Open season is over, but if it’s one theme that sticks out, it’s the importance of knowing when to scale and when to do a workout Rx.

Doing workouts as prescribed is a badge of honor, but knowing when to scale to get the intent of the workout is a true skill and a vital one for ensuring a long-lasting and healthy exercise routine with CrossFit.

When you get your workout for the day, think about how a high level athlete would complete the workout. How fast would it be? Would they struggle with the weights? How would they strategically break up the rep scheme?

Then you need to do the same thing, even when it means changes the weights to suit your ability, and changing the movements to be ones you can complete with a similar rep scheme. Now we know that you might not ever have the intention of being a competitive athlete, and that’s okay!

Scaling workouts properly means that you get the intention of the workout and you are putting intensity over volume. Greg Glassman says himself that intensity is the first purpose of the sport of CrossFit. Build your intensity and your workouts will feel better, and your strength will grow exponentially compared to focusing on the weights and movements first and foremost.