WOD:

Back Squat
5-3-3-1-1
Then
AMRAP in 7 minutes
25 Double Unders
5 HSPU

In her first ever CrossFit WOD, Miran shows solid push press form during the "Fight Gone Bad" open house.

Universal Scalability
by Dan Hollingsworth

As a follow-on to yesterday’s post regarding intensity, let’s discuss scaling. Those who are being newly introduced to CrossFit will often first balk at the intensity being displayed before their eyes. Once you have explained the reason for the intensity the next statement goes something like “I could never do that much weight” or some iteration of that. Now it’s time to discuss the principle of “universal scalability”.

Universal Scalability simply means that the movements performed in CrossFit can be made appropriate for anybody’s current level of fitness. There is not one activity performed in a CrossFit box that can’t be made suitable for anyone from professional athlete to elderly, deconditioned grandparent. Coach Glassman, founder of CrossFit, sait it best when he said “The needs of olympic athletes and our grandparents differ by degree, not by kind.” Essentially he’s saying that the movements that are important for developing world-class athleticism are equally important for developing skills of daily living. While an NFL linebacker may need to be able to deadlift 550lbs, it is equally important for Grandma to be able to deadlift enough weight to pick up a laundry basket or her grandson off the floor. The movement is the same, it’s just the degree to which we load that movement that needs to be altered.