What did you notice the first time you walked into a CrossFit gym?
For me, it was the wall-to-wall white boards filled with names, times, goals, workouts, etc. But most of it was the unending list of jargon and acronyms.
To help make sense of this unique language you may encounter if you workout at a CrossFit gym, we compiled a list of 62 CrossFit terms.
Basic CrossFit Terms:
- AMRAP: As Many Repetitions (or Rounds) As Possible – typically in a specified timeframe
- As Rx’d: As Prescribed – the suggested parameters for a given exercise (weight for example)
- PB: Personal Best
- PR: Personal Record
- Rep: A repetition or one instance of a given exercise
- Set: A group of repetitions
- WOD: Workout of the Day
Intermediate CrossFit Terms:
- Air Squat: (see video)
- Box: A CrossFit gym
- Box Jump: An exercise where you jump onto and down from an elevated platform (see video)
- BP: Bench Press (see video)
- BS: Back Squat (see video)
- Burpee: (see video)
- BW: Body weight
- CFT: CrossFit Total – The combined weight of your max squat, press, and deadlift
- Chipper: A workout with many reps and many movements (you chip away at it)
- C&J: Clean and Jerk (see video)
- CLN: Clean (see video) – Additional versions include Hang Clean, Power Clean, and Squat Clean
- CU: Chin Up – Bar is held with palms facing you (supinated grip)
- C2: Concept II rowing machine
- CTB or C2B: Chest to Bar (as in pull ups)
- DB: Dumbbell
- DL: Dead Lift (see video)
- DOMS: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
- DU’s: Double Unders – two turns of the jump rope per jump (see video)
- EMOM: Every Minute on the Minute
- FS: Front Squat (see video)
- GHD: Glute-Hamstring Developer (see video)
- GHR: Glute-Hamstring Raise
- Good Mornings: (see video)
- Hollow Rocks: (see video)
- HSPU – Hand Stand Push-Up (see video)
- KB: Kettle Bell
- K2E: Knees to Elbows (similar to T2B)
- Kipping: (see video)
- MetCon: Metabolic Conditioning
- MOBWOD: Mobility and stretching work
- MP: Military Press
- MU: Muscle Up – A combination of a pull-up and a ring dip (see video)
- OH: Overhead
- OHS: Overhead squat (see video)
- Pistols: (see video)
- PJ: Push Jerk
- PP: Push Press
- PU: Pull Up or Push Up
- Renegade Rows: (see video)
- Rhabdo: Rhabdomyolysis – A dangerous condition where muscle fibers breakdown at a high rate.
- RM: Repetition maximum – the most you can lift for a given number of repetitions
- ROM: Range of Motion
- SDHP: Sumo Dead Lift High Pull (see video)
- SJ: Split Jerk
- SN: Snatch (see video) – Additional versions include Hang Snatch, Power Snatch, and Squat Snatch
- SP: Shoulder Press
- SQ: Squat
- Stabilize the midline: Controlling the muscles around the spine to make it stable and strong during an exercise
- Tabata: A protocol of 20 seconds of exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest
- TGU: Turkish Get Ups (see video)
- Thrusters: (see video)
- TnG: Touch and Go – No pausing between reps
- TtB: Toes to Bar (see video)
- UB: Unbroken (perform all in a row or start over at the beginning)
- Wall Balls: (see video)
Starting CrossFit: What Should I Do to Prepare?
Some will say that you can scale CrossFit and begin at any stage of fitness. Perhaps that is true, but I believe that people are more likely to stick with the program and become integrated into the community if they feel like they belong. And walking in on day one with the ability to do a few basic movements gives you a big boost of confidence.
So for now, don’t worry about the CrossFit lingo (Fran, WOD, AMRAP, etc.), don’t worry about purchasing new shoes, and most definitely don’t worry about learning Olympic weightlifting.
Instead, if you have been sedentary, out of shape, or over 50, you would benefit greatly from a month or more of remedial, at-home exercising before enrolling and starting CrossFit. Specifically, try and work on the 4 essential movements shown below:
Push-Up
Plank
Pull-Up
Squat
I’m not suggesting that you need to master each of these four movements or even progress all the way through them. However, having one, two, or three months with these skills will give you a big leg up when starting CrossFit.
