"Josh"

I hate hearing this – its usually at the end of a WOD, when someone just crumpled to the floor, dead last by minutes, breathing hard while classmates go up to congratulate.

“Dude, that was awesome, way to fight through”, “You did SO good!”, “That was amazing, great job today”, “Good job finishing, way to not give up!”

“Yeah, but I scaled.”

As if scaling is something to be ashamed of, as if scaling is for the weak and the untrained.

As if scaling means you didn’t do the workout – or your workout was less worthy because you scaled.

It isn’t.

We are all in a constant state of scaling – even the elite of the elite, even the few who make it to the finals at  The CrossFit Games.

Double unders are scaled triple unders, MU are scaled weighted MU, 15′ rope climbs are scaled 20′ climbs.

Sure, they aren’t called for in the WODs today, but what about tomorrow?

Scaling is how you get from where you are now to your future kickass self.

Scaling is how you stay safe and healthy.

Scaling is how you finish the workouts and feel obliterated after, using a band instead of just staring at the bar for 10 min willing yourself to get a pullup.

Scaling is how you improve your technique and learn to lift heavier.

Scaling, is not, however, something to be ashamed of or something that you can use to write off your WOD as a poor performance.

So next time you are crumpled on the floor gasping for air, be proud that you choose the right scale for you.

Be proud that you killed the WOD, and that the WOD killed you.