The Smarter Way: When Scaling Means Stopping...
Reyna..
"Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well."
I am blessed to be around hard workers everyday. Folks who continue to challenge today with more than they gave yesterday. Becoming absorbed in such a wealth of talent, however, can lead to forgetting the goal and just focusing on the work. The goal to improve. Often, we need just stop, review, and change that hard work, to smart work.
New CrossFitters make me all warm inside. Everything is new and bold. PR's are like breathing. Special times are linked together like a rich tapestry of achievement they seem to add too daily. Veterans are equally cool, but in a different way.
You can always count on a veteran to know their strengths, and show up as that shining example newbies can work towards as the veteran dominates today's WOD. But, I for one, always try to set up my WOD station right beside that newbie. Being right beside a new CrossFitter as they struggle through their first ever "Grace". Their freshman power clean, their intro to wall-ball is incredibly motivating. Veterans may be able to show new CrossFitters whats to come if they stick with CrossFit's amazing program, but newbies remind veterans what heart is...at least they do that for me everyday.
CrossFit is about introducing new folks to old classes everyday. Anything less is a deformation of what we were destined to become. A location for all walks of life to be able to gather under the same flag. The flag of effort, the pledge of accomplishment. We don't all have to do the same work, we all need to just work equally hard, and this is how veterans make newbies better, and newbies return the blessing ten fold.
In the effort to combine the will of the newbie with the experience of a veteran we sometimes fail to remember one of the simplest lessens applied to gaining strenght as a Crossitter. Strength as human. Strength in mind. Often the simplest lessens are the least fun, and often the simplest lessen is "stopping". The best advice can often be "enough is enough". Working hard is a must, but only when coupled with working smart.
I stood next to a wonderfully fluent newbie the other day. In essence, she gets it. Its not that it matters if someone moves well, or understands better, or is more coordinated, its just that most are not quite so full of talent so early on. But not only does talent not make you infallible, it may make you impatient. And lets be honest, talented or not, the biggest virtue almost every CrossFitter on the planet could have a little more of is patience.
By the end of her eight WOD with us thus far she seems to be feeling rather spry. Keeping up with some of the folks at it for some time longer than she, progressing faster than most newbies who she joined with, and eating up every bit of instruction yearning to do more.
CrossFit is modifiable as shit, and scale-able to the nth degree. But I think some trainers including myself forget one version of a scale that may make CrossFitter all over the land better today. "The Scale of Stopping". The art of enough.
"Ok, this isn't really working, great effort, but your not strong enough today", I said as our newbie tried repeatedly and failed at a rather awkward strength movement. "Well what should I do to modify", she asked. Immediately I retorted, "stop, today you have done enough, anything furrther will make you worse."
Being a good trainer is being honest. Its not that I'm failing to teach you a movement, or that I have lost patience with you, its that your presenting signs that show me your just not up to this task, and today, to make you better, I am making you stop. Anything else would be an exercise in futility.
Some of the hardest modification to make, are modifications that make us better tomorrow, even if it means stopping today. The hardest attitude to scale is the ambitious impatient attitude we all have that simple may impede the goal of betterment, as opposed to enhance it. CrossFit has never been just about working harder, its about working smarter.
Strength:
-Work up to a heavy Snatch (Power, Or Squat)
or
Press
Max reps @ 85% 1RM
For Time:
-Overhead Squat 65/95
-Toe 2 Bar
-Dips
21/15/9
Post weight moved and time to comments.
First, let me just say...Reyna is ROCKIN those Toe Through Rings!!! Love that picture...
Second, I could not agree more with this blog...I set myself a goal of one year...One year to truly get to know the movements of CrossFit. To become comfortable and confindent within myself and the movements...I have had a few people tell me, "oh you could add more weight to that" and they are probably right...but I want to still be doing this in a year from now...10 years from now...hell 30+ years from now. When I watch people that just have just beautiful form in the movements it is the greatest for me...We all at PCF have done our fair share of watching each other and just being in awe sometimes of how damn pretty some people are in their movements...Mindy Shardo has got great form she is someone that I have watched and said, man...thats what an overhead squat should look like...and hands down when we watch Josh pop that weight from his hips and throw it overhead we are all thinking, "Now, thats just damn pretty!"
Form is where its at man...with form comes strength, confidence, and power. Power to believe within yourself...
I love feeling strong...love it more than I thought I ever would...
But what I also love is being healthy and being smart enough to step back and say, Im not ready for that yet....because I want to be here throwing weight over my head until the Grandkids come home!!
Posted by: Cindy Lou | August 30, 2011 at 07:28 PM
First, let me just say...Reyna is ROCKIN those Toe Through Rings!!! Love that picture...
