Words that Scare Me

CrossFit lingo is something all it’s own, if you’re not part of it, you probably don’t understand us. There’s all this talk about “Fran” and “RXing” stuff and what on earth is a “Thruster” (you don’t want to know, trust me)? So when I grab my phone and login to see the WOD (work out of the day) there is a 50/50 chance I will cringe. There are particular words that SCARE me in CrossFit, lets review.

#1. “BUY IN” Sounds like what it is, you have to do a certain amount of work before you can actually count the work you do. Evil right? So before I get to send my body through a crushing work out, I must first, crush it and then convince myself to get to the part that counts. Fabulous!

#2. “FOR TIME” Meaning, the work out does not end until you finish the work and you get scored for your time. This might be all fine and good for those CrossFitters who have amazing aerobic endurance but for me this is a silent cry for death. Nothing like finishing a work out 5 minutes after everyone else (5 minutes in CrossFit is an eternity by the way)!

#3. “EMOM/AMRAMP” EMOM is Every Minute on the Minute you do a movement and AMRAMP is As May Reps As Possible. Translation = Asthmatic HELL. I understand the body’s metabolic response to doing work this way and this kind of work leads to better adaptations in stability, endurance and hypertrophy but it’s AWFUL!

#4. “OTB or BF BURPEES” OTB (Over The Bar) means you Burpee and then jump over your barbell and BF is Bar Facing Burpees embodies the same concept of OTB Burpees they just made it worse by having to face the bar each time (read: full hip extension). Never underestimate CrossFit to take a simple movement and make it WORSE. EVER.

#5. “DOUBLE UNDERS” Making a jump rope pass under your feet TWICE in one rotation. Right, because my shins are thrilled I’ve taken up jump rope at 32 and people obviously like to see me limping and covered in whip marks from failed DU’s.

#6. “RUNNING” That’s just a me thing really, plenty of CrossFitters love running and good for them! I have a bad relationship with it and if it weren’t for CrossFit I wouldn’t do it. I’ll take ROWING any day!

#7. “PARTNER WOD” This is when your box has you team up with another fellow athlete and drag them down, oh wait…. That’s me. It has something to do with team work but it just gives me anxiety. I don’t like bringing down anyone and I am definitely the anchor!

In true CrossFit fashion, today’s WOD has running (a mile for time), 60 OTB Burpees some OHS (over head squats) and wall climbs (scaled version). It never ceases to amaze me how my box can make me cringe so early in the morning. There are day's we have done an EMOM of DU's and running followed by an AMRAP, trust me, it's hard not to cherry pick.

What movements or words scare you in CrossFit? Did I leave something off my list that you dread?