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Decoding CrossFit #1 — Apparently, we have our own language.
I still remember my first days at CrossFit and hearing people casually talking about the WOD...Everyone seemed to know exactly what it meant.
So naturally, I did what any confident and mature adult would do...I nodded as I knew too!
(I didn't..Was I going to ask? Absolutely not!)
I had already gathered enough courage just to walk through that CrossFit box. Everyone around me seemed to know where to go, what equipment to grab and, apparently, speak an entirely different language.
Meanwhile, I was basically trying to survive without making it too obvious that I had no idea what was going on!
Eventually, of course, I discovered that:
WOD = Workout Of the Day
That's it! Four very innocent words...All that embarrassment for nothing lol
The WOD is simply the workout programmed for that day. Depending on the day, it can include weightlifting, gymnastics, running, rowing, cycling... or some particularly evil combination of several of them!
Fast forward to today, and something funny happened...I took my usual picture of the board after training...
...and realised that I've become one of those people.
Look at that thing!
WOD / AFAP / 10R / BB / 16'
A few months ago, I would have looked at this board like someone had forgotten to give me the decoding key...Now I take a picture of it and casually share it online as if everyone knows what it means ahaha
So maybe it's time I start translating some of these hieroglyphics...Let's decode today's board!
First, the one that started this whole thing:
WOD — Workout Of the Day
That's the actual workout we're doing.
Then we have:
BB — Barbell
So BB Snatch means Barbell Snatch. Easy enough...
Then:
10R — 10 Rounds - Meaning we have 10 rounds to complete.
And:
AFAP — As Fast As Possible
Basically..."Here are your 10 rounds... Get them done as fast as you can!"
But there's a catch!
16' — 16-minute time cap - We have a maximum of 16 minutes to complete those 10 rounds.
So today's mysterious-looking WOD actually translates to:
10 rounds, as fast as possible, with a 16-minute time cap: 5 Barbell Snatches 5 Push-ups 5 Down & Ups
Suddenly all those letters and numbers on the board make sense.
Doesn't make the 10 rounds any nicer, though..ugh!
And then CrossFit threw more letters at me...
Learning what WOD meant was unfortunately only the beginning...Because eventually I started seeing things like:
AMRAP / EMOM / E3MOM / DB / DU / RX
And apparently CrossFitters decided that writing complete words was simply too much effort when we could confuse newcomers instead!!
The funny thing is that you learn them surprisingly quickly...At some point, you stop translating them in your head altogether.
And that's probably why I keep posting pictures of my workouts without realising that someone reading my snaps and Actifit posts might be sitting there thinking: "Eliana... what the hell does any of this mean?"
Fair question! I was there too...So I've decided to start a little series here:
Decoding CrossFit
Not as a coach, much less an expert...and definitely not as someone who has everything figured out!
I'm still learning too!
I'm simply going to take the workouts I'm actually doing and translate some of the terms, abbreviations and weird little codes I encounter along the way.
Basically:
CrossFit translated by a normal human who once pretended she knew what WOD meant because she was too embarrassed to ask.
Seems qualified enough to me lol
And if you're new to CrossFit and don't understand something...just ask...Seriously!
Nobody expects you to walk through that door already knowing another language!
Or you can do what I did: nod confidently...wait for someone else to move...and quietly follow them...Worked surprisingly well lolol
Next time on Decoding CrossFit...
I think we need to deal with this little monster: AMRAP
Because yesterday's board looked like this:
And if WOD was lesson number one...We've got some translating to do :)
