CrossFit Glossary: WOD, AMRAP, RX and 85 More Terms
Every term you will hear at a CrossFit box, from AMRAP and EMOM to T2B, HSPU and RX, grouped by topic with plain explanations.
Wodmark team Updated 14 Nov 2026 8 min read
Walk into a CrossFit box and the whiteboard reads «AMRAP 12», the coach asks for «T2B» and someone shouts about a «PR». This glossary collects the terms you will hear in class, grouped by topic, with what they mean and, where there is one, a link to the tool or the benchmark workout.
Workout formats
The format says how the workout is scored: by time, by rounds or by load. All of them can be timed with the free WOD timer. Each format, with examples and pacing, in AMRAP, EMOM, For Time and Tabata explained.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| WOD | Workout of the Day. By extension, the main part of the class. |
| AMRAP | As Many Rounds (or Reps) As Possible in a fixed time. Scored in rounds plus reps. |
| EMOM | Every Minute On the Minute: at the start of each minute you do the set work and rest whatever is left. |
| E2MOM, E3MOM | Same as an EMOM, every 2 or every 3 minutes. |
| For Time | Finish the work as fast as possible. Scored in time. |
| Time cap (TC) | The longest a For Time workout may last. If you do not finish, you log the reps you did. |
| Tabata | 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 of rest: 4 minutes per movement. |
| Intervals | Set blocks of work and rest, such as 5 × 3 minutes with 1 minute of rest. |
| Chipper | A long list of high-rep movements done once, chipping away from top to bottom. |
| Ladder | Reps go up or down each round (1-2-3-4… or 21-15-9). |
| Couplet, triplet | A workout of two or three movements. |
| Death by | Minute 1 you do 1 rep, minute 2 you do 2, and so on until you cannot finish inside the minute. |
| Buy-in, cash-out | Fixed work at the start (buy-in) or end (cash-out) of a workout, outside the rounds. |
| Partner WOD | A workout in pairs: reps are shared, or one works while the other rests. |
| Metcon | Metabolic conditioning: usually a short, intense workout. |
Benchmarks: the Girls and the Heroes
A benchmark is a named workout repeated now and then to measure progress. Twelve of them, with RX loads in kg and lb and two scaled versions, are in the benchmark library.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Benchmark | A reference workout, always the same, to compare your score with the last one. |
| Girls | Benchmarks with women's names: Fran, Grace, Isabel, Diane, Elizabeth, Karen, Annie, Helen, Jackie and Cindy, among others. |
| Hero WOD | A workout dedicated to the memory of soldiers, police officers or firefighters who died in service. Usually long: Murph or DT. |
| Open | The first stage of the CrossFit Games, open to anyone: several workouts over consecutive weeks, done at your box and validated by a judge. |
Barbell and weightlifting
Strength work is usually programmed as a percentage of your max. How to turn those percentages into weights is in turning 1RM percentages into kilos, and the plates for each side in the 1RM calculator.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| 1RM | One Rep Max: the heaviest weight you can lift once. 3RM or 5RM: the same for 3 or 5 reps. |
| Snatch | The bar goes from the floor to overhead in one movement. |
| Clean | The bar goes from the floor to the shoulders. |
| Jerk | The bar goes from the shoulders to overhead with a leg drive. Push jerk and split jerk are two versions. |
| Clean and jerk | A clean followed by a jerk. |
| Power | Before snatch or clean: catching the bar above a parallel squat. |
| Squat | Before snatch or clean: catching the bar in a full squat. |
| Hang | Starting the lift with the bar at the knees or thighs, not from the floor. |
| Back squat, front squat | Squat with the bar on the back or in front, on the shoulders. |
| Overhead squat (OHS) | Squat with the bar locked out overhead. |
| Deadlift | Lifting the bar from the floor to standing. Sumo deadlift: with a very wide stance. |
| Strict press | Overhead press without help from the legs. |
| Push press | Press with a leg drive, without dipping again to catch the bar. |
| Thruster | A front squat that ends in an overhead press, in one movement. |
| Touch and go | Linking reps without letting go of the bar or resting it on the floor. |
| Barbell cycling | Moving the bar quickly between reps with good technique. |
| Bumper | A rubber plate you can drop from overhead. |
| Collar | The clip that holds the plates on the bar. |
Gymnastics and bodyweight
