As you may well know, the health and fitness industry has its own jargon. While our personal trainers try their best to explain exercises and concepts in simple terms, you may hear some unfamiliar words during your workout.
Following are some of the more common gym jargon terms you might year during your session:
- Concentric: part of a lift where the muscle shortens under tension (example: as you raise the weight during a bicep curl).
- Eccentric: part of a lift where the muscle lengthens under tension (example: as you lower the weight during a bicep curl).
- Hypertrophy: as your muscles are overloaded during training, they will increase in size and strength (hypertrophy). Atrophy (muscles decreasing in size) occurs when training ceases.
- Target heart rate: a heart rate at which your health provider has identified that you are getting the most benefits out of your workout.
- One-rep max: the heaviest weight you can push or pull for one repetition (rep) of an exercise.
- Overtraining: caused by excessively challenging your mind and body with physical activity beyond its normal capabilities, without providing it with adequate rest to recover.
Many of Body & Soul’s Personal Trainers have a bachelor’s degree in health and fitness related fields and will jump at the chance to show what they know. If your trainer uses a term that you are not familiar with, ask them to explain it to you. Whether it is explaining the proper form and technique of a particular exercise or explaining the science behind muscle regeneration, your trainer will be more than happy to help you understand.