People either love it or hate it, but one thing we can all agree on is that CrossFit can get intense. You're doing burpees and throwing around barbells, and there's nary a shower or fresh towel in sight. But CrossFit is more than just the challenging workouts and the back-to-basics atmosphere. All of a sudden, you have to translate terms like "WOD" (workout of the day) and "metcon" (metabolic conditioning). And if you’re a newbie, all that lingo can seem especially intimidating. What does it all mean?
Don’t worry. We'll help you become fluent in the language of CrossFit. Here are the terms you need to know before your first (or next) class.
Heroes: Several CrossFit workouts are named after military, law enforcement and firefighters that have died in the line of duty. For example, the J.T. hero workout (comprising of handstand push-ups, ring dips, and push-ups) is named after Jeff Taylor, a first class officer who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005.
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
HSQ: An acronym for a Hang Squat. An exercise in which you start with the bar “at the hang,” about knee height. Initiate pull. As the bar rises, drop into a full squat and catch the bar in the racked position. From there, rise to a standing position.
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
HSPU: An acronym for the "handstand push-up" exercise. While in a handstand position against the wall, you touch your head to the ground and press all the way up until your arms are locked out.
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
EMOM: An acronym for "every minute on the minute." For instance, an instruction that says, "10 push-ups EMOM for 10 minutes" means that you must do 10 push-ups at the beginning of every minute for 10 minutes.
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
Box: CrossFit Gym
Why do they call it a box? Because unlike regular gyms, CrossFit spaces are usually in sparse, industrial-type warehouses, with few pieces of equipment. So the room you'll be working out it in actually resembles a box: walls, concrete floors, and a bunch of barbells and pull-up bars rather than treadmills and weight machines.
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
WOD: Workout Of The Day
Pronounced by CrossFitters like "wad," this is simply the routine you'll be doing when you hit the box — the movements and the structure of the workout, which changes daily. For example, one might be three rounds of 10 box jumps, 10 wall balls, and 10 deadlifts for time.
Worth noting: There's always a "score" for each WOD, which you can keep track of to compare your performance with what you've done in the past. For the above example, your score would be the amount of time it takes for you to complete the three rounds. If it took you 15 minutes three weeks ago and 12 minutes today, you improved!
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
3, 2, 1, Go
A countdown used at the start of many CrossFit WODs.
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
Metcon: Metabolic Conditioning
These types of training sessions usually involve periods of intense activity followed by a period of rest; they're designed to improve your stamina and endurance. (This is also the name of Nike's CF-specific training shoe.)
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
AMRAP: an acronym for "as many reps as possible" or "as many rounds as possible" in a given time period. These periods often last 10, 20, or 30 minutes. So if you have a WOD that says "20-minute AMRAP: 10 box jumps, 10 wall balls, 10 deadlifts," it means that you'll go as quickly as you safely can and perform as many rounds of that workout as possible.
(The score for that WOD would be the number of full rounds you completed, plus any additional reps. If you completed five full rounds plus five box jumps before the buzzer sounded, your score would be 5+5.)
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
Fran: a popular Workout of the Day, which consists of a 21-15-9 rep scheme of thrusters (95 pounds for men, 65 for women) and pull-ups. So you'd do 21 thrusters, 21 pull-ups, 15 thrusters, 15 pull-ups, 9 thrusters, and 9 pull-ups, and your score would be the time it took you to complete them all.
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
CrossFit Games: an annual competition to find the fittest man and woman on Earth. Everyone with access to the Internet and CrossFit equipment is invited to join the five-week "Open" qualifier to the CrossFit Games. The top scorers in each region go to regional qualifier competitions, and the top scorers from the regional competition go to the Games.
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
CFT: an acronym for “CrossFit total.” The total of the best three attempts at the squat, the press, and the deadlift.
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
DNF: an acronym for “did not finish.” For WODs with a fixed amount of work and a fixed timecap, it is possible to not finish the prescribed work in the given time. In these cases, your score will be attached to a “DNF.”
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
DNS: an acronym for “did not start.” If, for some reason, an athlete is unable to start a WOD, that person forfeits his or her efforts and receives a “DNS.”
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
ME: an acronym for “maximum effort.” The most effort you can put into a workout for a given period of time. For example, if a workout is listed as “2 mins ME rowing,” you would row as hard as you could for those two minutes.
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
Beast: an athlete with exceptionally good work capacity or work ethic.
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
Beast Mode: the state of performing like a “beast." An athlete of any level can enter “beast mode.” It is both a state of mind and of strong physical performance.
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
GPP: an acronym for General Physical Preparedness. The level of an athlete's preparedness, a.k.a. “fitness.”
Illustrated by: Tristan Offit
DUs: an acronym for Double Unders. When jumping rope, the rope passes under your feet two times between each jump.
Illustrated by: Tristan OffitLike what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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