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CrossFit has brilliantly laid out a tier system of what is deemed necessary for health and fitness.
It is called the Theoretical Hierarchy of Development, and it does not care if you are a competitive athlete or show up every day simply for the health benefits. The hierarchy applies to all.
I have coached and collaborated with coaches all over the world since 2016. My degree is in Exercise Science and with all the knowledge that entails, I believe the CrossFit Hierarchy is foundational to the health and fitness of everyone. Its brilliance is in its simplicity…
The CrossFit Theoretical Hierarchy of Development is in order of importance:
1) Nutrition
2) Metabolic Conditioning
3) Gymnastics
4) Weightlifting
5) Sport
For an hour per day, a coach can directly influence numbers 2 (Metcon) and 4 (Weightlifting).
In most classes you will see this hierarchy out of order. How so?
Often, weightlifting is placed before gymnastics when it comes to skill introduction in our daily classes.
It is easy to understand why. A coach can teach the snatch, clean, and jerk in a much shorter time than it takes to teach a handstand walk or muscle up. Scaling is also much simpler. Scaling weightlifting means reducing load or range of motion.
Scaling gymnastics is far more nuanced. I have witnessed coaches try to apply a “1 scale for all” approach to gymnastics.
I even see it in the programming that CrossFit Boxes purchase.
- Have you have been in a class where the METCON included handstand walks and the only scale the coach gave was “high hip bear crawls”?
Sure, that is a great scale for someone afraid to go upside down. It also comes close to the intended stimulus… but does it get them closer to the skill we want the to achieve?
- What about an athlete that is not afraid of getting upside down, but needs help with technique?
Coaches cannot apply a “one size fits all” mentality to scaling for gymnastics. We must meet athletes
where they are and push them forward.
Scaling Gymnastic Options
Below I have compiled a list of common gymnastics movements we see in daily METCONs. Next to them are three options for scaling depending on where the athlete is on their journey.
Also listed are movements to avoid. Avoid does not mean these scales serve no purpose. Your athlete may find them useful when learning a movement. Avoid simply means it may not be optimal for use in a METCON.
Lastly, reps for these scaled movements would not be the same as RX reps. An effective way to begin to
gauge how many reps they should do is to make the amount of time they are working on the movement
close to the same time one of your average RX athletes takes to complete the RX version of the
movement.
Example: If it takes an average RX athlete one minute to complete ten bar muscle ups, then have the
scaled athlete work for one minute on their movement.
Of course there are many more options for each of these movements. Let us know in the comments
other options you use as a coach or athlete for the movements below!
Pullups:
- Ring Rows
- Jumping Pullups
*AVOID: Banded pullups. Bands assist in the hardest part of the movement. If we are working on
pullups as a strength stimulus, focus on the eccentric part of the movement…i.e., pullup
negatives. Keeping reps low as negatives can be felt days after the workout.
Toes to Bar
- Straight legs to target (lying down / holding onto the rig)
- Kipping knee raises
- Kipping knees to elbow
*AVOID: The dreaded “double kip” toes to bar. If an athlete has one T2B but cannot string them
together, the knees to elbow will help them focus on the rhythm and timing of the movement.
Handstand
- Toes on box
- Wall facing at 45 degrees (hands far from wall)
- Back to wall while actively pressing through the ground with your finger to pull their feet off the
wall
*AVOID: Just hanging out with your back to the wall. This reinforces poor bracing patterns
Handstand Pushup
- Dumbbell push press
- Pike pushups with feet on the box
- Back to wall, controlled negatives
*AVOID: Multiple stacked mats removing full range of motion
Handstand Walk
- High hip bear crawl
- Wall walks sideways (3 steps left / 3 steps right)
- Walk to wall from one meter
*AVOID: Spotting athlete with a PVC pipe. For the safety of the athlete and your face, catch the
swinging leg with your hands, and walk beside them using as little or as much spot as necessary.
Bar Muscls Ups
- Jumping bar muscle up (scale with as high or low of a box as necessary)
- Burpee to chest to bar
- High kip drills
*AVOID: Banded bar muscle ups. The band removes the ability for the athlete to extend the hips
when they need to.
Ring Muscle Ups
- Strict ring transitions (toes on the ground)
- Ring muscle up negatives
- Low ring muscle ups (heels on the ground or box, drive with the hips to transition, press to ring
support) - Russian dips
*AVOID: Bands (you are probably seeing a pattern here)
Single Leg Squats
- High box step ups (trying not to push off from the ground)
- Supported single leg squats (holding a ring or the rig)
- Heels elevated single leg squat (place a plate under the heel to compensate for a lack of range of
motion)
AVOID: Single leg squats to box that remove depth
Rope Climbs
- Seated rope climbs to standing
- Foot lock to standing (sit on a box in front of the rope, lock your feet and stand)
- Scale height
Ring Dips
- Bench dips
- Box dips
- Jumping to ring support, then 2-3 second negative
AVOID: You guessed it. Bands.
One of the greatest advantages of CrossFit is the fitness we gain through skill acquisition.
When we fail to customize gymnastics scaling to meet our athletes where they are, we are removing a big part of CrossFit itself.