What is CrossFit?
CrossFit is not just another sport or fitness routine. CrossFit is a lifestyle. It is a mindset. It is a way to live a healthy and fit life. CrossFit represents constantly varying training of functional movements at a relatively high intensity. It doesn’t focus on a singular aspect of fitness, but it combines all aspects into one sport. CrossFit specializes in not specializing and balancing the ten general physical skills.
What makes CrossFit so much fun?
CrossFit is the most versatile sport there is. The variety is endless and because of this diversity no single training is the same. You can improve on so many aspects of fitness that you will immediately start making progress. Whether you are a new member or an elite athlete, the challenge of learning new skills and improving yourself will remain.
CrossFit is for everybody. All movements within CrossFit are derived from one or more basic movements. When you start your CrossFit career you will learn to master these basic movements first and progress to more complex movements at your own pace. In this way all workouts are suitable for everyone. Everyone can do the workout at his or her own level while keeping the training stimulus equal.
CrossFit equals community. No other gym will make you feel part of the community like CrossFit does. During a WOD everyone will execute the workout at his or her own level which results in the same training stimulus for everyone. You know exactly how the rest of the class feels after you finish the workout. Everyone will overcome the same challenges and will complete the same task. Not only during the lessons, but also outside the box the community feeling of CrossFit will be present.
CrossFit ABC
When you start CrossFit you will be faced with a lot of new words and terms you probably have never heard of. It’s completely fine to be a bit puzzled by the whiteboard at the start of a lesson. Our coaches are always there to explain everything and help you out. To get you started we have a CrossFit ABC for you!
| AMRAP ‘As Many Rounds As Possible’. In this type of workout the goal is to make as many repetitions as possible of the prescribed exercises. |
Barbell A piece of equipment that is used a lot in CrossFit. You can use the barbell for exercises in your hands, your shoulders, your neck and above your head. |
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| Community This sets CrossFit apart from regular fitness training and other sports. Everyone who sets foot into CrossFit Down to Earth will be part of our community. So be prepared for personal attention, sincere interest, help from others, loud cheering and a lot of sweaty high-fives. |
Dumbbell A weight used in one hand with which you can execute a lot of different CrossFit movements. If you need to use a dumbbell during a workout, it is often abbreviated to ‘DB’ on the whiteboard. |
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| EMOM ‘Every Minute On the Minute’. In this type of workout the start of a new minute equals a new round of movements. This can be the same movement as the previous minute or a new one. |
Fraser Matt Fraser. He is known as the most dominant male CrossFit athlete in the history of CrossFit. He won the CrossFit Games five times in a row from 2016 to 2020 and earned the title ‘Fittest Man on Earth’. |
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| Girls Benchmark workouts in which you can test your fitness. The workouts are named after female athletes who were important in CrossFit and the CrossFit community. Examples are Grace, Fran and Annie. Once you perform one of these workouts, you will never forget the girl’s name. |
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| Hang Positions Within weightlifting there are different positions. The term ‘hang’ means that the movement starts with the barbell just above the knees for both the clean and snatch. |
Instromen This is the Dutch word for inflow. Everyone can start with classes at CrossFit Down to Earth. There are no mandatory lessons before you can start. Our coaches will make sure the lesson can be adapted and executed by all our members. |
Jerk This is an explosive movement in which the barbell moves from your shoulders to an overhead position. This movement can be done as a ‘Push Jerk’ in which your feet stay next to each other, or as a ‘Split Jerk’ in which one foot moves forward and the other backwards. |
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| Kettlebell A ball shaped weight with a handle to hold it. Movements executed with it are deadlift, farmers carry and kettlebell swings. A kettlebell is often abbreviated to ‘KB’ on the whiteboard. |
L-SIT A movement executed with your bodyweight. You push yourself up from the ground, between two boxes or in the rings. While you do this you keep your legs straight. Piece of cake, right! |
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| Murph Probably the most well-known benchmark workout in CrossFit. Murph is a hero workout named after the fallen NAVY SEAL Michael Murphy. To honor him CrossFit athletes from all over the world execute this workout on Memorial Day:For time 1 mile run 100 pull up 200 push up 300 air squat 1 mile run RX: 9/6 kg vest |
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| No Rep! CrossFit uses measurable movement standards to make CrossFit competitions fair. If you fail to meet the movement standard a judge will call ‘No Rep’ and you have to redo the movement. |
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| Open The CrossFit open is the start of the CrossFit season in February. Athletes from all over the world will test their fitness in 3 workouts spread out over 3 weekends. The highest ranked athletes will progress to the next stage and in the end the fittest athletes will make it to the world championship: The CrossFit Games. |
Pull-up A movement which starts with you hanging in the rack and pulling yourself up with your chin above the rack. The pull-up is the basis for the chest-to-bar pull-up and the bar muscle-up. |
Qualifier In order to compete you have to qualify for a certain event. Qualifiers often consist of 3 or 4 workouts you have to complete while filming yourself. This is sent to the event organization. The best will qualify for the event. |
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| RX You can do a workout ‘RX’ or ‘scaled’. ‘RX’ means as prescribed in order to meet the intended intensity. It is assumed the athlete is experienced and masters all the movements. When you are new to CrossFit it is common to ‘scale’ the workout. This can be done by lowering weight or modifying the movement. In this way you will get the same training intensity. |
Snatch A weightlifting movement in which you move the barbell from the ground to overhead in one explosive movement flow. |
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| Thruster When you think a burpee is annoying… Meet the thruster! |
Unbroken Sometimes you need to do a set of movements unbroken, so without a break. |
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| Voeding The Dutch word for nutrition. We are no experts in nutrition, however a healthy diet is part of a fit lifestyle and CrossFit. We do not offer any specific nutrition advice, but you can always come to us if you have any questions regarding a healthy diet. |
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| Whiteboard Every lesson starts at the whiteboard. The WOD is written onto it and it’s the place where the coach will explain the training. |
eXtatic The feeling you have after the WOD. |
Yoke A heavy rack which is used for different strongman exercises. For example a carry, a squat or an overhead carry. |
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| Zo, weer wat geleerd The Dutch translation for: We learned something today! |
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