Understanding Gym Terms: A Beginner's Guide to Gym Lingo
- Daniela Radoman
- May 21, 2024
- 1 min read
Updated: May 27, 2024
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
Resistance/Strength Training
This refers specifically to lifting weights and developing stronger muscles! Weights can include dumbbells, barbells, bands, chains, and even body weight! This should be an essential part of anyone’s exercise regimen.
Functional Training
This is a common term you may hear flying around lately, but what is it? Functional training involves performing exercises to help you perform everyday activities more easily and safely. These exercises typically mimic real life movements and they aim to improve balance, strength, coordination, and confidence. Many functional movements can fall into the strength training realm. Some examples include: squats to a chair, landmine press, suitcase carry.
Cardio
This is short for cardiovascular exercise. Cardio includes any exercise that raises your heart rate for an extended period of time. This can include walking, running, cycling, jump rope, elliptical, and swimming. Cardio is essential for heart health and endurance.
Circuit Training
This is a workout style that has you rotating through a series of exercises with limited rest in between. It typically involves working the entire body, and is a great way to include both strength training and some cardio into your routine.
Plyos or Plyometrics
Plyometrics refers to explosive exercises that involve quick, powerful movements. They’re used to develop power and speed. This would include exercises such as pogo hops, box jumps, plyo pushups, and medball slams.
Conditioning
This is when you're trying to make your body more efficient by improving your cardiovascular system and your muscular endurance. This could be doing an HIIT workout, a circuit style workout, or something repetitive and intense usually.
Metcon
This stands for metabolic conditioning. It's basically another way to just say conditioning, but this term often denotes a specific workout or class. You'll often see in gyms "Metcon class," which again usually combines cardio and muscular endurance together.
HIIT
HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. This type of workout involves short bursts of high intensity with rests of low intensity exercise. It’s a more advanced training method but it’s a great way to work the cardiovascular system and to be time efficient. An example of this would be sprinting for 10m, walking for 10m, and repeating this cycle 5 times.
LISS
LISS stands for Low Intensity Steady-State, and it’s pretty much the opposite of HIIT. This would include doing a less intense exercise for an extended period of time. This method is more suitable for beginners as it’s less taxing on the body. An example of this would be taking a 30min walk.
Superset
A superset is when you do 2 exercises one after another without much rest in between. For example: you can do a set of squats, then a set of pushups, and then take a break before doing a second set. This method is a great way to be more efficient with your time in the gym and can help increase the intensity of your workout.
Drop Set
A drop set is when you perform an exercise with a certain weight until you’re fatigued, then you immediately grab a lighter weight and continue to do more reps until you fatigue again. This process can be repeated multiple times. This is a more advanced lifting method that can really push the desired muscles to their limit.
AMRAP = As Many Reps As Possible
This is a workout format where you simply try to complete as many reps of an exercise usually within a given timeframe.
EMOM = Every Minute On the Minute
This workout format has you performing a certain number of reps of an exercise at the start of the minute, where once you’ve completed them, you have the remainder of that minute as your break. For example, you have 10 pushups to do and they take 35s, that means you have 25s to rest until you do it again.
Compound Exercise
This denotes an exercise that works multiple muscle groups at once, and usually involves the larger muscles. This would include squats, deadlifts, bench press, and pull ups. These exercises are usually harder and more taxing on the body.
Isolation Exercise
This refers to an exercise that works specifically a single, or smaller group of muscles (i.e. in isolation). Examples would include bicep curls and calf raises. These are usually not as stressful on the body and because of that can usually be done with higher volume and frequency.
Main Lift
Your main lift is the exercise you want to focus on, usually do at the beginning of the workout when you're fresh, and it's usually a compound exercise.
Accessory Lift
This is an exercise or exercises that are supplementary to your main lift. They usually work muscles the main lift didn't hit, but they're less taxing exercises overall. For example, if you're main lift was a squat, an accessory lift could be a seated leg curl as the hamstrings weren't really worked during the squats.
Deloading/Deload Week
There might be times during your training where you’ll want to deload, or decrease the intensity and/or volume of your training. This is typically done after at least 4 weeks of consistent training. Oftentimes trips, sickness, or not training consistently will naturally give you a bit of deloading. Deloading allows your body to recover from an intense training block and to get ready for the next one.
EQUIPMENT & EXERCISE SET UP
DB = Dumbbell
A dumbbell is a handheld weight that comes in various weights and sizes. They’re very versatile and can be used for a wide range of exercises.
BB = Barbell
A barbell is a long bar, with the standard being 45lbs, but you can find others that are 25lbs and 35lbs. It’s the bar where weights (plates) can be thrown onto each end. It’s used for big lifts like bench press, squats, and deadlifts.
