A BEGINNER GUIDE TO GYM LINGO, pt. 1.

A

1.?????? Aerobic Exercise

Refers to any kind of repetitive activity or exercise that raises a person’s heartbeat and increases their breathing rate.

Oxygen serves as the main energy source hence the need to breathe faster and harder. Examples are running, walking, jogging, and any cardio exercises among others.

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2.?????? Active recovery

Also called active rest, this refers to the act of engaging in low-intensity activity such as walking, yoga, or stretching during one’s rest time/day to allow the body to recover from prior intense exercise without staying sedentary.

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3.?????? Agility

This is an individual’s ability to accurately and rapidly change their body position.

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4.?????? AMRAP

This is abbreviated from the phrase ‘As Many Reps As Possible’. Instead of aiming to do a specific number of reps for a particular exercise, the AMRAP concept aims at getting in as many reps or rounds as one is able to within a set time say 1, 5, or 10 minute(s), whatever you choose.

The continual nature of this style of training can help enhance your endurance.

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5.?????? Anaerobic exercises

This is the opposite of aerobic exercises. Instead of having oxygen as the main source of energy, the body uses glucose as its main energy source to help power through these exercises.

Anaerobic exercises therefore are exercises that are carried out at high intensities over a short period of time. These can include powerlifting, strength training, sprinting, etc.

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6.?????? Anterior

This simply refers to the front side of your body. The anterior chain of muscles includes the chest, abdominals, biceps, oblique, and quads.

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7.?????? ATG

ATG is an acronym for ‘Ass To Grass’, and it’s a phrase you will hear most when squatting. It is a call to do a full squat i.e. doing a deep squat, such that the glutes come as close to the floor beneath as possible for you.

B

·?????? Beast Mode

One is in beast mode at the gym when they push their muscles to failure in a workout especially when performing a pretty intense or difficult exercise.

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·?????? Bis

Slang for biceps.

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·?????? Body Building

This is the practice of developing/growing one's muscles and enhancing their physique through resistance training.

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·?????? Body Recomposition

Also referred to as ‘body recomp’, one is doing body recomposition when they are losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time.

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·?????? Boot camp

These are group fitness classes designed with different forms of exercises for different fitness levels to help people push themselves more than they would in the gym or alone.

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·?????? Bracing

Before doing any exercise more so heavy lifts, a trainer will always remind you to brace your core. Bracing is the act of keeping the core muscles activated by contracting them (like you would if someone was about to punch your abdomens) to help keep the spine locked in for overall upper body safety.

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·?????? Broscience

Refers to fitness ideas/ advice -often myths and misinformed ones, spread among men/’bros’ in the gym. Most of this is based on one's individual experience rather than science.

I am yet to find out what the female version of the same is called. Sisscience?

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·?????? Bulking

Mainly used in bodybuilding, this is the process of increasing one’s muscle mass through progressive resistance training and eating surplus daily calories.

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·?????? Burnout set

This is a technique of training where one performs a particular set of an exercise till exhaustion using lighter weights. Usually, one starts with the most weight (25% lighter than your maximum weight on that exercise) and completes a set till exhaustion/failure, then continues to drop the weight after every set and each time does a set till exhaustion.

C

1.?????? Cardio Exercises

These are the same as aerobic exercises. See the definition in ‘A’ above.

Beyond burning calories, cardio exercises are very crucial for heart health.

2.?????? Calisthenics

This is a type of resistance training where one uses their body weight only to provide resistance. These include push-ups, pull-ups, chip-ups, and dips, etc.

Since all you need is your body weight, these can be done anywhere.

3.?????? Cheat meal

This is a meal that allows you to indulge in not-so-healthy options or bigger quantities after a period of sticking to a strict diet.

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4.?????? Cheating

Cheating during an exercise means trying to make an exercise easier by compromising on your form or technique.

It is not a best practice as it can slow down your gains since momentum either does the work instead of the intended muscle or you recruit other secondary muscles in the movement rather than just working the targeted muscle.

It is also risky as it can easily cause injury.

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5.?????? Chipper

This is a high-intensity workout that has several exercises (5-10) and it’s performed by completing all the reps of one exercise before going on to the next. For example: 100 thrusters, 150 jumping jacks, 80 sit-ups, 400 jump ropes, and 100 high knees.

They are especially useful for enhancing one's endurance and mental toughness.

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6.?????? Circuit Training

This is a workout that has a few movements targeting different regions of the body and a set is completed by rotating through all of them before going on to the next set.

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7.?????? Compound Exercises

These are movements that work different muscles/muscle groups while performing them. For example deadlift, overhead press, and squats among others.

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8.?????? Concentric Contraction

This is a type of muscle contraction experienced in movements where the muscles shorten during activity. When performing a back squat, for example, coming back up from the squat/ the hole is a concentric contraction. If you take the bicep curl as another example curling the bicep up is a concentric contraction. In both cases, the muscle is shortening as a result of the movement.

