Welcome to the wonderful world of CrossFit! We are all a bit strange here and do things a little differently. We use weird words, perform funny movements and wear protective gear (mostly for no reason). Here is your guide to becoming as cool as us:
CrossFit is a community sport. With community comes good manners. So here are a couple of ground rules while in our Box:
– Early is on time, on time is late, late is not a good time for anyone. Please try to arrive at least 5 minutes before class starts. It is very disruptive if you rock up 10 minutes into class and the coach has to explain the workout all over again. Unless you have an emergency, there is no reason to be tardy.
– Introduce yourself! We pride ourselves on being friendly and welcoming. That means YOU need to be friendly and welcoming. If you are new, don’t be shy, introduce yourself. If you are old, make the newbies feel welcome.
– Pack away your equipment! Remember that song when you were a kid? “clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere, clean up, clean up, everybody do your share!” It’s just good manners to put away the equipment that you used in the right spot!
– Clean up your sweaty mess. We love you, but we don’t want your DNA left all over our floors.
– Don’t pack your equipment away until EVERYONE is finished with their workout. Just because you’re finished suffering doesn’t mean everyone else is… cheer your mates on!
– Respect the chalk. We ALL love good chalking, but please try to keep it to a minimum. That stuff gets EVERYWHERE and it ain’t cheap.
– Respect our plates and bars. PLEASE do not drop empty bars or bars with 5kg plates. Be gentle with the 10kg, do what you want with those 15s and 20s.
– Keep shower time to a minimum. Yes, we want you to get clean but don’t forget there are other people who don’t want to go to work stinky.
– Be aware of the people around you when you are training. We all want to smash the WOD, but please don’t smash each other
As many rounds/reps as possible. You will come across this word on the whiteboard A LOT! it just means you have to do as many rounds or reps during a workout as you can within a certain time domain.
Workout of the day. All of the classes throughout the day have exactly the same workout.
Every minute on the minute. This is another one you will see on the board often. This means that you will have a specific amount of reps of a given exercise to complete within each minute of a given time domain.
Metabolic conditioning. This is another term for a high intensity workout. Your heart rate will increase and start getting a little more sweaty.
This is not what you think… stop thinking dirty! A snatch is a barbell movement where the weight moves from ground to overhead without stopping at the shoulders. BAM!
Nope, not your neighbor! A jerk is a shoulder to overhead movement which requires a dip, drive and dip in the legs.
This one is NOT just for the ladies! A clean is another barbell movement which takes the weight from the ground to the shoulders.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to squat the world! This is your basic bodyweight squat.
NOT a fake pull up! Just a more fast and efficient way of pulling yourself up to a bar.
Not an extreme version of Australia… this is when the rope rotates twice under your feet instead of only once when skipping.
Firstly, these look sexy as hell! secondly, they can protect your shins from box jumps and deadlifts. When you get them, make sure they have cool patterns and colours.
These might actually be necessary for some. They help protect those creaky knees when squatting.
Actually quite useful little things. We tend to place a lot of weight on our wrists in CrossFit so these guys help protect those tiny little bones.
These are really only necessary when you start lifting heavy weights. And NOT recommended if you have not developed a strong core. HOWEVER, they are amazing when it comes time to hitting those one rep maxes!
strange looking high heeled workout shoes! Not the prettiest things in the world, but they do come in handy for weightlifting. But again, NOT necessary unless you are an advanced weightlifter and have developed the proper mobility and technique. Then you may purchase your lifters.
These are generally the takkies us CrossFitters like to wear when we WOD. They are made especially for CrossFit so are comfy and durable (also they look SICK!). You can find them in any store that sells Reebok and Nike.
MEN, PLEASE DO NOT WEAR THESE! Well, only if you really have to. ladies, don’t be shy! This is not a prerequisite by any means, but if you wanna show off those lifting legs, don’t be scared to put those booty shorts on!
