CrossFit glossary.

A squat with no added weight and the foundation of every squat: hips below the knees, chest up, heels on the floor. It's where you learn the movement before a Barbell comes in.

A squat with the Barbell on your upper back. The classic strength exercise for legs and core, and the squat where you move the most weight.

A squat with the Barbell resting on the front of your shoulders, elbows pointing forward. Your torso stays more upright than in the Back Squat, which asks more of your core and mobility. It's also the position you catch the Clean in.

A squat with the Barbell overhead, arms locked out. Hardly any exercise demands this much mobility in shoulders, hips, and ankles. Master it and you already know the catch position of the Snatch.

A squat on one leg with the other held out in front. It takes strength, balance, and mobile ankles. It gets easier if you sit down onto a Box.

Lift the Barbell from the floor until you stand tall. Your back stays flat, the power comes from glutes and legs. There's hardly another exercise where you move this much weight.

Wide stance, narrow grip: you pull the Barbell or Kettlebell from the floor to just under your chin. Your elbows finish pointing up.

Lying on a Bench, you press the Barbell up from your chest. A strength exercise for chest, shoulders, and triceps.

You press the Barbell or Dumbbell from your shoulders to overhead with no help from the legs. The strictest of three versions, because in the Push Press and the Push Jerk your legs help out.

A Press with a short drive from the legs: dip, drive, press. That gets more weight overhead than the strict version.

Like the Push Press, except that after the drive you drop under the bar once more and catch it with locked arms. The version for the heaviest loads overhead.

The Barbell goes from the floor to overhead in a single movement, caught in a deep squat. One of the two lifts in Olympic weightlifting and one of the most technical exercises there is.

The full Snatch, caught in a deep squat. The word “squat” sets it apart from the Power Snatch.

A Snatch you catch standing tall instead of in a deep squat. The bar has to travel higher, so you lift less weight.

Bring the Barbell from the floor to your shoulders and catch it in a deep squat. The first half of the Clean & Jerk.

The full Clean, caught in a deep squat. The word “squat” sets it apart from the Power Clean.

A Clean you catch standing tall instead of in a deep squat. The sequence is shorter, which is why many people learn it first.

A Clean that doesn't start from the floor. The bar hangs from straight arms in front of your hips and goes to the shoulders from there. The Snatch has the same starting position.

Bring the Med Ball from the floor to your chest and catch it in a squat. It teaches you the sequence of the Clean before a barbell is involved.

Drive the Barbell explosively from your shoulders to overhead: drive from the legs, drop under the bar, catch with locked arms. The second half of the Clean & Jerk.

Clean and Jerk back to back, first to the shoulders, then overhead. Next to the Snatch, the second lift in Olympic weightlifting.

The weight has to get from the floor to overhead, and the way is up to you: Snatch or Clean & Jerk.

Front Squat and Push Press in one fluid movement: out of the squat, you drive the bar straight overhead. Your legs give out before your shoulders do. A pain category all its own.

The Kettlebell swings back between your legs and then forward and up, to eye level or all the way overhead. The power comes from the hips, the arms only guide.

From a plank, lower your chest to the floor and press back up while your body stays in one straight line. It gets easier with your hands on a Box or your knees on the floor.

From a hang, you pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar. Without momentum it's a Strict Pull-Up, with momentum it becomes the Kipping Pull-Up.

A Pull-Up using momentum from the hips and shoulders. It lets you string together a lot of Reps. The technique still takes time.

A Pull-Up in one circular motion, with no stop in the hang. Faster than the Kipping Pull-Up and one for advanced athletes.

A Pull-Up where your chest touches the bar. Chin over the bar isn't enough here, and those few extra centimeters cost a lot more strength.

You hang at an angle under the Rings, feet on the floor, and pull your chest to your hands. The flatter you lie, the harder it gets. A common step toward the Pull-Up.

From a hang on the bar, you pull your knees up until they reach your elbows. The step before Toes-to-Bar.

From a hang, you bring both feet up until your toes touch the bar. The abs do the work, not the swing. In theory.

From a hang, you pull yourself up and press out into support, on the Rings (Ring Muscle-Up) or on the bar (Bar Muscle-Up). Pull and push in one movement. Sounds simple, takes years.

