What are No Reps in Crossfit?

I hope you're not lying to me and asking me what No Reps are so you can cheat in Cross Training. Because even though sometimes you might do one without meaning to... No Reps are almost always just that, cheating.

But let's start from the beginning because you may not really know what I'm talking about. In Cross Training, as I imagine you know, different types of movements are performed, whether they are gymnastic, Olympic or from other sports disciplines.

To be valid, these movements must meet movement standards that apply to all athletes. That is, even if a movement is scaled for you, you will have to follow a specific route for it to be valid.

These standards can be from the starting point, for example, starting with the chest on the ground in a wall climb. It can be part of the course, such as breaking parallel in a thruster. Or even at the end, such as locking the elbows in a jerk.

Failure to meet any of these standards, or others, would result in a No Rep. In other words, that rep would be completely deducted from our list and we would have to repeat it until we performed it correctly.

Why do we do No Reps?

Reading the above, you might think that people who commit No Reps do so by mistake, but the reality in most cases is different. Not complying with the ranges of motion is usually related to trying to either gain seconds on the clock or to achieve less stress with the weight we are working, or even both.

But it is true that sometimes we can commit No Reps for more reasons. There are no types of No Reps, but we can group them into different groups, although No Rep is a quasi-universal concept that encompasses all of them.

No Technical Rep

This is the mistake you make when your technique is not good, you try but it doesn't work out. This can be due to lack of practice, lack of strength or lack of mobility.

These deficiencies (strength and mobility) often lead to technical errors that make it impossible for us to perform an exercise correctly.

No Quick Rep

This is the No Rep you commit by doing things quickly (and poorly), and the fact is that, despite the fact that our goal is to complete the wods as quickly as possible, running too fast can cost us a lot of time.

Keep in mind that if you commit No Reps by going too fast, you will have to repeat the movement, losing twice as much time, the time of the No Rep and the time of the correct one. Sometimes it is better to go a little slower and make sure that we do it correctly.

No Rep Vaga

This is done by athletes who decide that, even though they can do the movement, meeting the standard is too tiring. This is most visible when it comes to jumping over the bar in burpees by jumping to the bar, which should be done with both feet together and they do it with one.

Who counts the Non-Reps?

During competitions there is the figure of the judge, who depending on the competition may have specific training, as occurs in the CrossFit Games.

There are even professional judges, grouped in organizations that offer their services to competitions.

In local or minority competitions, practically anyone can be a judge.

In all the previous cases, there will always be a briefing in which the movements will be explained and what these should be focused on in order to determine whether the movements are correct or not.

In the boxing arena, the reps are counted by the athletes themselves. Each one counts their own reps, some even invest time and effort in counting the reps of others. But in the boxing arena, each athlete is their own judge, so if you cheat that judge, you are only cheating yourself.

As you can see, doing No Reps doesn't pay off. What you need to do is find a way to do the reps with the full range, and if you need to train more for it, that's part of the process.