Fitness Terminology
Abduction:
Sideward movement away from the body.
Adduction:
Sideward movement towards the body.
Antagonist Muscle:
Muscle that lengthens as the prime mover muscle shortens. The triceps is the antagonist muscle to the biceps.
Assisted Training:
An advanced strength training technique in which a partner helps the exerciser perform a few additional repetitions at the completion of the exercise set.
ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate):
The chemical compound that releases the energy for muscle contraction.
Atrophy:
Decrease in muscle cross-sectional size.
Bodybuilder:
Person who follows a strength training program designed to develop greater muscle size.
Body Composition:
The ratio of lean weight (muscle, bone, etc.) to fat weight. Ideally males should be less than 15 percent fat and females should be less than 20 percent.
Bodyweight Exercises:
Exercises such as push ups,pull up chin-ups, in which one’s bodyweight serves as the resistance.
Circuit Training:
A system of training whereby the exerciser performs one set of exercise for each major muscle group.
Concentric Contraction:
The muscle exerts force, shortens and overcomes the resistance. Also known as a positive contraction.
Concommitment:
Using both arms or legs at the same time versus alternately.
Controlled Movement Speed:
Lifting and lowering the resistance in a slow and controlled manner to maintain a relatively even force output.
Dynamic Constant Resistance Exercise:
Training with a resistance that does not change throughout the movement range, such as a barbell.
Dynamic Variable Resistance Exercise:
Training with a resistance that changes in a predetermined manner throughout the movement range, such as a Nautilus machine.
Eccentric Contraction:
The muscle exerts force, lengthens and is overcome by the resistance. Also known as a negative contraction.
Extension:
Movement that increases the joint angle between adjacent body parts.
Fast-Twitch Muscle Fibers:
Fibers that prefer anaerobic energy sources to produce relatively high levels of force for relatively short periods of time.
First- Class Lever:
Lever arrangement in which the axis of rotation is between the movement force and the resistance force.
Flexion:
Movement that decreases the joint angle between adjacent body parts.
Free Weights:
Hand held weights, such as barbells and dumbbells, that may be moved in virtually any direction without restriction.
Full Movement:
Working a muscle through a complete range of joint motion, from flexion to extension and extension to flexion.
High Endurance Muscles:
Muscles characterized by a large percentage of slow-twitch fibers that are more resistant to fatigue.
Hypertrophy:
Increase in cross-sectional muscle size.
Isokinetic Exercise:
Training with equipment that automatically matches the resistance force to the muscle force. The amount of muscle force produced determines the amount of resistance force encountered.
Isometric Contraction:
The muscle exerts force but does not change in length. Also known as a static contraction, it neither overcomes not is overcome by the resistance.
Isometric Exercise:
Training in which the muscle force equals the resistance force in a static position. There is muscle tension but no muscle movement.
Low Endurance Muscles:
Muscles characterized by a high percentage of fast-twitch fibers that are less resistant to fatigue.
Momentum:
The quantity of motion determined by an object’s mass and velocity.
Motor Unit:
A single motor nerve and all of the individual muscle fibers that are activated by the nerve.
Multi-Muscle Exercise:
An exercise that involves two or more major muscle groups. Linear movements such as bench presses and squats are multi-muscle exercises.
Muscle Adaptation:
The ability of a muscle to respond positively to a slightly greater training stimulus, becoming larger and stronger.
Muscle Balance:
Training all of the major muscle groups so that a desirable strength relationship is maintained between opposing muscles.
Muscle Contractibility:
The ability of muscle tissue to shorten when stimulated to do so.
Muscle Density:
The ratio of muscle tissue to non-muscle tissue within a muscle cross-section. High density muscles are characterized by more protein filaments packed into each muscle fiber.
Muscle Elasticity:
The ability of muscle tissue to return to its normal resting length.
Muscle Extensibility:
The ability of muscle tissue to stretch beyond its normal resting length.
Muscle Fatigue:
The point in an exercise set when the muscle can no longer contract concentrically and overcome the resistance.
Muscle Fibers:
Groups of myofibrils bound together into a functional unit and innervated buy a motor nerve.
Muscle Isolation:
An attempt to exercise one muscle or muscle group at a time, by single muscle (joint) exercises.
Muscle Length:
The actual length of the muscle between its tendon attachments. Relatively long muscles have greater size potential than relatively short muscles.
