One of the most frustrating things about starting CrossFit can be understanding all of the acronyms that come along with it. There are a lot of different CrossFit acronyms – so much so that sometimes the workout board can look like a math equation or a foreign language.
The below alphabetical list of abbreviations and CrossFit acronyms will give you the spelled out version of each term, and hopefully provide a little insight into what they mean.
AMRAP: As Many Reps (sometimes Rounds)as Possible
AMSU: Ab-Mat Sit-Up
ATG: Ass to Grass
BB: Barbell
BBJ: Burpee Box Jump
BBJO: Burpee Box Jump Over
BFB: Bar Facing Burpees
BJ: Box Jump
BMU: Bar Muscle-Up
Box: a CrossFit gym
BP: Bench press
BS: Back squat
BW (or BWT): Body weight
C&J (or CJ): Clean and jerk
C2B: Chest to Bar
C2E: Core to extremity
CLN: Clean
DB: Dumbbell
DL: Deadlift
DNF: Did Not Finish
DNS: Did Not Start
DU: Double Unders
EMOM: Every minute on the minute
FR: Front Rack
FRWL: Front Rack Walking Lunge
FS: Front squat
GHD: Glute hamstring developer
GHDSU: Situp done on the GHD machine
GHR: Glute Hamstring Raise
GPP: General physical preparedness
H2H: Hand to hand; refers to Jeff Martone’s kettlebell “juggling” techniques
HPC: Hang Power Clean
HSC: Hang squat clean
HSPU: Handstand push up
HSS: Hang squat snatch
HSW: Handstand walk
KB: Kettlebell
KBS: Kettlebell swing
Kip: a gymnastic movement utilizing hip drive and C2E coordination to perform a bodyweight movement faster and/or more efficiently
KTE or K2E: Knees to elbows
MBC: Med-Ball Clean
ME: Max Effort
MetCon: Metabolic Conditioning workout
MP: Military press
MU: Muscle ups
OAKBOWL: One Arm Kettlebell Overhead Walking Lunge
OH: Overhead
OHS: Overhead squat
OHWL: Overhead Walking Lunge
Oly: Olympic Weightlifting
OWL: Olympic Weightlifting
PC: Power clean
PD: Pood, weight measure for kettlebells
PJ: Push Jerk
PP: Push press
PR: Personal record
PSN: Power snatch
PU: Pull-ups, sometimes push-ups depending on the context
RC: Rope Climb
RD: Ring Dips
RDL: Romanian Deadlift
Rep: Repetition. One performance of an exercise.
RM: Repetition maximum. Your 1RM is your max lift for one rep. Your 10 RM is the most you can lift 10 times.
RMU: Ring Muscle Up
Rx, Rx’d; as Rx’d: As prescribed; as written. WOD done without any adjustments.
S2OH: Shoulder to Overhead
SA: Single Arm
SDHP: Sumo deadlift high pull
Set: A number of repetitions. e.g., 3 sets of 10 reps, often seen as 3×10, means do 10 reps, rest, repeat, rest, repeat.
SJ: Split Jerk
SN: Snatch
SP: Strict Press
SPP: Specific physical preparedness, aka skill training.
SQ: Squat
SU: single unders (“normal” jump roping)
Subbed: Substituted. The CORRECT use of “subbed,” as in “substituted,” is, “I subbed an exercise I can do for one I can’t,” For example,if you can’t do HSPU, you subbed regular pushups.
TGU: Turkish get-up
TNG: Touch and Go
TTB or T2B: Toes to bar.
WB: Wall Ball
WO, sometimes W/O: Workout
WOD: Workout of the day
Remember, this is just a cheat sheet! You don’t need to know what these CrossFit acronyms mean to start CrossFit. Your coach in class will always be there to help you translate anything you don’t understand.
Once you’ve spent some time in class, these CrossFit acronyms will become second nature to you, and you’ll find yourself explaining them to the new person in class next to you, remembering what it was like to not know what they meant.
Know a CrossFit acronym we missed? Add it in the comments below!
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