ACRONYMS

Every sport, industry, and hobby has its own vernacular; a set of terms that sound completely foreign to the untrained ear. Rocky Point Crossfit & Rocky Point Fitness is no different. Here’s a quick reference for you to better understand what the heck those acronyms are in the daily news feed.

1./ ABMAT – A cushion shaped to fit the lumbar column during a sit up and prevents the spine from flexing as the athlete does the sit up. Adds years to the athlete’s spinal discs.

2./AMRAP – As Many Rounds As Possible (in a given time period)

3./ AMREP – As Many REPs as possible (in a given time period)

4./ DL – Deadlift

5./ ERG – Ergometer: a device that measures the amount of work being performed. In our case, the device is an indoor rowing machine, which is usually the only machine that exists in a CrossFit facility. It is highly effective in transforming dry people into sweaty heaps.

6./ EMOM – Every Minute. On the Minute: Perform the movements as described by your coach. Most often it’s a lift. It’s a great opportunity to practice technique then chit chat with your neighbor in the time remaining in the minute.

7./ GHD – Glute-Ham-Developer: The interesting contraptions in the corner. 1 GHD situp equals 10 regular situps. Yes, that is an arbitrary number. This is a potent movement and you must get a coach to instruct you on the proper way to use them.

8./ GTO – Ground To Overhead: An instruction in the WOD to move a weight from the ground to overhead by any method the athlete desires. Suggested methods: Snatch, Clean & Press/Jerk. Discouraged possible methods: TGU’s, One Hand Snatch, transforming your body into a medieval siege weapon such as a trebuchet or a catapult.

9./ Hang – The term “hang” will precede the words “clean” or “snatch”. Meaning the athlete will deadlift the bar and pause. Standing there with the bar around mid-thigh, the athlete is in the “hang”.

10./ HSPU – Hand Stand Push Up: When pushups are not enough, we’ll teach you to get upside-down against the wall and do them.

11./ KB – Kettlebells; see this link for Coach Tom’s Theory of their Origins.

12./ MED BALL – Medicine Ball: Made popular during the presidency of Herbert Hoover (1929-1933), the medicine ball plays a key role in our program. You’ll carry, heave, slam, and throw (sometimes at other people) the medicine ball. I urge you to respect the 10lb of leather and stuffing travelling through space. The medicine ball can take a hit a lot better than someone not expecting a collision.

13./ OLY – Olympic Lift: The Snatch and the Clean & Jerk make up the Olympic Lifts. These movements take a lifetime to master. Once you begin to unravel the mystery of these movements you’ll gain a lot of respect and appreciation for the athletes that compete at high levels. In the meantime, get back on that practice bar.

14./ Pood – Just as the British have its odd weight, “The Stone” which equals 14 pounds, the Russians have their own unique measurement system. The “pood” equals 35 pounds.

15./ PR – Personal Record (can be used as a verb or a noun) “I just PRed my Fran time!” “Oh yeah? What was your time?” “3:35” “Nice PR!”

16./ RM – Rep Max (Note: There is always a number preceding RM, for example, 3RM; the instructor could say, “Work up to a 3RM on the Shoulder Press.” The student gets as heavy as they can for 3 consecutive reps.

17./ SDHP – Sumo Deadlift High Pull: a movement requiring a wide stance and a close grip. In one movement, the weight is moved from the floor to below the chin while keeping the elbows above the wrist. Can be used with a barbell, kettlebell, or an unsuspecting toddler. The “sumo” part of the term refers to the starting position the lifter takes. Apparently it resembles a sumo wrestler taking a starting stance, not the loin cloth some members prefer to wear when working out.

18./ STO – Shoulder To Overhead: Similar instructions as the GTO. In this case the weight is returned to the shoulder and not the floor.

19./ T2B and K2E – Toes to Bar and Knees to Elbows: A movement requiring the athlete to hang from a pull-up bar and draw their toes to the bar or their knees to their elbows. A tricky movement to learn but trumps an ABMAT sit up every time.

20./ TGU – Turkish Get Up. an all encompassing warm-up movement, a terrific strength, balance and coordination builder, and a great party trick.

21./ DUs – Double Unders. The ancient art of passing the jump rope 2 full rotations around the body on one jump. Well worth mastering. But comes with a price.

21./ WOD – Workout Of the Day: The most exciting thing to read on the daily blog. What will be the workout that pits you against the little voice in your head that says, “This is hard. I want to quit.’ It is the WOD that keeps bringing us back every day to challenge and improve ourselves.

“Its at that point when a person wants to quit that they reveal who they really are.”