FAQ

CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide “Courtesy of CrossFit” now serving Galveston, Texas.  With that said, the all encompassing fitness benefits of CrossFit can be experienced by anyone at any level.

CrossFit in it’s most base form is strength training blended with high intensity metabolic conditioning removing the need for your more traditional “weight + cardio” days at the gym.  A typical session will last around 45 minutes including warm up. While CrossFit as seen on TV is insanely intense, at it’s heart is still a strength and conditioning program for everyone.

This means that it can be scaled to ANY fitness/ability level. Pre existing injuries can be worked around with alternative exercises while still maintaining the same training effect. Anybody can do CrossFit!

We split our CrossFit classes into sections:

1. Dynamic warm up – not jogging on a treadmill for 5 minutes, but jumps, jumping jacks, jump rope, squats, push ups, lunges, pull ups.  Functional movements, stretches, and mobility work that compliment the movements you’ll be doing in the workout that day.
2. Skill/Strength work: If it’s a strength day, then you’ll work on a pure strength movement (like squats or deadlifts).  If it’s not a strength day, then you’ll work on a skill and try to improve, like one-legged squats or muscle ups.
3. 
WOD: the workout of the day.   This is where you’ll be told to do a certain number of reps of particular exercises as quickly as possible, or you’ll have a set time limit to do as many of a certain exercise as possible.
4. Cool down and stretching.  Either as a group, or you’re allowed to stretch out on your own. Do some corrective exercise or chat with the people you just persevered with.

In any CrossFit gym you will see a board and wonder what all those weird acronyms mean! Search no further, CrossFit Tidal Wave brings you the complete CrossFit dictionary of terms. The following is a compiled list of things you might see or hear at a CrossFit gym. We compile our daily workouts online. If there is a term you don’t recognize please refer to this page.

1RM: 1 rep max (maximum weight for one repetition)
AD: Airdyne
AHAP: As heavy as possible.
AMRAP: As many rounds as possible.
Cash out: a finisher at the end of a metcon sometimes optional
COG: Center of gravity
CTB: Chest to bar
DB: Dumbbell
DL: Deadlift
EMOTM: Every minute on the minute.
FS: Front squat
GHD: Glute Ham Developer
GWOD: Gymnastics workout of the day
HERO WOD: Named after those who have lost their lives in the line of duty, serving our country.
HSPU: Handstand push up
KB: Kettlebell
MetCon: Metabolic Conditioning
MHR: Maximum Heart Rate
Nasty Girls: Crossfit WODs named after females.
OHS: Over head squat
OLY: Olympic Lift
RDL: Romanian Deadlift
RFT: Rounds for time
ROM: Range of Motion
RPE: Rate of perceived exertion.
RX: Prescribed weight
SDHP: Sumo deadlift high pull
SJ: Split Jerk
SWOD: Strength workout of the day.
T2B: Toes to Bar
TGU: Turkish Get Ups
TNG: Touch and Go
WOD: Workout of the day.

Are you ready to learn the CrossFit benefits?

CrossFit vs. Regular Gyms

How does CrossFit Tidal Wave compare to “big box” gyms like LA Fitness and 24 Hour Fitness? How can working out with pull-up bars and bumper plates be better than working out in a large gym filled with lots of machines, aerobics classes and much more space? Here are just a few reasons why:

1. The Power of Camaraderie. In the big box gym, you are anonymous for the most part. They don’t care if you get a new personal record, your first pull-up, or do perfect squats. At CrossFit Tidal Wave, you will always train with a certified CrossFit Coach whose goal focuses around your success. You will also train with other CrossFitters who really do want you to succeed. We celebrate everyone’s victories and make it fun and motivating to reach your goals!

2. Instruction and Attention. We’re not like regular gym trainers that prevent you from fully understanding their program to protect their job security. Our goal is not to make you dependent upon us so that you have to keep coming back. Our goal is to get you results. You will learn something new every day, and we hope that you’ll come back because of your results and our community.

3. Increased Fitness and Real Results. A typical gym workout consists of isolation movements and extended aerobic sessions. The mainstream fitness community leads you to believe that lateral raises, curls, and leg extensions, combined with long sessions on the stationary bike or treadmill are going to pave the road to fitness. At CrossFit we work exclusively with compound movements and shorter, but higher intensity cardiovascular sessions. Why? Because compound functional movements and relatively high intensity exercise is proven to be much more effective at eliciting nearly any desired fitness result (aka reaching your goals!).

