We have finally reached the end of my efforts to decipher what I assumed to be cardio fitness stations marked out on the side of a high school tennis court where I played a practice match a few years ago. Today’s post speculates on the meaning of a station marked as “ABE Throws.” At the time, I naively assumed that I could simply Google the phrase to find out the meaning. No such luck.
That endeavor sent me down a side quest of watching videos of the Japanese Judo gold medalist Abe Uta performing various throws during competition. While each of those videos is impressive, that is clearly not what the fitness station was directing. Don’t perform judo throws on a tennis court, kids.
My best guess – and this is absolutely a guess – is that ABE might stand for All Body Effort. That would align perfectly with the ethos of CrossFit, which emphasizes functional fitness and total-body engagement. The idea of “All Body Effort” captures the spirit of pushing your limits through full-body intensity. Additionally, since the word “throw” was included in the phrase, I immediately assumed that the station directed the usage of a weighted medicine or slam ball.
I have written about using medicine balls to perform slams on at least two previous occasions. The post “Slam Ball for Service Power” described the equipment and how performing overhead slams can build strength for greater power when serving. That was later followed up with “Medicine Ball Slams,” which gave a more comprehensive view of how a partner can be engaged with performing the exercise. In that variation, the slams more resemble a throw, which was the word scrawled on the court with chalk.
If the station was intended for a partnered exercise, then it is possible that the direction was to perform cooperative medicine ball throws. That exercise builds strength for groundstrokes and can also be performed with “All Body Effort.” “Medicine Ball Groundstrokes” describes how that particular exercise works on strength, balance, and movement efficiency. It is one of the most common fitness moves that can be glimpsed in the ready rooms as players prepare to take the court for televised matches.
Finally, there is a possibility that the exercise at the station was intended to be performed without a partner. In that case, I imagine that a slam ball was to be thrown as far as possible before the person performing the exercise retrieved it and threw it back to the starting position. If that were the case, then the ball would surely have been a soft-sided ball to contain the roll, as opposed to a rubber medicine ball that would bounce and roll a considerable distance.
It occurs to me that unless the person who created those fitness stations somehow comes across these posts and steps forward, I will never know the true intention behind the cryptic “ABE Throws” and the other stations that were scrawled on that tennis court. However, speculating on the directions indicated at each exercise station undeniably opens up a range of interpretations that celebrate the spirit of functional fitness and creativity in training. That concept fits into the broader philosophy of integrated cross-fitness.
Variety is the spice of life, and it is also essential to avoiding stagnation in fitness training. Regardless of the exercises suggested to you, keeping an open mind and embracing the challenge can open new possibilities. We shouldn’t be afraid to experiment with new techniques or adapt them to suit our personal development needs. Staying open to diverse approaches and having a willingness to push beyond the familiar enables progress and keeps the journey engaging and rewarding. Here is to approaching your workouts with a spirit of discovery. You might just stumble upon your next favorite exercise.
