When it comes to training methodologies, almost anything can be scaled down. Anyone can throw less punches in Tae Bo or dance less dramatically in Zumba in that same way that running can be reduced to walking, albeit with a cane, and squatting can be scaled to a short range of motion un-weighted squatting variation to a box. Not all methods can scale up, however. At some point, the fitness available to someone in Tae Bo or Zumba will be limited by how many DVDs they’re willing to vigorously move through, for example. Keep in mind, there is a point of diminishing returns here where doing a sixth session isn’t necessarily better than five and doing seven doesn’t make for more fitness than doing six does and so on.
Consider how innovation is made in the automotive industry. The tip-of-the-spear racing element of Toyota or Ferrari provides the research and development atmosphere for concepts and technologies that can trickle down into the automobiles sold to consumers. There are a host of reasons, however, that these technologies don’t flow in the opposite direction from the Toyota Camery to the Formula 1 track.
In playing Devil’s advocate, we ought to mention that any fitness protocol one can be compliant to is better than the ones he/she won’t do. Any man doing Tae Bo will getting fitter than a man not doing his NCAA inspired strength and conditioning protocol. Given the choice, however, it seems that the best choices for fitness ought to demonstrate the ability to scale infinitely in both directions, including upward. If you’re practicing something with a built-in dead-end, where are you headed?
Not sure whether your fitness activities scale up? Find out what its principles are. What are the premises of the program? Are exercises done in five stations? Why five? Is that a magic number? How long are work and rest intervals? Why? Would this make everyone fitter or just beginners? Why?
You’d be surprised at how many popular training trends don’t have answers to these basic questions. Scale up!
Logan Gelbrich
@functionalcoach
6/1/17 WOD
5-5-5-5
Clean Pulls
Then, Find a Heavy Triple C&J
Then, complete 5 rounds for time of:
10 Toes-to-Bar
5 Front Squats (155/105)