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Writer's pictureDaniela Radoman

Understanding Gym Terms: A Beginner's Guide to Gym Lingo

Updated: May 27

Stepping into the gym for the first time can be intimidating, especially when everyone else seems to be speaking a different language. Don’t worry. Here’s a handy guide to help you understand all the gym lingo, so you can feel more confident and get the most out of your workouts.


SETTING UP A WORKOUT

Reps

Short for repetition, is the number of times you perform a specific exercise. For example: Lifting a weight 10 times is 10 reps.


Sets

A set is a group of reps. So, if you do a group of 10 squats, rest, and then do another 10 squats, that’s 2 sets of 10 reps. You’ll often see reps and sets written as 10x2 or 2x10.


Volume

Volume refers to the total amount of work done in a workout. It’s usually measured by multiplying reps x sets, or reps x sets x weight. Volume often goes hand in hand with intensity.


Intensity

Intensity refers to how hard you’re working. There’s a few ways to measure this. For weight lifting, this is often gauged by the weight lifted relative to your maximum capacity (or %1RM). It can also be measured by the Reps in Reserve or RIR. For cardio, this can be measured by your %VO2 Max or by general effort level (e.g. moderate, intense). Balancing volume and intensity is key to balancing your workouts to see progress, and to also prevent overdoing it. 


Frequency

This is simply how often you workout, perform an exercise, or how many times you work a certain muscle group per workout/week/training block. So this could look like a training frequency of doing 3 workouts a week, or doing deadlifts at a frequency of once per week, or training hamstrings over a week for a total of 10 sets.


PR or PB

Personal Record or Personal Best is your best performance in a particular exercise. Examples would be your heaviest deadlift or your fastest 5k. Celebrating your PRs/PBs is a great way to track progress and to stay motivated!


1 Rep Max (1RM) and %1RM

Your 1 Reps Max is the absolute most weight you can lift for 1 complete rep. It’s the measure for maximum strength for that specific movement. %1RM refers to the percentage of your 1RM and is often used to tailor the intensity of workouts. For example, your 1RM for a squat is 100lbs. 70% of your 1RM would then be 70lbs. Using %1RM helps in planning workouts according to different strength and conditioning goals. 


Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE)

This is a way to gauge how difficult an exercise was. A common way is rating the difficulty of a set on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being you nearly died, and 1 being you could do this for days. This is a bit more of a subjective method, but it's a good way to keeo track of how hard you're pushing yourself.


Reps in Reserve (RIR)

Reps in Reserve is a measure of how many more reps you could perform at the end of a set before reaching muscular failure. For example, if you finish a set and feel like you could perform 2 more reps, you have an RIR of 2. This concept helps gauge the intensity of your workout and helps ensure you’re training at an appropriate intensity for your goals.


VO2 Max and %VO2 Max

VO2 max is a measure of the maximum oxygen your body can use during intense exercise. It’s often used as an indicator of cardiovascular fitness and endurance. Similar to %1RM, %VO2max refers to the percentage of VO2max you’re working at during a workout. Training at different percentages of your VO2max can help improve your aerobic capacity and performance.


Tempo

This refers to the time it takes to complete a single rep. This is often denoted as time it takes to do the eccentric (lowering) portion : pause : time it takes to do the concentric (lifting) portion : pause. So for example if you see for squats it says 3:1:1:0, this means 3s to squat down, 1s pause at the bottom, 1s to squat up, and no pause at the top - you’d go straight into your next rep.


Time Under Tension (TUT)

This refers to the total time a muscle is under strain during a set or rep. So if your trainer tells you to do a bicep curl by taking 3s to lower the weight, 1s pause at the bottom, and 1s to curl the weight back up, your total time under tension is 5s.


Eccentric

The eccentric portion of an exercise is usually the lowering part, or more specifically, it’s when the muscle you’re working is lengthening. For example, when you do a pushup, the main muscle you’re working is your chest. So when you lower into a pushup, your chest muscle is stretching. That’s the eccentric portion of the exercise. Sometimes it's abbreviated to "Ecc."


Concentric

The concentric portion is when the muscle is shortening or contracting, usually the lifting portion of an exercise. Think of a bicep curl, when you curl up, you might see your bicep start to bulge. That’s the concentric portion of the exercise. 


Warm Up

A warm up is something done before you start the main part of your workout to get the heart pumping and muscles loosened up. This often includes light stretches and movements. 


Cool Down

The cool down happens at the end of your workout and helps bring your heart rate back down and to calm everything down. This is often done through slower, more static stretches.


TRAINING METHODS

EQUIPMENT & EXERCISE SET UP 

OTHER GYM TERMS

NUTRITION

Kettlebells
Kettlebells
Dumbbells
Dumbbells
Barbells
Barbells

 

By familiarising yourself with these terms, basic pieces of equipment, and common abbreviations, you’ll be better prepared to tackle your workouts with confidence. Remember, everyone starts somewhere, and the key is to stay consistent, ask for help when you need it, train hard, and most importantly, have fun while on your fitness journey!


Be sure to check out our other blog posts: Training Tips for Your 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and Beyond, and Gym Etiquette!



Final Remarks

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Our goal at Delta Kinesiology is to help women reach their health and fitness goals. We specialise in conditions and injuries that women are more likely to experience, and we tailor the sessions using evidence-based principles and methods to help you reach your goals. Whether that be going about your day pain-free, building muscle, improving stamina, or feeling better about yourself, we are here to help.


Check out some of the ways we can help below!






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