Does RX Even Matter?
The short answer. No. The long answer, yes but…
Whenever I have a new client or a new member in class asking me about RX, I have three specific questions I am trying to get to the bottom of. First up, can you even do this thing that is being prescribed to you? Secondly, does your body feel up to the challenge of that prescribed action? Thirdly, do you have a sport specific goal or a timeline specific goal that this challenge could move your towards or away from?
Let’s start with the first question. Can you do it? That is the whole point of RX. If you can’t, it’s now given you a way to backtrack and figure out how to adjust your programming for the day to find a way to still achieve the desired stimulus without hurting yourself, but also without you walking away from the gym for the day. In a lot of scenarios, this is where attending a class or having a personal coach is the most beneficial. They can take your current skillsets and apply them to that specific movement, and make sure that you still feel appropriately challenged and motivated to continue your fitness journey.
The second question is the one that is much harder to swallow: Does your body feel up to the challenge of that prescribed action? Could be, could not be. Either is okay. But it’s vital that you learn how to pay attention to your body and its cues to you, so that you know if it’s worth risking trying something a bit more challenging for the day. If you didn’t read last week’s blog post on sleep, head on over there and check it out. Something as simple as knowing you aren’t fully rested is an easy way to answer that question, and scaling back your WOD for the day. It’s important to note that on days like this, it’s just one day. Be thankful for your ability to move and the logic of preserving your health to come back in another day and destroy that crazy WOD.
The third question is a very specific one, but also still important: Do you have a sport specific goal or a timeline specific goal that this challenge could move you towards or away from? I have a perfect example, via me really screwing up a week of training because of my ego. If you didn’t know, I completed the NYC 2023 Triathlon. Triathlons pretty much require you to eat sleep and breathe running, cycling and swimming. 100% you should still do strength training. But not at the intensity as perchance, a strongwoman might do when training for the national championships. Two completely opposite modes of displaying physical fitness. Anywho, I digress. In September, my beloved gym DKF did our 9/11 memorial WOD. I chose to run to the gym (a straight shot is ~2.1 miles), do the WOD (which I told myself repeatedly I would not RX) and then run a longer route home to round out to a 10k run total for the day. Guess who was an idiot and did the WOD RX? This idiot. Because of this, I could barely run home, almost missed taking my daughter to her first day of school, and had to take three recovery days, massively throwing off that precious timeline leading up to the big race day. Y’all. You set goals for a reason. One WOD is never worth ruining the goals for.
Kisses.