So you’ve started CrossFit – awesome! Or maybe you’re thinking about starting, but feel a little overwhelmed. What’s an EMOM? How do I do a snatch? What’s all this about AMRAP and AFAP? The wonderful world of functional fitness is likely full of new names, terms and acronyms you might not have encountered before, so if you’re feeling a little confused, we’ve got your back! Read on for a comprehensive guide to the CrossFit terminology and lingo you might come across on your fitness journey.
Is it just me, or are there a lot of new words and names?!
No, it’s not just you – there’s a lot of CrossFit jargon and movement names to wrap your head around! But se this as a good thing – CrossFit is so varied by nature, that you’re likely to keep discovering new movements, variations, exercises and formats even well into your functional fitness journey, so it’s not just a newbie thing! The likelihood is there’s at least one or two other members in your CrossFit class who are also a little stumped. But don’t ever worry if you don’t know what something is – everything (including warm up movements) will always be demonstrated in class at SCFIT, and we would encourage you to always ask if there is anything you don’t know or understand.
In the meantime, here is a glossary of common acronyms, abbreviations and terms you might see or hear at SCFIT – Home of Second City CrossFit.
Equipment
One of the many wonders of the CrossFit gym is the huge variety of movements and equipment that appears in our class programming! This is by no means an extensive list of the gym’s equipment, but is simply a breakdown of some of the lesser-known items – or perhaps items you might not be familiar if you are new to functional fitness – and some common abbreviations that you may see on the whiteboard.
- Abmat – the black, wedge mats that are placed on the floor and sit in the small of your back for Abmat Sit Ups. It promotes full range of motion in the sit up movement (VS a crunch for example, which has a limited range).
- BB – Barbell; the long red and black bars used for weightlifting. At SCFIT – Home of Second City CrossFit we have a few different barbells: Red (20kg – the men’s standard), Black (15kg – women’s standard, slightly thinner bar than the men’s making it more suited to smaller hands), Silver (also called a ‘Training Bar’, 7.5kg). See also Trap Bar.
- Clips – the metal or black plastic cuffs used to secure the plates on a barbell, preventing them from sliding off.
- DB – Dumbbell; the hand-held free weights. The style we have at SCFIT are referred to as ‘Hex Dumbbells’ because of the hexagonal shaped ends.
- KB – Kettlebell
- Plates – the weights that are added to a barbell to increase the load.
- Rack / Rig – referring to the metal framework used to hold (i.e. ‘rack’) a barbell, including the overhead bars used for hanging gymnastic exercises such as pull ups.
- Rings – the gymnastic rings on straps suspended from the rafters. See below!
- Trap Bar – a special hex-shaped bar used for deadlifts and carries designed for the lifter to stand inside. At SCFIT we have four trap bars – a deadlift variation, and sometimes used to help with comfort and positioning if an athlete is uncomfortable in a conventional deadlift (or injured).
Common Movements Abbreviations
Again, this is by no means a full list of CrossFit movements – these are simply some typical abbreviations / acronyms used on the board. Often movements will be written in full (eg, you’ll never see a coach abbreviate ‘Row’!) but the following might sometimes be used as shorthand.
- BJ – Box Jump
- BJO – Box Jump Over
- BBJO – Burpee Box-Jump-Over (sometimes simply called a ‘Burpee Box Over’ or BBO)
- BMU – Bar Muscle-Up (Or…. our favourite Burger spot in Stirchley: Burger Me Up!
- BS – Back Squat
- C&J – The Olympic lift: the Clean & Jerk.
- C2B – Chest-to-Bar Pull Up
- DL – Deadlift
- FS – Front Squat
- HRPU – Hand-Release Press Up
- HSPU – Handstand Press Up
- HRPU – Hand-Release Press Up
- MU – Muscle Up
- OH – Overhead (eg, OH Walking Lunge would refer to a walking lunge where a weight is held overhead).
- OHS – Overhead Squat
- PP – Push-Press
- PU – Pull-Up
- RMU – Ring Muscle-Up
- TGU – Turkish Get-Up
- TTB – Toes-To-Bar
- WB – Wall-Ball
Workout Formats and Acronyms
- AFAP – ‘As Fast As Possible’ – see also For Time.
