Gym vocab

Strength

The amount of force that a muscle can exert

Muscular Endurance

The ability to contract muscles many times without tiring or to hold a muscle contraction for a long time without fatigue

Power

The ability to produce force quickly - Strength x Speed = Power

Rep

Short for repetition / The completion of one power stroke of an exercise

Set

A group of repetitions

Hypertrophy

Refers to growth in the size of muscles and muscle fibers

1RM (One Repetition Maximum)

Amount of weight you can lift or the resistance you can overcome in 1 repetition. For example, if a person can lift 100 pounds once, but not twice, 100 pounds is the 1RM.

Calisthenics

Exercises that use your bodyweight as resistance: Examples: Squats, Lunges, Crunches

Principle of Overload

To improve muscle fitness, a muscle must contract harder than normal. In other words, the muscle must work against a greater load than it normally bears in daily activity.

Principle of Progression

Holds that you should gradually increase load or resistance over time in order to best improve your muscle fitness

Principle of Specificity

The specific type of training you perform determines which type of muscle fitness you build.

Principle of Rest and Recovery

Holds that you need to give your muscles time to rest and recover after a workout

Isotonic Contraction

Pull on your bones to produce movement of your body parts. Isotonic exercise uses muscle contractions to move body parts.

Isometric Contraction

Occurs when muscles contract and pull with equal force in opposite directions so no movement occurs.

Plyometrics

Type of muscular fitness exercise that is especially useful in building power. Involves doing isotonic muscle contractions explosively (such as jumping).

Slow-Twitch Muscle Fibers

Contract slowly, red because they have a lot of blood vessels delivering oxygen to the muscle, generate less force than fast-twitch but are able to resist fatigue, involved in activities like running for distance.

Fast-Twitch Muscle Fibers

Contract quickly, white because they have less blood flow delivering oxygen, generate more force, fatigue at a quicker rate and are important for strength activities.

Intermediate Muscle Fibers

Have characteristics of both slow and fast twitch muscle fibers. Use them for activities involving both types of muscle fitness and cardiorespiratory endurance.

Absolute Strength

Strength measured by how much weight or resistance you can overcome regardless of your body size.

Relative Strength

Strength adjusted for your body size.