I recently tore both my meniscus and ACL in my left knee while coaching my daughters U8 soccer team.  I was sprinting on the field, caught my toe in the grass, fell and twisted my leg, causing my knee ligaments to tear. It has been a heart wrenching couple of months, waiting for an MRI, specialist appointments and later, surgery. Followed by weeks of yoga and physio, and questions of when can I get back to the gym?  When can I ride my bike? When can I run? Summer crept slowly by, as I sat watching Netflix, icing my knees. I was so impatient with myself after my injury. But, following the appropriate wait time after surgery, the amazing coaches encouraged me to come back, and created modified Crossfit workouts that I could safely perform.

One of the key fundamentals that we focus on in Crossfit every week is the proper technique of a push-up.  Legs fully extended behind you, feet at hip width, hands under shoulders, and elbows tucked in at your sides. And I’m super proud to say that at age 38, I can finally do proper push-ups! Or, as I was taught earlier, “men’s” push-ups. My whole life in fitness and sport, I have been taught “women’s push-ups”, also called, push-ups from your knees. And in Crossfit I was told, if you practice push-ups from your knees, surprise surprise, you will get better at, push-ups from your knees!  Thus, it follows that if we practice push-ups from our toes, we will get better at, push-ups from our toes.

Workouts of the day, WOD’s are written on a big white board, and reviewed by coaches before a workout. Maybe its my engineering background, but if I don’t know what the the acronyms mean, then I can’t figure out the math.  Some days I end up just staring at the board, and since I don’t want to seem dumb, I just watch other people do the workout until I figure out what we are supposed to be doing!  My hope is that when you come to try a class, you can interpret what you’re reading on the Crossfit gym board!

These are some of the acronyms frequently used by our coaches and trainers.  I hope that you find this useful!

KB = kettle bell

AKB = American kettle bell (swing) – this is where your arm swing extends up above your head.

RKB = Russian kettle bell (swing) – this is where your arm swing ends at your shoulder height.

DB = dumbbell – the smaller hand-held weights

BB = barbell -the long-ass metal bar, typically 35 lbs for women, and 45 lbs for men

DL = dead lift – a type of weight lifting

HR = hand release – as in, hand release push-up

EMOM = every minute on the minute, as in intervals

SU = single under – as in, skipping rope, with one rotation of the rope for each jump

DU = double under – as in, skipping rope, with two rotations of the rope for each jump

SB = sand bag – yep, sometimes we lift sandbags!

SA = single arm – as in, lifting a weight with only one arm

DE = dynamic effort – as in, perform multiple sets of between 60-80% of your max rep

ME = maximum effort – as in, we will work up to a one rep max

See, it’s like a whole other language, right? If your curious about trying Crossfit, I encourage you to check out some introductory classes at a local studio.

By: Christina Herbers