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Pull-up | Strict: no swing. Kipping: with a hip swing. Butterfly: in one continuous cycle, the fastest. |
| C2B | Chest to Bar: a pull-up where the chest touches the bar. |
| T2B or TTB | Toes to Bar: hanging from the bar, bring your feet up to touch it. |
| K2E | Knees to Elbows: the same, knees touching the elbows. |
| MU | Muscle-up: from hanging to supported above the rings (RMU) or the bar (BMU). |
| HSPU | Handstand Push-up, usually against a wall. |
| HSW | Handstand Walk: walking on your hands. |
| Ring dip | A dip on the rings. |
| Ring row | An inverted row on the rings. The most common way to scale pull-ups. |
| Push-up | Hand release: lifting the hands off the floor at the bottom. |
| Air squat | A squat without weight. |
| Pistol | A single-leg squat. |
| Burpee | Down, chest to the floor and jump up. BBJO: burpee jumping over the bar. Burpee over box: over the box. |
| Sit-up | A full sit-up, usually with an AbMat under the lower back. |
| GHD | Glute-ham developer, an extension bench. GHD sit-up: a sit-up on it. |
| Rope climb | Climbing the rope. Legless: arms only. |
| Hollow, arch | Concave and arched body positions, the basis of kipping. |
| L-sit | Holding yourself up on your arms with your legs straight out in front, in an L. |
Equipment and monostructural
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| DU | Double Unders: the rope passes twice per jump. SU, single unders: once. |
| KB | Kettlebell. KBS: kettlebell swing. Russian: to eye level. American: overhead. |
| DB | Dumbbell. DB snatch: a snatch with a dumbbell. |
| WB | Wall ball: a squat with a medicine ball thrown to a target on the wall. |
| Box jump | Jumping onto the box. Box jump over: across it. Step-up: stepping up. |
| Row | The rowing machine, in metres or calories. |
| Bike, Assault bike, Echo bike | Air bikes with moving arms, usually in calories. |
| Ski erg | A machine that mimics cross-country skiing. |
| Sled | A sled to push or pull. |
| Sandbag, D-ball | A bag of sand and a heavy ball that does not bounce, to carry and throw. |
| Farmer carry | Walking with a weight in each hand. |
| Monostructural | A cyclical single-pattern movement: running, rowing, biking, jumping rope. |
At the box: abbreviations and slang
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Box | The gym where CrossFit is done. |
| Coach | The person running the class. |
| RX | Doing the workout as written, with the prescribed loads and movements. |
| RX+ | A harder version than RX. |
| Scaled | An adapted version: less weight, fewer reps or a simpler movement. Many boxes post several levels. |
| PR or PB | Personal Record or Personal Best: your best score. |
| BW | Bodyweight. «1.5 × BW» is one and a half times your weight. |
| DNF | Did Not Finish inside the time cap. |
| No rep | A rep that does not count because it missed the standard. |
| Standard | What makes a rep valid, such as hip below knee in a squat. |
| Unbroken | A whole set without stopping or putting the weight down. |
| Rest | Time off between work. |
| Warm-up | The start of class. Cool down: the end. |
| Skill | The technical part of the class, to practise a movement. |
| Mobility | Joint mobility work. |
| Drop-in | Training once at a box that is not yours, usually paying for a single class. |
| Open box, open gym | Free time to train on your own, without a coached class. |
| Affiliate | A box affiliated with CrossFit, allowed to use the brand in its name. |
| Rhabdo | Rhabdomyolysis: serious muscle damage from excessive effort. The reason to scale when you come back after a break. |
| Pace | The speed you hold through the workout. |
| Grip | How you hold the bar. Grips are also the hand guards for the bar. |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an AMRAP and an EMOM?
In an AMRAP the clock runs without breaks and you do as much as you can; in an EMOM each minute's work is fixed and the rest is whatever you have left. An AMRAP is scored in rounds and reps; an EMOM, in whether you make it or not.
What does «doing it RX» mean?
You completed the workout with the loads, reps and movements exactly as written, without scaling anything.
Do I need to know all these terms to start?
No. The coach explains every movement in class. With WOD, AMRAP, EMOM, For Time, RX and Scaled you can read almost any whiteboard on day one.
If you run a box, Wodmark publishes the workout with its format and levels, and each athlete sees their own weights and starts the timer from the app. See Wodmark for boxes.
CrossFit is a registered trademark of CrossFit, LLC. This glossary is not sponsored or reviewed by CrossFit, LLC.