You climb the Rope and touch the mark at the top. Your feet clamp the rope and your legs push, while your arms just hold on. The version without feet is called a Legless Rope Climb.

A Push-Up in a handstand with your heels on the wall: head to the floor, then press back up. You press your entire bodyweight straight up.

You lie face down with your feet at the wall. Then you walk your feet up the wall and your hands toward it until you're in a handstand. You go back down the same way, under control.

A sit-up on the GHD. Your feet are locked in and your torso travels far back and down, lower than in any sit-up on the floor.

From standing down to the floor until chest and thighs touch, back to your feet, and jump with a clap overhead. The exercise the whole gym groans at together.

A Burpee where you jump forward as far as you can instead of up. A station in Hyrox.

With the Med Ball at your chest, drop into a deep squat, throw the ball at a target high on the wall as you stand up, catch, repeat. A station in Hyrox. A cardio killer in sheep's clothing.

Jump onto the Box with both feet, stand up fully at the top, come back down under control. Shins are very receptive to corrections.

Jumping with a Jump Rope, the rope passing under your feet twice per jump. The regular jump is called a Single Under. One of the most frustrating and most satisfying movements.

Push a loaded Sled down the lane. A station in Hyrox. Your legs burn before you're halfway.

Pull the loaded Sled toward you on a rope, hand over hand. A station in Hyrox.

Carry a Kettlebell in each hand, upright and without setting them down. A station in Hyrox. Your grip quits before your legs do.

Lunges with a Sandbag across your shoulders. The back knee touches the floor on every step. A station in Hyrox.

As many rounds or reps as possible in a set time. You work until the clock beeps. Your score is the number of Rounds and Reps.

At the top of every minute, a fixed task starts. Whatever is left of the minute is your rest. The faster you are, the longer you recover.

A set task done as fast as possible. Your finish time is the score, often limited by a Time Cap.

A fixed number of Rounds worked through as fast as possible. The most common form of For Time.

The conditioning part of a class. Several exercises back to back at a high heart rate, against the clock or for rounds, for example as an AMRAP or For Time.

Two movements alternating, usually one with weight and one with your own body. The best-known couplet is “Fran,” which you'll find under Benchmark WOD.

Three movements alternating, often running or rowing plus one movement with weight and one with Bodyweight.

Eight rounds, each with 20 seconds all out and 10 seconds rest. Four minutes in total that feel like ten. Named after the Japanese researcher Izumi Tabata.

A long list of exercises with high reps, worked through once from top to bottom. You chip away at it piece by piece, hence the name. Sounds relaxed. It isn't.

Workouts in memory of fallen soldiers, police officers, or firefighters, and named after them. Usually long and heavy. They are less about your best time than about remembering a person.

Workouts with a fixed sequence and a name of their own, such as “Fran,” “Cindy,” or “Helen.” Because they are the same everywhere, you can repeat them months later and see what has changed. A new best is a PR.

The plan behind the workouts: which movements, formats, and weights come up on which day. Good programming spreads strength, technique, and conditioning across the week so that you improve and still recover. The WOD on the Whiteboard is the part of it you see.

The big board in the box. It shows the WOD with every movement, weight, and time. Your coach walks the group through it before the start, and you can always see what comes next. After the workout, your result goes up there too.

The long bar that takes Bumper Plates on both ends. It weighs 20 or 15 kilos, and that weight always counts. The tool for the Snatch, the Clean & Jerk, and every heavy compound lift.

Weight plates with a steel core and a thick rubber coating. You can drop the Barbell from overhead without the floor suffering. Without them, there would be no Olympic weightlifting indoors.

The padded bench you lie on for the Bench Press. You also use it for seated or lying exercises with a Dumbbell.

The solid surface for weightlifting. It gives you a firm, level stance, and it takes the impact when you drop the Barbell after a Snatch or Clean & Jerk.

The clamps you slide onto the ends of the Barbell. They hold the Bumper Plates in place so nothing shifts while you lift.

An iron ball with a handle and one of the oldest training tools around. Because the weight hangs below your hand, it suits swinging, carrying, and stabilizing, as in the Kettlebell Swing or the Farmer's Carry.

The short weight for one hand. It trains each side on its own, which shows up differences between left and right.