4. Break Free of Routine. Three sets of 10 is not what we do. We use various functional movements, like deadlifts, squats, dips, pull-ups, push-ups, cleans, presses and sit-ups. We run, jump, throw and try new things. We mix these elements in as many combinations as we can. Our workouts are exciting, fun and intense. Routine is our enemy.

So, now you’re convinced, but you still have that “big box” membership. What do you do? Well, at CrossFit Tidal Wave we offer 2 free classes for everyone because it is far easier to experience than it is to explain.

WOD: Workout of the Day

Although Crossfit combines many other elements, one of the key characteristics is a daily workout, hence the “workout of the day”. These are either done “AMRAP” (see below for definition) in a certain amount of time; or complete a circuit as fast as possible.

Crossfit for Dummies via @winetoweights What is a WOD? What does RX or AMRAP mean? What is EMOM? Different Crossfit terms can be confusing! Read to find out what all of it means! For more #Crossfit posts, check out http://www.winetoweightlifting.com/category/crossfit/

Benchmark WOD

Workout that is used as a baseline to measure progress, usually named after girls, such as Fran, Diane, and Grace.

AMRAP: As many reps as possible

AMRAP workouts are timed with a fixed time limit in which you need to do As Many Reps (repitions) As Possible. The higher the number, the better!

EMOM: Every minute, on the minute

Another type of workout with a fixed time limit is EMOM, or every minute on the minute. These workouts are also scored as how many reps you can do overall, but note that as time goes on your rest periods will likely get shorter!

RX: As prescribed

The goal for any crossfitter is to be able to do the workouts RX’ed, or as prescribed. Since Crossfit workouts can be scaled based on abilities the goal is to work your way up to what the workout is supposed to be like. Examples of scaling could be using a lighter weight, completing less repetitions, or doing assisted pull-ups.

PR: Personal Record

With any workout or lift, the goal is to strive for a PR, or personal record. This is a great way to measure progress and track results!

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Absolutely. Realize though that your first session will be an assessment workout that allows the trainers to A. Check your work capacity B. Check your movement patterns C. Give you a good foundation on how most classes will be run.  It will be about 40 minutes total (including warmup). Everyone gets two free sessions to find out if CrossFit Tidal Wave is something you would enjoy.

Absolutely not!  Everyone has to start somewhere and that somewhere tends to be from nothing.  CrossFit is completely scalable to anyone’s ability and fitness levels.

Absolutely Not!  Lifting weights will only lean you out and help you move and feel better.  Bulk is as much built through diet as training.

Yes. We do have two private shower rooms available for members.

Yes, we have had numerous clients who came to us with back, knee, or neck pain who have found relief by strengthening the muscles around the problem area. People often neglect exercising their lower back due to fear of re-injuring and then end up weak, de-conditioned, and more susceptible to injury in the future. Every movement in CrossFit is scalable allowing anyone to take part.

Yes , more and more research shows that short, high intensity effort will produce better results than long and slow duration. If you run a 10k your intensity (power output) will be lower than if you run 400 meter sprints which will produce a high power output. Meaning you’re doing more work in less time.

NO! A THOUSAND TIMES NO!!!! CrossFit is designed for athletes of ALL levels — from professional athletes, to desk jockeys, to homemakers, to retirees. We scale load and intensity for all our clients based on their individual fitness level and ability. Going to a traditional health club first will just delay the benefits you will receive from a CrossFit regimen. The workout you see posted on the site is for the most elite athlete. If you see it and think you can’t do a lot of it, no problem, very few can. We can scale every movement and every workout until you are strong/fit enough to complete the workout as it is prescribed (Rx’d). Fitness is an ongoing pursuit. The most elite athlete can come into our gym and find a workout challenging. Nobody is “fit” enough. Whatever level you are at now, you go at the workout as hard to you can getting fitter and fitter each day.

At CrossFit Tidal Wave we promote three days working, followed by 1 day of rest, or two days/ 1 day off. You will notice that we program a workout every day for the simple reason that most people have hectic lives and cannot follow a strict three days on, one day off. When you first start out your body will take time to adjust and yes you will get sore so we recommend coming every other day.  Of course, the bottom line is pick a goal number and make it in that number of days.