Crossfit can be intimidating no matter how many people you know at the gym. There’s an air of experience around Boxes (what CrossFitters call a gym), but newbies will feel surrounded by good vibes as soon as they walk in the door. “Everyone is friendly and motivated to help encourage each other. Go in with the willingness to learn and try new things,” Mat Forzaglia, an instructor at NEOU’s New York City Studio, says. During the workout expect to see a lot of burpees, jump ropes (double-unders are popular), squats of every variation, pull-ups, chin-ups and deadlifts. The weighted bar is a favorite toy of instructors, and you’ll see it used with and without weights, and yes, you can drop it on the floor. It’s pretty exhilarating to push yourself to lift heavy weights and then just drop them to the floor. We chatted with Equinox master instructor and personal trainer Gerren Liles, Forzaglia and Blake Shutterly, a coach at CrossFit Fifth Ave and NEOU, to get a grasp on everything a CrossFit newbie needs to know.
Vocabulary
There are a few words and acronyms you should be familiar with before you head to your first class. The instructor will go over everything, but so you don’t look like a deer caught in headlights, here are a few of the common ones:
AMRAP: As many reps as possible — usually given with a time limit.
Box: The gym itself, or garage or third floor of a building, etc., where all the weights and machines are housed.
EMOM: Every minute on the minute.
WOD: Workout of the day.
The Gear
Training Shoe
