with Freddy Camacho,
multiple reps at a reasonable pace. Khalipa recalled. My first workout was Fran.
Freddy obviously wanted to kick my ass.
I used the prescribed weight on the thrusters
but was unable to do the pull-ups RXd. Instead,
Freddy had me do jumping pull-ups times two,
and the workout took me about 12 minutes.
Scaling:
While Khalipa knew there was something to this
The idea is to challenge yourself CrossFit thing after his first encounter, he never-
with all the exercises, neither theless headed back to Globo Gym for isolation
holding back on a strength nor work on his uvulous and upper dorsimus muscles.
Between sets of biceps curls and triceps exten-
pushing too hard on a weakness. sionssculpting the guns, of coursehe incorpo-
rated some CrossFit into his training. Eventually
he saw the light.
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Furthermore, jumping into a WOD that calls for a high

number of technical lifts is a bad idea if you dont know
how to do the movement properly. Theres a reason I had been doing Globo Gym workouts all my life,
most CrossFitters learn complex movements with a so what could possibly happen if I switched things
piece of PVC pipe, so dont expect to perfect the snatch up for one month to try CrossFit out? Khalipa
with a stopwatch going and 135 pounds on the bar. said. Once I committed to CrossFit it was my
goal to complete all of the workouts as prescribed.
Fewer Reps: Turning Filthy 50 into Terrible 10 This was extremely challenging for me, especially
Lowering the rep count is also an option. Consider those workouts that involved pull-ups, handstand
cutting Murph in half or reducing Barbara to 10 pull-ups, push-ups and muscle-ups.
20 push-ups, 30 sit-ups and 40 squats. This keeps the Every day I would practice what I sucked at. Over
same time frame and difficulty for athletes who quickly time I became more proficient at my kip and built
lose their stamina on body-weight exercises. While strength, which helped me to finally complete
preserving the symmetry of a workout like Angie may most of the main-site workouts as prescribed.
be conceptually pleasing, dont be afraid to scale only
the pull-ups or push-ups. About eight months later, Khalipa was crowned
the Fittest Man on Earth at The Ranch in Aromas,
How many reps should you cut out of a workout? One California.
way is to consider how difficult the prescribed repeti-
tions would be for an intermediate athlete. Beginner Your progression might not be quite as spec-
athletes should aim for a number of reps that will be as tacular, but the champs story should offer a little
challenging for them as the prescribed workout would comfort when you have to drop weight for Linda,
be for an intermediate athlete. Consider this tough substitute dips and pulls for muscle-ups, or knock
workout from Jan. 16, 2009: a round off Barbara.
For time: Mike Warkentin

10 GHD sit-ups
10 hip & back extensions
30 95-pound thrusters
Alex Cibiri/Element CrossFit

50 pull-ups
30 GHD sit-ups
35 pull-ups
50 GHD sit-ups
20 pull-ups
Few athletes will be able to complete the first set of
50 pull-ups in a row, so when scaling this workout you
should pick a number that will take you at least three
or four sets to complete, if not more. But if you find
you have do the last 10 pull-ups as singles with rest in
between each one on the first set, youve bitten off more
than you can chew and youre sacrificing your metabolic Scaling the movement itself is always an option if
the RXd version is too challenging.
response.
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As with the pull-ups, the other repetitions in this workout You may want to do a one max set of unassisted
could be scaled to minimize recovery downtime. When pull-ups (even if this is a single pull-up) and then switch
scaling repetitions, one approach is to match your time to the assisted version on every single set of pull-ups
to the time an intermediate athlete would get perform- in the WOD. This may result in a larger overall number
ing the workout as prescribed. of unassisted pull-ups, but maybe not. Every athlete is
different.
Scale the Movement:
How to Manage Muscle-ups Additionally, dont stop working on strict pull-ups after
you learn to kip. Kipping pull-ups are great. Doing them
Altering the movements themselves takes more thought.
exclusively would be unwise.
People who have difficulty doing pull-ups have a choice
between assisted pull-ups, jumping pull-ups or ring Some athletes cant do muscle-ups, handstand push-ups
rows. While one pull-up substitution shouldnt be used or other excercises. Even replacing each muscle-up
to the exclusion of all others, some substitutions work with four pull-ups may be too much some beginners.
better than others in specific workouts. Using assis- Start with one pull-up and one dip. Eventually you can
tance bands or Gravitron-type machines may develop increase to two, three or four pull-ups and dips for every
strength efficiently, but jumping pull-ups will better muscle-up.
preserve the metabolic stimulus of a workout. Consider
And dont worry too much about doing the same number
using jumping pull-ups for a workout like Barbara. For
of reps for each exercise. If youre substituting pull-ups
lower-rep workouts like Fran, consider assisted pull-ups
and dips for the muscle-ups in Nasty Girls, for example,
or ring rows for a pull-up ladder.
theres no reason not to do 14 pull-ups and seven ring
How should you program for athletes who can do some, dips if you still struggle with ring dips but want to do
but not all, of the pull-ups in a workout? If you havent more than 21 pull-ups in the entire workout. The idea is to
planned to do so, having to switch to assisted pull-ups challenge yourself with all the exercises, neither holding
halfway through a workout can be discouraging. back on a strength nor pushing too hard on a weakness.
Luis Albuquerque
Of course, scaling up is always an option for firebreathers looking to test themselves.
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Scaling Rounds and Rest