- AMRAP – As Many Rounds/Reps As Possible in a set timeframe. This format allows the athletes to all move for the same amount of time, each at their own paces. The workout stimulus will likely have an intended number of rounds to aim for, to help guide the coach and athlete to choose appropriate scaling options.
- Buy In / Buy Out – Work to be completed at the beginning or end of a workout. Eg – a workout might call for a ‘1 mile run buy-in’, before moving into an AMRAP of bodyweight movements for the remaining time. The mile run would only need to be completed once, before moving onto the AMRAP.
- Cap – A workout’s time-cap. At this time, the workout will end, regardless of how many rounds or reps you have completed. Workouts which are programmed ‘For Time’ / ‘AFAP’ will usually have a time cap – firstly to ensure no one gets left behind indefinitely if they get stuck! The cap also provides a helpful point of reference for determining the correct scaling of a workout. Eg, if a workout consisted of 30 Clean and Jerks ‘For Time’ (the famous CrossFit workout ‘Grace’), you would likely approach the workout and weight choice very differently if you were told the time cap was 4 minutes, VS if the time cap was 10 minutes.
- Chipper – Typically a longer workout with high reps which you would ‘chip away’ at.
- EMOM – ‘Every Minute On the Minute’. This is a typical ‘circuit’ format for a workout, where athletes will be required to either complete a set amount of work in the minute (and rest for the remaining time) or sometimes carry out as much work as possible within the minute. Sometimes an EMOM is used to help structure a warm up too – eg, building up the weight on a barbell as an EMOM over 6 minutes.
- Finisher – The name given to a short ‘bonus’ workout after the main WOD. Eg – a 4-minute Abs Blast at the end of a cardio session might be called a Finisher.
- For Time – Similar to ‘AFAP’, a workout may be programmed to be completed ‘For Time’, requiring the athlete to carry out a set amount of work as fast as they are able, to achieve a finish time.
- RM – ‘Repetition Maximum’. For example, your 1RM is your maximum lift for 1 rep. Your 5RM is the most you can lift for 5 reps. Sometimes a workout will call for your to build to a ‘3RM for the day’ – meaning build to a heavy 3-repetition-max for that day,
- Tabata – A style of workout timing, where you work for 20 seconds, then rest for 10 second. A traditional Tabata consists of 8 rounds of 20:10 seconds Work:Rest. It’s often a popular format for a ‘Finisher’.
General CrossFit Terminology
- Box – This is the nickname sometimes given to a CrossFit Gym! Eg “what’s the name of your local Box?”. Or, it might simply refer to a box to step / jump on.
- RX – RX, or ‘as prescribed’, refer to the original version of the workout exactly as written, without any scaling or modifications to movements or numbers of reps (see Scaled). Experienced athletes would aim to complete a workout ‘RX’ to achieve the workout’s intended stimulus. If the stimulus can’t be achieved (eg, perhaps the athlete is not yet able to perform a certain movement, or the load is too heavy to allow them to move at the desired pace) then a scaled variation would be recommended.
- Scaled – A modified version of the workout, or a specific movement. Often ‘scaled’ is used to describe a workout or movement that has been modified to be more suited to a less advanced athlete, but scaling can also refer to making a movement or workout harder; it’s all about adjusting to suit the individual, their experience and ability, and ensure the stimulus of the workout is preserved. This could be adjusted reps, particular adjusted movements (such as a Pull Up scaled to a Muscle Up, or scaled to a Ring Row). At SCFIT, all movements and workouts can be scaled accordingly to suit each member, so you never need to worry “but I don’t have a pull up!” if you see it on the whiteboard that day.
- WOD – this is simply an acronym: Workout Of the Day, referring to that day’s programmed session!
Still wondering to yourself “What’s an EMOM?”
Fear not… just ask a coach! We’re all super happy to answer any questions you have and put you at ease. Remember – we were all beginners once, and even the experienced members will get stuck on the terminology sometimes too!
Are you on the lookout for an inclusive, welcoming functional fitness gym in Stirchley? Or perhaps you’ve already tried CrossFit and are looking for a CrossFit gym in South Birmingham? We’d love to meet you. Take the first step and book a free ‘No Sweat Intro’ call with a member of the team here.