Do you keep on hearing people say they RX’ed a workout, but you have no idea what that means? Not sure to if you are to press “RX” or “Scaled” in SugarWod? Then this one is for you!
Before we go into the nitty gritty of what RX means, we have to talk about the thought process behind creating workouts.
When CrossFit first came on the scene, those creating the workouts had to decide: do we want this workout to be heavy, light, long, or short? Should it be a grind or all movements easy to complete? When thinking of who was performing these workouts, they thought of the top 10% of athletes doing CF. This helped them decide exact weights and rep scheme to use. The determined weights and movements for the workout are called RX (also known as “as prescribed”).
From there it was easier to lessen weight or do simpler, but similar gymnastics movement for those who weren’t in the top 10%. This is scaling.
So for example:
“Fran”
21-15-9
Thrusters (65/95)
Pull Ups
RX: When this workout was created, the intent was for the weight to be light, but on the round of 15 to maybe have to break it up because your legs are pumped from moving so fast. Same goes for the pull ups. The workout should be done is under 5:00 minutes. The goal of the workout is to improve intensity. If you have to break up the thrusters in 5 sets per set, you are working on strength and will not give you the same pump and heart racing feeling that was intended.
IF you do this workout any other way then what is written above: lighter weight, jumping pull up, banded pull up, less reps…. Then you have scaled the workout. PS majority of our members scale workouts.
If you scaled and got it done in 5 minutes or under, congratulations you did it correct!!! If you went over the 5 minutes, no worries take it as a learning lesson. What part was the hardest part? This might be an area that you need to lesson the weight or do an easier scale for awhile until you have built up some stamina.
Unsure what weights and progression to use. Ask a coach. That is what we are here for, and we love to help!
