Going “Rx” 

We often talk about workouts as “Rx” or scaled. Workouts are designed to be challenging for every person in the gym, which means that not everyone will be capable of doing the workout exactly as it’s written on the whiteboard.

Workouts are scaled to make sure everyone is moving safely, but still getting the intended stimulus of the workout. Whether it is lowering reps, decreasing loads, or shortening time domains, there are various scales based on each individuals fitness and skill level. Scaling a workout should never be frowned upon, because at the end of the day, everyone gets the same intended stimulus of the workout and everyone is more fit because of it!

Having said that, improving on your fitness and skill level and doing a workout as prescribed should be a goal for everyone to eventually achieve. It’s a level of fitness to aim for, which is the reason that it is important to differentiate when a workout was done as prescribed (“Rx”) or scaled.

If a workout is completed as exactly written on the board, then and only then should “Rx” be written next to your name on the whiteboard. Writing “Rx” next to your name is a badge of honor, you’ve worked hard to get to that point and it needs to be noticed. There is no partial Rx such as, “I didn’t do the Rx weight but I did Rx box jumps so that counts as Rx”. If anything is changed about the workout, it was not done as “Rx”. Everyone remembers the first workout they could officially “Rx” and how rewarding it felt – let’s try not to ruin the meaning of “Rx” and all the accomplishments behind it!