Second, I could not agree more with this blog...I set myself a goal of one year...One year to truly get to know the movements of CrossFit. To become comfortable and confindent within myself and the movements...I have had a few people tell me, "oh you could add more weight to that" and they are probably right...but I want to still be doing this in a year from now...10 years from now...hell 30+ years from now. When I watch people that just have just beautiful form in the movements it is the greatest for me...We all at PCF have done our fair share of watching each other and just being in awe sometimes of how damn pretty some people are in their movements...Mindy Shardo has got great form she is someone that I have watched and said, man...thats what an overhead squat should look like...and hands down when we watch Josh pop that weight from his hips and throw it overhead we are all thinking, "Now, thats just damn pretty!"
Form is where its at man...with form comes strength, confidence, and power. Power to believe within yourself...
I love feeling strong...love it more than I thought I ever would...
But what I also love is being healthy and being smart enough to step back and say, Im not ready for that yet....because I want to be here throwing weight over my head until the Grandkids come home!!
Posted by: Cindy Lou | August 30, 2011 at 07:28 PM
Awesome blog..... As a "newbie" I totally am the impatient one. Of course it is good to set goals & work towards reaching them- but I am so darn stubborn.... And press on probably when it's risky. I need to constantly remind myself that improvement takes perseverance and attention to detail!!! So next time I'm practicing HSPUs, double unders, power cleans, etc...I also need to practice patience!!!
The veterans amaze and inspire me always. I LOVE PCF- and all the support & enthusiasm from everyone!!!! I hope I can provide the same to others as well!!!!
Posted by: Nikki J | August 30, 2011 at 07:46 PM
another great shot. love the b&ws. reyna...love seeing you and your beloved takin on the wods together. sure would be cool to get my dad interested enough to let me coach him!
Posted by: k | August 30, 2011 at 10:34 PM
90/ press
13:01(m-banded dips)
Posted by: Nikki J | August 31, 2011 at 08:23 AM
85 1RM press
14:24(m-banded dips & 1/2 sit-ups 1/2 T2B)
Posted by: Krissy | August 31, 2011 at 08:48 AM
85 press
9:something (svm)
So very modified. :)
Posted by: Shelly | August 31, 2011 at 08:52 AM
70 Press
13:something
M- dips
Posted by: Carrie | August 31, 2011 at 09:13 AM
13:15
Posted by: Mo | August 31, 2011 at 09:16 AM
11:40(m=15 dips first round, then 12 push ups 2nd round, then 9 push ups 3rd rd)
Posted by: kara MIKOLAJEWSKI | August 31, 2011 at 09:20 AM
Great shot Reyna!!
10:53MMM!
Posted by: vicki | August 31, 2011 at 10:19 AM
75# power snatch
12:23 m for # of dips at 7/5/3
Posted by: jen w | August 31, 2011 at 10:53 AM
Great personal training session, Melissa. A little longer than perhaps that wko shouldve gone, but wow your effort was fantastic. GREAT improvement on snatch and OHS form.
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Posted by: k | August 31, 2011 at 01:58 PM
9:24 (m) Modified dips and toes to bar
Posted by: ASH | August 31, 2011 at 05:10 PM
Justin- great class today!!!
Posted by: betsy | August 31, 2011 at 06:29 PM
85 power snatch
I don't remember my time
Posted by: betsy | August 31, 2011 at 06:30 PM
65# snatch--I actually snatched it & didn't press it @ all;)
12:45(m) WOD--pushups instead of dips
Posted by: Lori | August 31, 2011 at 06:55 PM
10:43
WOW tuff WOD after yesterday. Fealt like I was in slow motion.
Posted by: Sammy | August 31, 2011 at 07:30 PM
Awesome pic by the way. We now know where Min gets it from!!
Posted by: Sammy | August 31, 2011 at 07:31 PM
65lb snatch - PR
Slow and awkward, but I got it there!!
15:32(I think)m...55lb fs, dips on parallettes, and almost all t2b..some didn't quite get there. Tough WOD!
...and my first 2 real wall climbs during warm up!
Posted by: Mindy | August 31, 2011 at 08:55 PM
Yeah, after yesterday that one was much more profound...7:13
Posted by: jb | August 31, 2011 at 09:53 PM
11:39...when OHS are the easy part, something's awry.
Big congrats out to Lauren on her first 2 chin over bar pull-ups tonight. I smell a trip to Dick's!
Posted by: k | August 31, 2011 at 10:20 PM
10:52m
Posted by: Ken | August 31, 2011 at 10:55 PM
13:15
Posted by: runmelrun | September 01, 2011 at 07:23 AM