Introduction
If you are new to the gym then you may find that there are some words and fitness terms that are thrown around that you might not understand. Below is a glossary of Fitness terms that and a breakdown of the meaning. We will be adding to this glossary over time. So if there are any fitness terms or phrases you don’t see here please let us know here.
Macros
Macros break down your daily calorie count even further by breaking it down to Carbs, Fats and Protein, This is perfect for Muscle building or Dieting. Using Macro Nutrition is the perfect way to lose, gain or maintain weight and muscle mass. You would use a macro calculator to calculate your Macros, Remember our helpful Macro Calculator can Calculate your macros and macro nutrition exactly for free, download it here for free.
DOMS
DOMS stands for “Daily Onset Muscle Soreness”. All it is is the Muscle Soreness you get after a workout. That tight feeling, it tends to get worse throughout the day. People chase this feeling, they thing off it as a sign of a good workout. If you have Muscle Soreness After Workout, that must mean it was a good workout. Which is not true. Warming up, and stretching can help prevent DOMS.
RPE
RPE stands for “Rate of Perceived Exertion”. It is a scale to estimate the intensity of someone exercise. It is a great way for everyone to understand how much effort or how high the intensity the exercise needs to be carried out. Luckily we have created an RPE calculator which will be available in the next update of the Sets & Reps application (Version 3.3). Click to download Sets & Reps Here.
HIIT Cardio
HIIT Cardio stands for High-Intensity Interval Training. A HIIT Cardio Workout will involve short bursts of maximum effort with a longer rest in-between. For example, a HIIT Cardio workout might be Sprints, Sprint for 10 seconds with a 20-second rest, then after the rest sprint again, and you might repeat this 10+ times. Great for getting an effective cardio session in a short time period.
LISS Cardio
LISS Cardio stands for Low-Intensity Steady State Cardio. This is used for when you have more time or want to do something a little less taxing on the body. A LISS Cardio workout might be something like walking on the treadmill for 30-40 minutes, High incline but low speed. Anything that is over a long period, but low effort, would be considered LISS.
Compound Exercises
Compound exercises are exercises which use multiple muscle groups at the same time to complete. Remember, Compound exercises and movements are exercises you want to complete at the start of your workout because they will require the most effort.
The 3 biggest examples of compound exercises would be:
- Bench Press
- Deadlift
- Squat
Interval Training
Interval training is a workout variation based on time. It involves working out for a period of time, and then resting and then working out. This is great to get a high-intensity workout in a short space of time. An example of this would be:
- Pull Ups : 30 Seconds
- Rest : 30 Seconds
- Press Ups : 30 Seconds
- Rest : 30 Seconds
- Burpees : 30 Seconds
- Rest : 30 Seconds
The times don’t matter as Long as it follows a similar kind of format. Within Interval training there are many other variations which are covered below.
Reps
Reps, or repetitions, is how many time you “do” certain exercises, say you complete 10 burpees, you would have completed 10 repetitions or 10 reps. You can also define reps as anything you would like, for example, you might complete, 1 press up, 2 burpee and 3 tuck jumps, and you might say that is 1 rep and that you had to complete 10 reps overall (Think of it like 1- Cycles).
Sets
Sets are how many time you complete a set number of reps. Say you completed 10 Burpees. That would be 1 set. Then if you completed another 10, you would complete 2 sets and so on. You would normally see an exercise wrote down like this,
- Press up – 3X10
What this means is that you have to do 10 reps for 3 sets, So overall you will be doing 30 reps. The format tends to be Exercise – Sets : Reps.
Super Set
A super set is just one exercise completed straight after another one, so you might do Bench Press, then Press Up’s straight after. That would be considered a Super Set. Super sets do have to be the same rep ranges, but they will have the same number of Sets.
You also don’t have to do the same muscle groups for a super set. You might do Bicep curls, then go straight into a Tricep push down, This is still a superset. Super sets are a great way to get a lot of volume in, in a short amount of time.
Triple Set
A Triple set is the same as a superset, but instead of doing two exercises, you complete three. So you would complete a superset, then do another exercise after. You don’t have to but due to the amount of volume you will be doing the rep ranges tend to decrease with every exercise. So you might do something like this:
- Bench Press – 3X12
- Dumbbell Fly – 3X8
- Press Up – 3X8
You can create any triple set you want, and they are perfect for a busy gym where you don’t have access too much equipment.
Conclusion
If there are any Fitness Terms that you don’t see here please let us know over on our contact page. As we said at the start we will be adding more fitness terms over time. So keep checking back here to see what fitness terms have been added.
Remember if you are looking for the best workout application, check out Sets & Reps, The free home workout application here!
Written by Kieran Blacker
Kieran is the CEO and Founder of Sets & Reps. He decided to make an application that helped people get a gym workout when not at the gym. He designed, Coded and built the application himself.