If you’re reading this, there’s a chance you just joined our gym – CrossFit RVA. While these lessons can be applied to many of our members, this one’s specifically for you. Dedicating yourself to fitness and self-improvement can be a life changing event, but for many, the hardest part is simply stepping through the door and establishing a good routine.
We know very well that getting started with CrossFit can be intimidating. You’re hopping into a new workout routine that may be very different from what you’re used to, with challenging movements and strange lingo. The people in your classes all seem to know each other’s name, but you’re the new kid in class. And honestly, what we’re doing is hard.
Thankfully, it’s worth it. The members that establish good habits and integrate into the gym early, are the ones that stick around long term, and see the most progress! So here’s a few things to think about as you’re getting started at CrossFit RVA:
1. Make Friends
You won’t be slapping in headphones and ignoring everyone around you. You’ll be doing your warm-up, instruction, and training with a group of people with similar goals as yourself. When we lift, it will be in small groups with 2-5 members per rack. On Saturdays, we often tackle partner workouts, and for some of our workouts, you’ll be partnering up to count someone else’s reps and cheer them on, and vice versa.
As soon as you get in class, introduce yourself to the instructor if they haven’t had a chance to talk to you yet. If we’re lifting that day, don’t run to a corner by yourself! Ask the instructor to pair you up with someone else of a similar ability level, and get to know the people you’re lifting with. After the workout, stick around for a few. Say hi to people around you, and get to know them. You’ll be sharing many training sessions with them in the future.
You’ll see we have regular community events. Parties, challenges, competitions, and other small get-togethers. Take advantage of these, it’s often the easiest way to get to know other members.
2. Track Everything
Part of getting started at a gym like ours is adjusting your perspective. We’re here to improve, not just pass the time. That can mean different things to different people, whether it’s to stay healthy and increase mobility, improve body composition or lose weight, add some weight to your lifts, or compete at a high level. Whatever those goals are, you’ll get there much easier (and maintain your sanity) if you’re tracking what you do in the gym. Sometimes it can be challenging to see long term progress without those numbers. Besides that, we’ll use numbers such as max lifts to plan out future training sessions. So the next time we ask “Was that squat a PR (personal record) for you?”, you better know the answer!
3. Know the Lingo
So I’m already throwing around terms such as “PR”. You’ll see many, many more. Abbreviations, acronyms, obscure units of measurement (and sometimes, just the metric system). It’s OK that you don’t know them, and it’s OK to ask. We also have a sheet posted in the gym with many of them written down and translated. A few big ones:
AMRAP – As Many Rounds As Possible. There’s a set amount of time, and you’re doing the prescribed work as many times through a you can in the allotted time.
EMOM – Every Minute On the Minute. At the start of each minute, you’ll be doing a set amount of work, and the resting the remaining amount.
KG – Talkin’ kilos. ~2.2 lbs. per kilo. Want to do a quick conversion? Take the kilo number, double it, take the first two numbers of that, and add it back on to itself. 80KG = 160 + 16 = 176lbs. That’s science people.
Pood – Not a word we use too much these days, but it means 16 kilograms – ~35 lbs. Usually refers to kettlebells. So you might see 1 pood, 1.5, 2 pood, etc…
RX – As prescribed. As the day’s workout is written, without modification. This has lost some of it’s meaning with our move to leveled workouts. Back in the day, there was only one written workout, and that workout was “scaled” to suit a member’s needs. If we’re doing a benchmark workout (one with a girl name), then it becomes a little more improtant.
4. Be Patient
As you’re getting started, the learning curve may seem steep. New movements, hard workouts, crazy terms. But we promise, it gets better. We have a talented group of instructors and a huge support group of experienced members that are here to help. You may find that your hip mobility keeps you from squatting properly, of that you just can’t seem to figure out the Snatch. That’s OK. The key is forward movement. If you are patient, and try to enjoy the experience of improving, rather than being frustrated that you’re not already there, you’ll make progress safely, and be much happier along the way.
That’s it for now! Only 4 tips, you say? You’ll have to wait until next week for 4 more tips to help you get comfortable in the gym!