These movements are also called positive exercises.

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9.?????? Cool Down

This is the act of bringing the temperature of the body back to normal after a strenuous workout.

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10.??? Couplet Workout

This is a workout with only 2 exercises for an entire training session.

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11.??? Cross training

The practice of including different exercise modalities in one’s fitness program. For example, one could be doing strength training on some days, yoga on others, and running as well.

This helps create variety in one’s training program.

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12.??? CTB/C2B

Abbreviates for ‘Chest to Bar’, they are often used to add intensity to the pull-up movement. To achieve CTB one has to do a pull-up high enough such that their chest touches the bar.

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13.??? Cutting

This is a fitness period where one is focused on cutting fat while maintaining as much muscle as possible by training and eating on a calorie deficit.

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D

·?????? Deadstart

In lifting a dead start refers to starting a lift with no momentum as in the weight is put to a complete stop to eliminate the momentum from the previous rep before lifting again.

A common example is the deadlift, but one can also apply dead starts in other exercises like squats by pausing on the bottom of the movement before moving the weight. Taking the momentum out of the equation, these lifts rely solely on one’s strength.

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·?????? Deloading

This is a break (a few days or a week) in an individual’s training routine where one deliberately lowers their training intensity to give the body time to recover. Some people deload by lowering their training weights by 50% during this period, taking more days off training, or engaging in very low-intensity activities.

A deloading period is also used to help overcome a plateau.

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·?????? DOMS

Abbreviate for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. This is muscle soreness that starts at least one to two days after a workout and lasts several days (3 to 5 days).

It should not be confused with soreness/ burn felt during the workout or immediately after a workout.

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·?????? Dropset

This is a training technique where one starts their first set of a workout with the highest weight and takes the set to failure and then without rest or after minimal rest lowers the weight and performs another set till failure and the cycle continues with weight being lowered in subsequent sets until the desired number of sets are achieved.

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E

1.?????? Eccentric Contraction

This is a type of muscle contraction experienced in movements where the muscles lengthen during activity. When doing a pull-up for example the eccentric phase of the movement is coming down from the bar. During a squatting movement, the eccentric portion is going down into the squat.

In these movements, one tries to resist gravity. They are also called negative exercises.

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2.?????? EMOM

Abbreviated from ‘Every Minute on the Minute’. This refers to a form of training where one sets out to do a certain number of reps for an exercise(s) within 1 minute. You start by setting the overall period you want to do the exercise(s) say 5 minutes or 10, or however many you desire. You begin as the first minute begins and in the event you finish your reps before the minute is over, the remainder of the time can be used resting before doing the next set as the next minute begins, and then the cycle repeats till the overall period is over.

This method of training helps to challenge you, build stamina, test your fitness, and they are time efficient.

F

1.?????? Failure

Often you may hear people say ‘training till failure’. Failure in this case means training to the point you literally cannot perform another repetition of a movement with proper form as the muscle(s) involved has failed from exhaustion.

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2.?????? For Time(FT)

A ‘For Time’ workout is one where one goes in intending to complete the workout of the day with the least possible amount of time.

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3.?????? Form

You will hear a lot of emphasis on doing exercises with the correct form. Form refers to how one's body should be positioned during a movement to prevent injury and target the right muscles.

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4.?????? Free weights

This refers to any weight you can move around as in it is not attached to anything. For example dumbells, barbells, kettlebells, etc.

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5.?????? Functional Training

This is training the full body for everyday activities. For example, performing pull exercises for an easier time pulling luggage better, push exercises for an easier time pushing heavy objects like furniture, squats for an easier time picking up things or even sitting down and standing up on the couch, or hinge movements for an easier time bending.

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G

·?????? Gains

Term used to refer to visible improvements in strength or muscle growth in the gym.

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·?????? Gear ?

In general, it means gym wear or other gym accessories such as lifting belts, lifting grips, etc used during physical activity.

As slang, it is used to mean steroids and other supplements used to enhance training outcomes.

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·?????? Guns

Slang for strong, well trained upper arm (triceps and biceps).

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·?????? Gym Anxiety

This refers to extreme worry and fear people experience while at the gym. This stems from a variety of places including not knowing how to operate equipment, fear because others are watching, poor body image, and/or just being a beginner and not feeling confident with all that comes with the space.

It is also called ‘gymtimidation’, it passes, keep showing up!

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·?????? Gym rat

People who spend a lot of time at the gym week after week almost like they are addicted to the gym.

?H

1.?????? Half Rep

You are half-repping if you fail to do a movement to full range of motion. For example when you fail to go to your full depth during a squat.

2.?????? Hammys

Slang for Hamstrings.

3.?????? High Intensity ?

An exercise is high-intensity if it is done with high impact within short time periods.

4.?????? Hypertrophy

An increase in one's muscle size.