CrossFit glossary: the basic terms

At first the whiteboard in a box looks like a code: AMRAP, EMOM, C2B, Rx. They are mostly English abbreviations, and almost every one can be cracked in a minute. Below are the ones we use every day. You do not need to learn them by heart. In your first class the coach tells you what you are doing, and the glossary is for later.

What CrossFit is, in short

Greg Glassman, who created the method, described it in “Foundations” (first published in 2002) as a “core strength and conditioning program”. “Core” has two meanings here, and both are intended:

1. The foundation. Basic strength and conditioning that everything else rests on, the way a “core curriculum” is the set of subjects everyone takes. It is not a specialisation in one sport.
2. The middle of the body. Most of the work starts from the hips and trunk and only then reaches out to the arms and legs.

According to Glassman, CrossFit is not meant to be a specialised programme but an attempt to develop all ten general physical skills: cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy.

Workout formats you will see on the board

• AMRAP (as many rounds/reps as possible): as many rounds or reps as you can in a set time.
• BUY IN: a piece you do at the start of the WOD, before the main part.
• BUY OUT: a piece at the end of the WOD, after the main part.
• EMOM (every minute on the minute): every minute you do a set piece of work. If you finish before the minute is up, you rest until the next one starts.
• FT (for time): the set work, done as fast as possible.
• RFT (rounds for time): a set number of rounds, for time.
• Tabata: 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. The protocol comes from Dr Izumi Tabata, and CrossFit describes it in the Level 1 guide.
• TC (time cap): the time limit. If you reach it, the workout ends and you record your score the way the coach tells you.

Gymnastics movements (G)

Gymnastics is bodyweight work. According to CrossFit’s materials, its value is that it improves your strength-to-weight ratio, so what counts is not only how much you can lift but how well you move your own body.

• Air Squat: a squat with no weight.
• Box Step-up: stepping up onto a box.
• BJ (Box Jump): jumping onto a box.
• Burpee: down to the floor, back up, jump.
• C2B (Chest to Bar): a pull-up where your chest touches the bar.
• Dips (Box / Ring Dips): dips on parallel bars, gymnastic rings or boxes.
• HS (Handstand): standing on your hands.
• HSPU (Handstand Push-up): a push-up in a handstand, usually against a wall.
• HSW (Handstand Walk): walking on your hands.
• K2E (Knees to Elbows): hanging from the bar and bringing your knees to your elbows.
• Lunges: with no weight, with a barbell on your chest (Front Rack) or overhead (Overhead).
• BMU / RMU (Bar / Ring Muscle-up): moving from a hang to a support above the bar or the rings.
• Pistols: single-leg squats.
• Pull-up: pulling yourself up on the bar.
• Push-up and Hand Release Push-up: a classic push-up, and one where your hands leave the floor at the bottom.
• RC (Rope Climb): climbing the rope.
• Sit-up: a sit-up.
• T2B (Toes to Bar): hanging from the bar and bringing your feet to it.

Metabolic conditioning (M)

• DU (Double Unders): jump rope, two turns of the rope per jump.
• SU (Single Unders): jump rope, one turn per jump.
• Row: rowing on an ergometer.
• Ski: the ski ergometer, usually for continuous work or intervals.
• Run: running.
• Shuttle Run: running back and forth between two points.

Olympic weightlifting and strength movements (W)

Olympic weightlifting is the snatch and the clean and jerk. We use them in CrossFit because they teach you to use the strength of your whole body quickly and in a coordinated way, and the board also has strength lifts such as squats and the deadlift. These movements take time to learn, so at first you practise them with a light weight or a training bar.

• BS (Back Squat): a squat with the barbell on your back.
• FS (Front Squat): a squat with the barbell held in front, on your shoulders and chest.
• OHS (Overhead Squat): a squat with the barbell overhead.
• GS (Goblet Squat): a squat holding a kettlebell at your chest.
• DL (Deadlift): lifting the barbell from the floor to full hip extension.
• SDHP (Sumo Deadlift High Pull): a wide-stance deadlift finished by pulling the bar up to your chin.
• BP (Bench Press): pressing while lying on a bench.
• SP / PP / PJ (Shoulder Press / Push Press / Push Jerk): pressing the bar overhead: strict, with drive from the legs (Push Press), and dropping under the bar (Push Jerk).
• C&J (Clean and Jerk): bringing the bar from the floor to your shoulders, then driving it overhead.
• SN (Snatch): the bar from the floor to overhead in one movement.
• PS / SS (Power Snatch / Squat Snatch): a snatch caught in a partial squat or a full squat.
• PC / SC (Power Clean / Squat Clean): a clean caught on your shoulders in a partial squat or a full squat.
• Hang Clean / Hang Snatch: a clean or snatch where the bar starts above the knees, not from the floor.
• Cluster: a squat clean straight into a press overhead (front squat, then drive overhead).
• Thruster: a front squat combined with pressing overhead in one movement.
• KB Swing: a kettlebell swing. In the Russian version the kettlebell goes to eye level, in the American version overhead.
• TGU (Turkish Get-up): getting up from the floor holding a weight in a straight arm.
• WBS (Wall Ball Shot): a squat with a medicine ball and a throw to a target on the wall.

Basic training terms

• Alternating: switching sides: each rep you change arm or leg.
• G (gymnastics): one of the three kinds of work in CrossFit programming: bodyweight exercises.
• M (metcon, metabolic conditioning): conditioning work that raises your heart rate: jump rope, ergometers, running, box step-ups. It can be intervals or a long, continuous effort.
• W (weightlifting): exercises with a barbell and external load.
• No Rep: a rep that does not count, because the movement did not meet the standard. The coach says it to show you what to fix, not to annoy you.
• PR (personal record): your best ever in a given movement or workout. You log results and PRs in the SugarWOD app; ask at reception.
• Rep (repetition): one repetition.
• Set: a series of an exercise or a complex. “3 sets of 14 wall balls” means three sets of 14 throws.
• RM (repetition maximum): the heaviest weight for a given number of reps. A 3RM back squat is the heaviest triple you can do in one set with good technique.
• Rx (as prescribed): the workout as written on the board, with no change to the movements, weights or reps. Most people start with a scaled version.
• Scaling: adapting the workout to you: a lighter weight, an easier version of the movement, fewer reps. A well-scaled workout gives the stimulus the coach intended, within a range you can do safely.
• UB (unbroken): reps done without a break.
• WOD (Workout of the Day): the day’s workout, written on the board. You write your score on the board in the box and in SugarWOD, so you can compare yourself with your own result from months ago.
• Box: a CrossFit training space, the place where you train.

In class you have a coach and at most 12 people in the group, so you can ask about any abbreviation you do not know. Classes are in Polish, and if anyone in the room does not speak Polish, the coach runs the class in English. If you want to see how it works in practice, find out how to get started.

Sources

• CrossFit, Level 1 Training Guide (PDF), “Foundations” (Glassman, first published 2002): the definition, the ten general physical skills, “core strength and conditioning”; the Tabata protocol is described in “What Is Fitness? (Part 1)”