Imagine you take the step to choose a gym and start with fitness or strength training. By doing so, you’re not only entering a world of positive energy, growth, and self-development, but you’re also entering a world where various terms are used. We’ve conveniently compiled the most common fitness terms for you, so you can enter the gym well-prepared.
Calories
When you want to lose weight or gain muscle mass, you always encounter the word calories. First of all: calories are not those little creatures that shrink your clothes at night, but a calorie is a unit in which energy is expressed. Literally, 1 calorie is the amount of heat needed to raise 1 gram of water by 1 degree. Because this is very little, you often come across the term kilocalorie or Kcal.
Cardio Training
Cardio is a literal translation from the Greek language and stands for Kardia, translation: heart. This word indicates that with cardio training, among other things, you train the heart. Cardio training is mainly used if you want to improve your overall fitness or if you want to lose weight. Cardio training, or simply cardio, is mainly performed on the treadmill, bike, elliptical, rowing machine, or stairmaster.
Dumbbell
A dumbbell is essentially a small bar with weights attached to it. These are often performed from 2kg up to 40kg dumbbells. The inventor of the dumbbell is Eugene Sandow. A dumbbell is designed to be held in one hand, unlike the barbell. Another word for dumbbell is a barbell.
Barbell
The barbell is a long bar on which you can place plates with loose weight. The barbell itself often already has quite some weight, but by adding weight through the plates, you can make the barbell much heavier. In addition, a barbell is designed to be used with 2 hands. Another word for a barbell is also a bar.
Machine or Fitness Equipment
In addition to the dumbbell and barbell, you also have the option to train on fitness equipment or machines. The fitness machines basically simulate the exercises that you would normally perform with free weights. Often, the intensity can be determined by the weight you can set. Training on fitness machines is often safer and highly recommended in the beginning if you’ve just started with fitness.
Reps
You can perform the reps with dumbbells, barbells, or fitness equipment. A rep, abbreviation for repetition, is nothing more than one complete repetition of an exercise. So, the rep covers the entire movement of the exercise from start to finish.
Sets
The collection of reps is called a set. This is a sum of the number of reps. So, if you can do 10 reps of bench press, that’s 1 set of bench press. Often, you see abbreviations in training schedules: bench press 4×10. This stands for 4 sets and 10 reps per set. These are the most common fitness terms that may be unclear.
Pump
If you perform the exercises correctly and intensively, your muscles can give a pump due to the accumulation of blood in the muscles. This makes your muscles feel a lot more massive because the blood is pushed to your muscles.
Training Frequency
In addition to training, rest is a very important component for maximum performance. The rest between two sets strongly depends on the goal you’re training for; if you purely want to train for strength increase like a powerlifter, then the rest breaks between the sets can last up to 5 minutes. The advice if you want to build more muscle mass is to take a maximum of 45 seconds to 1 minute rest between the sets. Often, you can feel this based on the acidification in the muscles. You want to be able to maximally stress your muscles, so if your muscles aren’t ready for the next load yet, then take an extra 10 to 15 seconds of rest.
1RM
The fitness term 1RM stands for 1 repetition maximum. This is an indication to measure how much weight you can lift maximum 1 time, so 1 rep. Based on the 1RM, you can determine at what frequency but also intensity someone can train. It’s often advised to train at 80% of your 1RM when you want to train for strength increase. An important part of testing your 1RM is the warm-up. Make sure your muscles are warm but not exhausted. Otherwise, it can affect the 1RM.
VO2Max
Another fitness term from a different angle is VO2MAX, which actually stands for maximum oxygen uptake. Based on the VO2Max, the fitness level of an athlete can be determined.
Endurance
Endurance is the ability to sustain a physical effort for a longer period. Often, the word endurance is used for the word condition, but that doesn’t cover the full scope.
Condition
Endurance is just one part of the condition. Condition is also determined by other aspects such as strength, speed, flexibility, and coordination. Together, these 5 terms are called the basic motor skills.
Intensity
The effort a complete training costs you is indicated by the term intensity. This is often determined by the weight or the number of repetitions. This is the case with strength training. In cardio training, intensity is indicated as a percentage of the maximum heart rate or percentage of VO2MAX. So, there are different fitness terms for strength training and cardio training.
Strength
The resistance a muscle or an entire muscle group can withstand under external load is collected under the term strength. Three types of forces can be distinguished:
- Concentric strength: when you lift a weight, the muscle is temporarily shortened. This is called overcoming force, as the force of the muscle overcomes the gravity of the weight. This is the case, for example, with the dumbbell curl when you move the weight upward with the biceps.
- Eccentric strength: When you bring the weight down in a controlled manner, the muscles involved in the exercise are lengthened. This term is called yielding force. The same example, if you lower the dumbbell in the dumbbell curl.
- Static strength: If the weight is not moved upward or downward, it’s called static strength. This is the case if you can hold the dumbbell in a certain angle for a few seconds during the dumbbell curl.