Altering round and rep prescriptions is a particularly good
strategy for slow runners and rowers who are develop-
ing respiratory capacity. If three rounds of a five-round
workout take more than 25 minutes to complete, some
modification is required. You dont want the workout to
turn into a long, low-intensity effort of limited benefit.
You can reduce the number of rounds, but you can also
increase the length of rest.
Consider adding an extra minute to the rest periods
in Fight Gone Bad, for example. For some athletes, the
result will be higher output and intensity than when
doing the workout as prescribed. Adding rest intervals
to workouts can also increase output. Using the Catalyst
Athletics work and power output calculator again, if a
five-foot-eight, 150-pound athlete can perform 12 rounds
of Cindy in 20 minutes, his power output is 72.82 watts.
If that athlete takes a two-minute rest halfway through
and completes 15 total rounds of Cindy in 22 minutes,
Doing ring pull-ups with a false grip is a good way
to get closer to that elusive muscle-up. his output rises to 82.75 watts.
You might also want to try a workout without the clock.
For handstand pushups, substituting push-ups with It could really help you. Or you might feel lost, confused
elevated feet is preferable to using a partial range of and purposeless. The first time you attempt a heavier
motion. Plyometric boxes work well, and athletes can weight or an RXd workout, consider not timing yourself.
place their knees on the box for additional assistance. You can still push yourself with intensity, but removing
GHD sit-ups are easily replaced with normal sit-ups. If the stopwatch can take some of the pressure off. This
you want to work GHD sit-ups into your workouts, you is a good idea when completing exercises you are just
can split the set into half GHDs and half regular or Abmat learningsuch as Olympic liftsas part of met-con
sit-ups. Similarly, back extensions are easy to replace workouts. Without rushing, you can focus on perform-
with supermans or good mornings. The Exercises and ing complex movement patterns, breathing and staying
Demos section of the CrossFit website is rich in videos conscious.
showing progressions for different movements. Spend
time with these videos. Knowing When to Fold
Sometimes its OK not to scale. If you have consistency
with the movements and youre really dying to see what
your Fran time is, go for it. If you have a solid founda-
If you dont work out at an tion in body-weight movements and want to gut out
affiliate, then you are ultimately a full Murph before youre ready, it probably wont kill
youbut maybe skip the weight vest.
the one responsible for learning to
Taking on a little too much is totally humbling. It will
scale. It can take months to learn probably remind you of one of your first workouts.
scaling and apply it to yourself. Its good fun to be reminded of your own limits every
Expect to make mistakes. once in a while. But if you take on too much and feel
your form is breaking down beyond a safe point, do the
Everyone does. unthinkable: quit the WOD. It takes times to learn when
quitting is prudent and when its just slacking. Knowing
the difference is important.
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If youre just starting out and cant judge whether to
Luis Albuquerque
hold back or push harder, hold back. Once youve been
doing CrossFit for a while and learn what your real limits
are, push harder.
Skill practice is important for all athletes. If you have
extra time, practice kicking up into a handstand 50
times. Practice kipping every day, even if no pull-ups
appear in the WOD. Work on L-sits and skin-the-cats
because basic gymnastics skills are incredibly useful.
Education is also important. For beginners, the three-on,
one-off schedule itself may need to be scaled. If you find
yourself too sore and exhausted to work out on the third
day, dedicate your time to learning more. Read Mark
Rippetoes Starting Strength or Greg Everetts Olympic
Weightlifting. Start learning about the Zone and Paleo
diets, or spend some quality time in the archives of the
CrossFit Journal.
Careful scaling worksbut it takes planning and experi-
ence. Track your progress, evaluate the results of your
scaling and correct your mistakes. Talk to other coaches
and athletes and ask for advice. Think, plan and educate
yourself.
Most importantly, keep at it. While it may seem
that youre always scaling or just completing basic
movements day-in and day-out, youll eventually start
cranking out impressive CrossFit performances. The day
will come. Just keep hitting the scaled workouts with all
you have: blood, sweat, tears and patience.
Scaling now is one of the best ways to avoid scaling later.
About the Author

Clea Weiss has been CrossFitting for a little more than a
year. She just graduated from Cornell University and has
just opened an affiliate in Ithaca, NY, CrossFit Ithaca.
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J O U R N A L ARTICLES

Scaling: How Less Can Be More

Start SlowOr Not

Lose the Ego, Lower the Weight

Furthermore, jumping into a WOD that calls for a high

For time: Mike Warkentin

Alex Cibiri/Element CrossFit

Of course, scaling up is always an option for firebreathers looking to test themselves.

Scaling Rounds and Rest

If youre just starting out and cant judge whether to

About the Author

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