The box for the Box Jump, 50, 60, or 75 cm high. “Box” is also the name for a CrossFit gym itself. Not a cardboard box from the furniture store.

The steel frame with bars for Pull-Ups, racks for the Barbell, and mounts for the Rings. The center of every CrossFit box.

Two rings on adjustable straps that hang freely from the Rig. Because they give in every direction, you have to stabilize each movement yourself. You need them for the Ring Row and the Muscle-Up.

The thick rope that hangs from the ceiling. It is what you climb in the Rope Climb. Not to be confused with the Jump Rope.

Two low handles that stand on the floor. You support yourself on them, and your wrists stay straight. For support holds and for Push-Ups where your chest goes lower than on the floor.

Rowing on land. The monitor shows distance, time, and watts, and it measures every single stroke. One of the most honest conditioning machines there is.

The machine mimics the double-poling motion of cross-country skiing: you pull two handles from overhead down. That works your back, arms, core, and above all your breathing. A station in Hyrox.

An exercise bike with a fan and moving handles, so arms and legs work at the same time. The faster you pedal, the harder it pushes back.

A metal sled loaded with weight plates. You push it in front of you in the Sled Push or pull it toward you on a rope in the Sled Pull.

The large, soft ball for the Wall Ball and the Med Ball Clean, usually 4 to 9 kilos. It hits the wall so often that the ball itself is also called a wall ball.

A heavy ball that does not bounce. You lift it overhead and throw it at the floor as hard as you can. Pick it up, repeat.

A sand-filled bag for lifting and carrying, as in Sandbag Lunges. Because the filling shifts, it is harder to hold than a weight of the same load.

A vest with added weight. It makes running, Pull-Ups, and Air Squats harder without anything in your hands.

A bench that locks your feet in and leaves your hips free. It trains the back of your body, meaning glutes, hamstrings, and lower back, and in the GHD Sit-Up your abs.

A curved pad that sits under your lower back during sit-ups, so your abs work through the whole range. In the Handstand Push-Up it lies on the floor as a head cushion.

A thin, light rope that spins fast. You need it for Double Unders.

An elastic band that comes in several strengths. Looped around the bar, it takes some of your body weight in the Pull-Up. You also use it for warming up and stretching.

A weighted ball on a long handle. Because the weight sits far out, every swing challenges shoulders and core. We run a dedicated class for it: Macebell.

The white powder that keeps your hands dry and improves your grip on the Barbell and the bar. Chalk comes as powder or a block, and as Liquid Chalk. That dries on your skin and leaves no dust.

The hand pad you strike in fitness boxing. Your coach holds it and calls the punches.

The workout of the day. It's on the Whiteboard, changes daily, and is never exactly the same twice.

You do the workout exactly as it's written on the whiteboard, with the prescribed weights and movements. The counterpart is Scaled.

The adapted version of a workout: lighter weight, an easier variation, a shorter distance. Your coach finds the level with you that challenges you while the movement stays clean. The standard path for most people.

The movement comes from muscle strength alone, with no momentum from hips or legs. A Strict Pull-Up is the counterpart to the Kipping Pull-Up.

All the Reps of a set in a row, without putting the bar down or coming off the bar.

How many times you do a movement in a row. “10 reps” means ten repetitions. If one doesn't count, it's a No Rep.

One pass through all the exercises of a workout. In an AMRAP you count them, in RFT their number is set.

The rep doesn't count because the movement wasn't complete: squat too high, chin not over the bar. A coach or judge calls it. Hurts your pride, helps in the long run.

The time limit for a workout. When the clock runs out, you're done, no matter where you are. What counts then is how far you got.

Your personal best: the heaviest weight, the fastest time in a Benchmark WOD, the most Reps. Some people say “PB” for personal best.

The heaviest weight you can lift cleanly exactly once. Many strength programs work in percentages of it: “5 reps at 80%” refers to your 1RM.

Exercises with no added weight, such as the Air Squat, Pull-Up, or Burpee. If the whiteboard says “BW,” your own weight is the load.

CrossFit's worldwide online competition, once a year. Over several weeks, one workout is released each week; you do it at your box and submit your result. Open to everyone, as RX or Scaled.

A box that is registered with CrossFit and may officially use the name.