A big part of successful programming will be adjusting the workout format to fit your individual needs. Successfully swapping and scaling exercises will allow you to see better long-term results. The end goal of any workout is the "intended stimulus". However, depending on certain individual factors such as exercise history, experience level, and capacity the stimulus will be different person to person. That's why in every workout there will be a stimulus note. The whole goal is to scale and adjust the workout to fit the intended stimulus. This can be done in numerous ways which we will explain below
Weight
The first thing that we need to take into account is the weight that is prescribed for that specific movement. The weight used has a direct correlation on the intended stimulus. The first layer of scaling should be to adjust the weight to fit the target goal of the workout (which will be explained in the stimulus note). Each weighted movement will have prescribed weights that are disgusted by a slash. For example (35/25). This means that particular exercise has a prescribed weight of 35 lbs for the men and 25 lbs for the women. If the prescribed weight does not fit the intended stimulus for you then decrease the weight. Remember, the stimulus is way more important than the weight that you are using.
Volume
The next step to consider is the volume of the workout. Volume is basically the amount of reps you achieve with a particular weight. If the workout has too many reps/sets then decrease the total volume. This is incredibly individual by a good place to start would be shooting for 75% or 80% of the total volume programmed. If you need to decrease further then by all means do so.
Decreasing total weight and volume will account for the majority of a successful scale. However, with any program there needs to be a level of individualization and flexibility. Although exercises selection is important, progression is more important. There might be times where you need to modify other exercises based on individual factors. These include: range of motion issues, injuries, and equipment availability to name a few. In order to modify or change an exercise you must click on the three vertical dots to the right of the exercise video. Once clicked, you can select the "swap" option and change that specific exercise with any exercise in my database. The rule of thumb is to keep the same movement pattern and/or stimulus.
Movement pattern scaling
The first scaling tier falls underneath creating similar movement patterns. I have highlighted some of the common movement patterns that might need to be scaled in the spark workouts. If you are unable to complete a particular movement then swap it out for another movement underneath that same movement pattern. For example, if you are unable to perform a back squat then you can swap it out for any movement underneath the squat category. So on so forth.
Squat
Back Squat
Front Squat
Box Squat
Leg Press
Inverted Leg Press
Hinge
Deadlift
Rack Deadlift
Sumo Deadlift
Trap Bar Deadlift
Hinge Accessory
KB Deadlift
Barbell RDL
DB RDL
SL KB RDL
Russian KB Swing
Banded Russian KB Swing
Horizontal Pushing
Barbell Bench Press
Incline Barbell Bench Press
DB Bench Press
Incline DB Bench Press
Chest Press Machine
Incline Chest Press Machine
Horizontal Pulling
Seated Row
Seated Row Machine
Inverted Row
TRX / Ring Row
DB Bent Over Row
Standing / Half Kneeling Cable Row
Vertical Pushing
Barbell Shoulder Press
DB Shoulder Press
Barbell Push Press
DB Push Press
Half Kneeling SA DB Press
Half Kneeling Landmine Shoulder Press
Vertical Pulling
Lat Pull Down
Neutral Grip Lat Pull Down
Straight Arm Pull Down
Pull Up
Chin Up
Neutral Grip Pull Up
Banded Pull Up
These are the main movement patterns that I use to program. If you aren't able to complete a specific exercise then use the swap method to find another exercises that falls under that same movement pattern. Lastly, there will be some exercises that do not fall into these movement patterns. This would include various isolation movements and core movements. The rule of thumb here is to swap it out for the intended isolation focus. For example, if you are unable to perform a preacher curl then swap it out for another exercise that focuses on bicep activation. If you are unable to perform a certain core exercise, then swap it out for another exercise that focuses on the core.
STimulus Scaling
The other option for swapping is intended to keep the same stimulus. If you are unable to perform some of the movements in spark programming then look under the stimulus scaling section. Find the movement (along with the prescribed metric) that you are unable to perform and swap it out for an exercise (along with metric) that falls underneath that same category. For example, if you are unable to perform handstand walking then swap it for one of the options underneath the handstand walking stimulus.
Handstand Walking (100 ft)
25/18 Calorie Ski Erg (or 1:30 on other machine)
12 HSPU
100 FT Bear Crawl
1:00 HandStand Hold
6 Wall Walks
40 HandStand Taps
20 DB Strict Shoulder Press
Strict handstand Push Up (1)
Kipping HSPU
Pike Push Up from Box (1)
Pike Push Up From Ground (1)
DB Seated Shoulder Press (1)
Parallette Handstand Push Up (1)
Deficit HSPU (1) (6'/4')
Strict HSPU (1)
Kipping HSPU (2)
Kipping Pull Up (1)
Banded Pull Up (1)
Jumping Pull Up (1)
Strict Pull Up (.25)
Barbell Inverted Row (1)
Ring Row (2)
Chest-to-Bar Pull Up (1)
Kipping Pull Up (1)
Banded Pull Up (1)
Barbell Inverted Row (1)
Ring Row (2)
Strict Pull Up (.5)
Toes-t0-bar (10)
10 GHD Sit Up
12 V Ups
15 Alternating V Ups
15 Ab-Mat Sit Ups
10 Weighted Ab-Mat Sit Ups (light weight)
Ring Muscle Up or bar Muscle Up (1)
Any difficult Pull Variation (2) (strict pull up, chest to bar pull up, kipping pull up, banded pull up, ring row etc)
Burpee Pull Up (1)
Rope Climb (1)
4 Toes-to-bar
3 Strict Pull Ups
25 ft Sled Pull
25 ft Rope Pull Machine
Legless rope Climb (1)
5 Toes-to-bar
4 Strict Pull Ups
30 ft Sled Pull
30 ft Rope Pull Machine
Peg Board (1)
1 Legless Rope Climb
2 Rope Climb
6 Strict Pull Up
Power Clean
Hang Power Clean
Russian KB Swing
Power Snatch
Hang Power Snatch
American KB Swing
Squat Snatch
Power Snatch
Overhead Squat
American KB Swing
Squat Clean
Power Clean
Front Squat
Russian KB Swing
GHD Sit Up (10)
10 Toes-to-Bar
12 V Ups
15 Alternating V Ups
15 Ab-Mat Sit Ups
10 Weighted Ab-Mat Sit Ups (light weight)
Double Under (50)
Single Unders (75)
Heavy Double Under (50)
75 Double Unders
100 Single Unders
Sled Push (100 ft)
Front Rack Lunge (50 ft)
Back Rack Lunge (50 ft)
Front Rack Walk (100 ft)
Sandbag Bear Huge (100 ft)
Assault Bike (15/12 Cal)
Sled Pull (50 ft)
5 Strict Pull Up
1 Legless Rope Climb
2 Rope Climb
Farmer Carry (100 ft)
Sandbag Clean (1)
Power Clean (1)
Machine STimulus
The last scaling option would be for machines. Depending on the machine you have you might have to adjust distance and or calories to fit the intended stimulus of the Spark workout. Follow the chart below to adjust your specific machine meters or calories to fit the intended stimulus.