Training glossary

The terms that show up in any plan, explained in one line, with the number that goes with them.

The minimum vocabulary for reading a plan, a routine or a study without getting lost. Running terms are in the runner’s glossary and label and dosing terms in the supplements glossary.

Load and effort

1RM

The heaviest weight you can lift once on an exercise.

e1RM

A 1RM estimated from a submaximal set using a formula.

%1RM

Load expressed as a percentage of your maximum.

RM (repetition maximum)

The most reps possible with a given load. “10RM” = the weight you fail on at rep 10.

RIR

Reps in reserve: the ones you could have done and did not.

RPE

Rating of perceived exertion, 1 to 10. RPE 8 ≈ 2 RIR.

Muscular failure

Being unable to complete one more rep with good technique.

Plan structure

Set

A group of consecutive reps.

Volume

The amount of work. Counted in sets per muscle per week.

Intensity

Relative load (%1RM). Not to be confused with “how much it hurts”.

Frequency

How many times a week you train a muscle or a pattern.

Density

Work per unit of time; increased by cutting rest.

Mesocycle

A 4–6 week block with a goal and a progression.

Deload

A week of reduced volume and effort to shed fatigue.

Periodisation

The planned organisation of the variables over time.

Exercises and biomechanics

Compound

An exercise that moves several joints (squat, row).

Isolation

A single-joint exercise (curl, leg extension).

Concentric

The phase where the muscle shortens (the lift).

Eccentric

The phase where the muscle lengthens under tension (the lowering).

Isometric

A contraction with no change in length (plank).

Moment arm

The perpendicular distance between the resistance and the joint axis. It sets the difficulty.

Resistance curve

How the difficulty changes across the range of the exercise.

ROM

The range of motion covered in the rep.

Energy and nutrition

RMR (resting metabolic rate)

What you burn at complete rest: 60-70 % of the total.

How it is estimated, in how many calories you need.

TDEE (total expenditure)

Everything you burn in a day: resting rate, digestion, activity and training.

The four pieces, in how many calories you need.

NEAT

Non-exercise activity: walking, standing, not sitting still.

It varies by hundreds of kcal between two people of the same weight.

Activity factor (PAL)

The multiplier that turns resting rate into total expenditure.

From × 1.20 to × 1.90 depending on the week.

Deficit / surplus

Eating below or above expenditure.

At what rate, in planning the deficit or the surplus.

Macronutrients

Protein, fat and carbohydrate: where the calories come from.

The split, in planning your calories.

Lean mass

Everything that is not fat. It is what burns energy at rest.

Adaptations

Hypertrophy

An increase in the size of muscle fibres.

Maximal strength

The ability to produce the greatest possible force in a movement.

Power

Force applied quickly: force × velocity.

Sarcopenia

The age-related loss of muscle mass and strength.

Detraining

The loss of adaptations from stopping training.

Progressive overload

The systematic increase of the stimulus over time.