Explaining CrossFit Terms to Your Friends

Salus • Jul 25, 2022

Explaining CrossFit Terms to Your Friends and Learning the Common Vocabulary, Acronyms and Abbreviations

So, it’s official. You “drank the Kool-Aid” and you CrossFit now…but how can you explain all those CrossFit terms to your friends and let them know just how awesome it really is. Oh and by the way, what in the world do all those acronyms mean?

One question we ask each of our Athletes of the Month is: How do you explain CrossFit to your friends or someone who is unfamiliar with it?

It can be hard to put into words; it’s all about the experience, but the standard definition is: “ CrossFit is the sport of fitness built on the methodology that the workouts include high-intensity, constantly varied, functional movements. ”   You can tell somebody that and it still probably makes no sense to them.

The best way IS for them to experience it.

But to simplify it; you can try something like this: “ CrossFit is a fitness program designed around the things you do in the real world. Every day, you bend down and pick things up, you put things over your head, you squat down, you stand up, you run after your kids… CrossFit prepares you for all that and more by performing those exact movements in our workouts. We borrow exercises from things like Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics, and metabolic conditioning (like running and jump roping), and we mix it up a lot, so your body is always adapting, getting stronger, faster, better conditioned. And the key to the whole program is that you work really, really hard… so you get fit really, really fast. And it’s fun. ”

AND you are proof that it works.

For most people that go to a regular gym, they have no direction and no idea what they’re doing.  CrossFit is not necessarily random because it’s constantly varied; at CrossFit Salus, our programming is progressive and done with purpose and a goal in mind.

We have a very close relationship with all of our athletes and we make sure they’re doing everything safely & properly, so you get 100 percent direction when it comes to the workout. In fact, each workout has three different CrossFit levels available so everyone gets a great workout.

Often, many people don’t realize that nutrition is about 80-90 percent of how you’re going to perform, look and feel. So that is also something that we discuss very early on in the journey at Salus.

CrossFit terms are unique. This sport is comprised of it’s own lingo. Here are some basic terms and their definitions:

  • AMRAP: As Many Reps (sometimes Rounds) as Possible
  • BEAST : A complimentary term used to describe a badass athlete, as in “she’s a beast”.
  • Benchmark -A workout or lift that tests or measures your fitness and/or strength. Similar to “What do you bench?” at Gold’s Gym, in CrossFit, the classic benchmark is, “What is your Fran time?”
  • Box : the term which refers to a CrossFit gym
  • BS : Back squat
  • BW : Body weight
  • Chipper:  A workout with many reps and many movements (you chip away at it)
  • CFT : CrossFit Total – consisting of max squat, press, and deadlift.
  • C&J : Clean and jerk
  • DL : Deadlift
  • Dubs: Double Unders- the jump rope swings around twice with one jump
  • EMOM : Every Minute On the Minute
  • Fran:  Classic CrossFit benchmark (21-15-9 thrusters/pullups)
  • Firebreather:  A top- notch athlete, someone who does things that us mere mortals just stare at in wonderment. Someone we can all aspire to be like.
  • For Time:  Complete the timed workout as quickly as possible. Be sure and log your workouts (especially the named ones) so you can see your fitness progression.
  • FS : Front squat
  • The “Girls”:  Some of the very first CrossFit WODs; The “benchmarks” for assessing one’s level of fitness; These workouts are named after girls (15 total “original girl” WODs; and 6 total “new girl” WODs).
  • GHD   Sit-up : Sit-up done on the Glute Ham Developer.
  • Globo Gym : the world-wide accepted norm for what a gym is (commercial fitness) i.e. 24 Hour Fitness, WOW, YMCA, etc
  • Goat:  A movement or lift that is difficult for you to overcome. Something you dread coming up in a workout because you either suck at it, hate it or both. Common goats include double unders, muscle ups, running and handstand push ups. We all should be working on our goats, constantly.
  • Hero WODs:  Named after military servicemen, police, or firefighters who have died in the line of duty, these difficult workouts are intermittently programmed in CrossFit to provide an extra challenge and reminder of their sacrifice- mentally and physically (Example: “Murph”- Run 1 mile, 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 air squats, run 1 mile)
  • GPP : General physical preparedness, aka “fitness.”
  • Globo Gym: Often associated with low membership prices, which proves the old saying “you get what you pay for”. A gym whose business strategy is designed to get you in the door, pay your fees and then hope you never come in again.
  • HSPU : Hand stand push up. Kick up into a handstand (use wall for balance, if needed) bend arms until nose touches floor and push back up.
  • KB : Kettlebell
  • K2E: Knees to elbows. Similar to TTBs described below.
  • Kipping pullup:  A rhythmic swing on a pull-up bar that lets you transfer horizontal motion to vertical force. This movement should allow you to complete more (and quicker) pull-ups
  • MetCon : Metabolic Conditioning.
  • MU : Muscle ups.
  • OHS : Overhead squat.
  • Paleo:  Clean eating nutrition plan that many CrossFit athletes adhere to; Not a ‘diet’, but a healthy lifestyle; The premise is “eat real, whole foods”, including protein (red meat, poultry, pork, seafood, eggs), vegetables (all, including some starchy veggies, such as sweet potatoes/butternut squash), lots of healthy fats (nuts, seeds, avocado, coconut oil) and some fruit; Eliminates gluten, sugar, most dairy and legumes.
  • Pistol:  A squat that only uses one leg at a time (also known as single leg squats). Resistance bands or steadying oneself on a box/pole may be used to help gain balance for those new to the movement
  • Pood/Pd:  Weight of a kettlebell (1 pood = 35lbs, 1.5 pood = 44lbs, 2 pood = 70lbs)
  • PR : Personal record
  • PP:  Push press
  • Rep : Repetition. One performance of an exercise completed successfully. A “NO REP” would be a failed attempt at a rep.
  • Rest day:  A necessary component for recovery, both physical and mental. The harder you work, the more rest you need
  • Rip : What could happen to your hands after pullups at a high volume. It’s preventable! Buy a roll of tape and keep it in your bag.
  • Rhabdo: Rhabdomyolysis; A dangerous condition where muscle fibers breakdown at a high rate.
  • ROM:  Range of motion
  • Routine:  the enemy.
  • Rx’d:  As prescribed; as written. WOD done without any adjustments or scaled movements. Complete WOD done with proper form.
  • SDHP:  Sumo deadlift high pull
  • Scaled:  The CORRECT use of “scaled,” is, “I scaled an exercise I can do for one I can’t,” For example,if you can’t do pullups, you scaled by doing an assisted pullup with a band.
  • TGU : Turkish get-up
  • Tabata: For twenty seconds do as many reps of the assigned exercise as you can – then rest 10 seconds.
Repeat this seven more times for a total of 8 intervals, 4 minutes total exercise.
The score is the least number of reps for any of the eight intervals.
  • T2B : Toes to bar.
  • WOD : Workout of the day
  • 21-15-9: A specific rep scheme for a give WOD.  (Ex: 21-15-9 Thrusters and pull ups. …Round 1 do 21 Thrusters and 21 Pullups, round 2 do 15 thrusters and 15 pull ups, round 3 do 9 thrusters and 9 pull ups. DONE!)

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