How can a D1 collegiate athlete and my 72 year old mom take the SAME CrossFit class? How can you do the Burpees for Boobies Fundraiser WOD​ if you can’t do a burpee?

I can answer that question in one word: “Scaling” (not helpful, I know). Which brings us to our next question, what’s “scaling”?

The needs of a D1 collegiate athlete and my 72 year old mother vary by degree, not kind. They both need to squat, press, and hinge because they both need to function in the real world (a squat is just sitting down in a chair and standing back up again). We’ll challenge both of them by introducing stimuli which challenges posture and position appropriately for their skill level. The D1 collegiate athlete will hit full range of motion (ROM) and move quickly. My mom will have a limited ROM and move slower, but the movement pattern and stimulus stays the same.

For example if we were doing back squats, my mom would squat to a 20″ box (limiting how low she goes in the squat) with no external load (added weight). The D1 athlete will have 400 pounds on their back and hit full ROM.

This is scaling in a nutshell, and can be done with ANY movement. For example, the burpee:

Think you can do one of the scaling options shown in the video?  I KNOW YOU CAN.  Schedule a free No Sweat Intro so we can start scaling workouts for you!