TB = Trap Bar
Is a special bar that’s often used for deadlifts. It’s also often called a Hex Bar.
KB = Kettlebell
A cannonball shaped weight with a handle. They can be used for traditional strength training exercises like squats, but are also commonly used for more dynamic and explosive exercises like kettlebell swings, turkish get ups, and cleans.
RB = Resistance Bands
Not often abbreviated as RB, but nonetheless, resistance bands are stretchy bands that offer resistance when stretched. They can come as a single straight band, small looped, or big looped. They’re great for certain exercises and are easy to pack when travelling.
MB = Medicine Ball
Medicine balls are weighted balls that are used for throwing, slamming, rolling, and just simply holding. They’re a great tool to help train power and explosiveness.
BW = Body Weight
This is used to describe exercises where all you need is yourself. This can be labelled as BW squats, for example.
SL = Single Leg
This is used for exercises that require you to work one leg at a time. Some examples would be a Single Leg Romanian Dead Lift (SL RDL), and a SL Squat.
SA = Single Arm
Single arm exercises work one arm at a time. Two examples of this would be a SA Lat Pull Down and a SA Landmine Press.
DL = Deadlift
You'll often see DL to mean deadlift. It can also be combined with other abbreviations like SLDL (single leg deadlift) or RDL (romanian deadlift).
HR = Heart Rate
Heart rate is often measured and monitored before, during, and after cardio workouts to ensure safety and that you’re training in your targeted heart rate zone.
ATG = Ass to Grass
This means getting your butt right down to the floor. You'll most often see this with squats, termed "ATG Squats."
OTHER GYM TERMS
Hypertrophy
This simply means gaining muscle mass. It's when your muscles get bigger. This isn't just for body builders, this is for everyone!
DOMS
This stands for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, and is a common phenomenon if you’re new to working out, if you crank up the intensity of an exercise, or if you do an exercise for the first time in a while. This is the muscle soreness and stiffness you may feel a day or two after a workout. As you get more used to exercise, you should experience DOMS less and less. If you get extreme soreness (e.g. not being able to walk without pain), it can be a signal for you to tone it down next time you workout.
Spot
A spot is when someone watches you as you perform a difficult exercise. This person is called the spotter and they'll usually assist by staying close by or by keeping their hands close to the weight being lifted. They might help you complete reps as you're struggling and help prevent the weight from falling on you.
WOD = Workout Of the Day
This is a term, most often used in CrossFit, to literally denote the workout for that day.
Brace
This is a term you'll often hear trainers saying to their clients before they're about to do a tough exercise. Bracing refers to keeping your core tight throughout a lift to help keep things stable and to keep proper form and alignment. It's often done by taking a deep breath before you start, and then contracting your core muscles. I like to imagine someone is going to punch or tickle your torso so you have to keep that tension.
Broscience
This is a term you might hear from time to time and it's used to describe fitness and nutrition advice that doesn't really have a basis in science. It basically means an old wive's tale.
Bulking
This is a common gym, and more specifically body building, term you'll hear that means trying to add weight to your physique. Bulking is done by eating more calories than normal in order to gain weight in the form of lean muscle mass, but it's often accompanied by some fat gain as well.
Cutting
Cutting is the opposite of bulking, and it means to cut or lose weight. Often done by lowering your calorie intake, usually with the goal of shedding off fat and showing off a leaner physique.
ROM
ROM stands for Range of Motion. Usually you'll want to do a full range of motion, usually going from as high as you can to as low as you can go. Sometimes a partial ROM is used like when a certain position is uncomfortable or an injury prevents you from doing a full ROM.
Plateau
This is an annoying and frustrating phase where you may not be seeing any progress in the gym. Maybe you're stuck lifting at a certain weight or number of reps, or maybe the weight on the scale isn't moving. This is a common phase that often happens when you've been training for a while. Staying consistent with your workouts and nutrition, and perhaps tweaking a few things here and there can get you to "break out of the plateau."
NUTRITION
Macros
This is a term you may hear people talk about, and it refers to the macronutrients in foods. So carbohydrates, fats, and protein. Tracking your macros can be an important part of a fitness nutrition and healthy lifestyle plan.
Cal or Kcal
Both of these terms simply mean calories and refers to how much energy a serving of food has. Tracking calories often goes hand-in-hand with training and a fitness plan.
Pre-Workout
Pre-workout is a supplement people take to help them feel more energised and ready to workout, often including ingredients such as carbs, electrolytes and caffeine, among others. Sometimes people say pre-workout to simply mean what they consumed before their workout, which could be simply a coffee and a banana.
BCAAs
This stands for Branched Chain Amino Acids and are just certain protein building blocks (i.e. amino acids). This is a common supplement found in stores and in the gym.
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
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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