Two letters that hold so much currency in Crossfit.

Rx.

Prescribed standard.

If I don’t Rx it means I’m not a real crossfitter

If I don’t Rx everyone will think I am soft.

I will just suffer through it, I’ll compromise my form and mechanics to get those two letters beside my name.

If __________ (fill in the blank of role model in gym) is doing it, than I have to too.

Rx’ing workouts is the best way to get better as a crossfitter

Any of these sound familiar? I know these thoughts have run through my head more than once…

And of course we’ve all seen it , the athlete (sometimes us) who brutally slogs through a workout compromising technique and form, cutting corners, skipping reps, just to get those 2 letters beside their name.

The ultmiate pitfall of the Rx Fallacy is a gym whose culture is driven by these 2 letters. The praised are not those who strive to move well but instead those who do whatever it takes, sacrifice at all costs, to acquire that sacred Rx.

I’ll be honest. I couldn’t care less about ‘Rx’.

As I think back to all of the pieces of the puzzle that have contribued to my development in this sport, Rx’ing workouts is nowhere on the list. There are however, a handful of practices that I see as exponentially more valuable than those two letters, here’s what has worked for me:

Finish every last rep, regardless of your time or placing practice ‘intentional perfection’ write down each WOD and strength workout and your results go to that “dark place” study mobility WOD foam roll lacrosse ball stretch sleep 8 hours a night eat breakfast (preferably healthy) show up early and get a great warmup hydrate eat well (whatever this needs to look like and mean to you) work one on one with a gymnastics coach study gymnastics WOD learn proper gymnastics movement progressions work one on one with an olympic lifting coach check out Spencer Arnold’s Olympic Lifting Blog PR your snatch PR your Clean and Jerk set SMART goals and write them down! take an active recovery day learn burpee mechanics and “skill transfer” cheer on the athletes better than you cheer on the newest athletes in the gym film yourself practicing your weaknesses know all of your gym’s members names, use them! practice squatting with vertical torso, hitting full bottom, and activating stretch reflect bounce out of bottom high five the new person at the gym HAVE FUN

At the end of the day there is tremendous value in having a prescribed standard for measuring progress and performance across the board. Rx allows athletes to gauge their success against others in their gym, and around the world.

It is our responsibility, as athletes, to make the distinction between a gauge of performance, and putting ourselves in the optimum environment to improve.

Sometimes Rx is the perfect formula. Other times creating that optimum environment will mean checking your (and everyone else’s) ego at the door.

Finally, the list above is meant to be a starting point, not conclusive. What has been your biggest key to success? Please share below with a comment so that others can learn from your experience!

Please feel free to share this with anyone who may appreciate this list OR who could contribute to it!