Before each of class at 306, I always try to talk about the “intent” of the workout. A big part of making sure we all have the most successful workout possible is understanding the intent and focus of it. Just because we are capable of of writing that “Rx” beside our name, doesn’t mean we should be.
Each week Jay spends a lot of hours masterfully coming up with the programming for the gym. Jay is extremely dedicated to this craft and always comes up with amazing stuff for us. There is a lot of thought that goes into each workout, far beyond just which movements we are going to do. Volume, power output, heart rate, energy systems and what type of physiological response we want to be triggering are all taken into account. There’s a lot more too it than just “21-15-9” every day. Jay writes these workouts and programs as prescribed for our best athletes. Meaning the movements, time frames, weights, etc are based off the best athlete in the gym and then need to adjusted from there.
As a coach, the intent of the workout needs to be on my mind when adjusting and scaling a workout for the athletes in my class. Once again, just because you can do a prescribed movement or weight, does not mean you should. For example, if a workout had muscle ups and 135/85 pound deadlifts in it. There are a lot of people who can not do muscle ups but most people wouldn’t have a problem with the deadlift weight. Recall earlier when I said that Jay programs for the top athlete in the gym. That means the guys with deadlifts north of 600 pounds are also lifting 135 pounds. That means the 135# is less then 25% of those athletes one rep max. If we have adjusted the muscle ups for you because that tool isn’t in the tool box yet, it stands to reason the deadlift should also be adjusted. Not because you can’t, but because you will be missing the desired stimulus. If a workout was designed to take our top athlete ten minutes for example, but it takes you twenty to complete, I have missed my job adjusting the workout correctly for you. The stimulus of a sub-ten minute versus over twenty minute workout are very different.
There are going to be times when biasing one way or the other will happen when adjusting for a workout. I do this because I know the athletes in my class and know where they should be focusing. If you can run a 6-minute mile but your strength needs some work, I will adjust the workout with a strength bias, or “focus”, for you once in a while. We can also do the same thing the other way if we want to focus on cardiovascular training more so over strength.
Sometimes we will let you go (within common sense and safety obviously). If a particular hero or benchmark workout comes up that you are able to safely execute as prescribed, there is a time and place for that. It is good to challenge ourselves once in a while like that even if we completely miss the intended stimulus of the workout. As long as the rest of the time we are getting that designed and intended stimulus from our training, “going for it” once in a while is ok.
The programming at 306 is second to none. So is the coaching! If you show up and put in an honest effort, I guarantee you will get some very good results. Remember that just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. There is some very good methods to the madness around 306. Take advantage of it by chasing the desired stimulus and not two little letters beside your name on the board.
The results will take care of themselves!