Muscle Pump:
A temporary increase in muscle cross-sectional size due to blood/fluid congestion in the muscle tissue during high-intensity training.
Myofibrils:
Small cylindrical strands that run lengthwise within each fiber, and are composed of adjacent sarcomeres.
Negative Training:
Advanced technique that emphasizes the negative (eccentric) phase of exercise to produce greater force output.
Olympic Lifters:
Athletes who strength train primarily to lift heavier weights in their competitive events, the clean and jerk, and the snatch.
One Repetition Maximum (1 RM):
The heaviest resistance that an individual can lift one time, the 1 RM is often used as a measure of maximum strength in a given exercise.
Overload:
Using more resistance than the muscles are accustomed in a gradual and progressive manner, to stimulate strength development.
Overtraining:
Training that does not allow the muscles to fully recover and build to slightly higher strength levels between exercise sessions. Usually rectified by reducing the training volume of taking longer recovery periods between workouts.
Power:
The rate of work production, power is the product of muscle force and movement speed.
Powerlifters:
Athletes who strength train primarily to lift heavier weights in their competitive events, the squat, bench press, and dead lift.
Prepubescent:
Boys and girls who have not reached sexual maturity, or puberty.
Prime Mover Muscle:
The muscle primarily responsible for performing a particular movement. The biceps are prime mover muscles for elbow flexion.
Progressive Resistance Exercise:
A training program in which the exercise resistance is gradually increased as the muscle become stronger.
Reciprocal Inhibition:
The blocking of nerve impulses that oppose a desired movement.
Recovery Time:
May refer to the rest period between successive exercise sets (set recovery), or the rest period between successive workouts (workout recovery).
Repetitions:
The number of times an exercise is performed without interruption. Lifting the barbell from the standards, performing ten squats, then returning it to the standards constitutes one set of ten repetitions.
Sarcomere:
The smallest unit of contraction within a muscle, sarcomeres consist of thick myosin proteins and thin actin proteins.
Second-Class Lever:
Lever arrangement in which the resistance force is between the axis of rotation and the movement force.
Set:
The number of separate bouts of exercise completed. Performing ten curls, resting 60 seconds, then performing ten more curls constitutes two sets of ten repetitions each.
Slow-Twitch Muscle Fibers:
Fibers that prefer aerobic energy sources to produce relatively low levels of force for relatively long periods of time.
Spotter:
A training partner who provides encouragement, feedback, safety and reinforcement during strength training sessions. The spotter should be present during high risk exercises such as bench presses and squats for safety purposes, and may assist with high-intensity training procedures.
Stabilizer Muscles:
Muscles that stabilize one joint so that the desired movement can occur in another joint. The low back muscles help stabilize the torso during standing barbell curls.
Strength:
The ability to exert muscle force against resistance force. Strength is typically measured by the amount of resistance force that is overcome.
Strength Plateau:
A situation in which the training program does not result in additional strength gains. Strength plateaus indicated that some aspect of the training protocol should be changed to stimulate further progress.
Stress Adaptation:
The ability of muscle tissue to make positive strength adaptations t progressively greater training demands.
Stress Intensification:
Gradually increasing the muscle demands by training with more resistance, more repetitions, slower movements, high-intensity techniques or other means for making the exercise more difficult.
Super-Set Training:
A technique characterized by performing two or more sets of different exercises for a target muscle group. For example, a set of triceps pressdowns followed immediately by a set of dips for the triceps muscles.
Super Slow Training:
A technique characterized by ten second lifting movements to decrease momentum and increase muscle tension.
Third Class Lever:
Lever arrangement in which the movement force is between the axis of rotation and the resistance force.
Training Duration:
May apply to the elapsed time for a training set (set duration), or the elapsed time for a training session (workout duration).
Training Intensity:
The degree of effort necessary to complete an exercise set or an exercise session. High intensity training is characterized by high levels of muscle fatigue.
Training Principles:
Research based guidelines for developing muscle strength safely and effectively.
Training Specificity:
Training in a particular manner to attain desired results. For example, taking short rests between sets is more effective for developing muscle hypertrophy than muscle strength.
Training Volume:
The total amount of work accomplished (weight lifter) during a training session. One means of estimating training volume is to multiply each exercise weightload by the number of repetitions completed and summing the totals.
Valsalva Response:
Holding the breath while working against a resistance increases chest pressure which may restrict blood return to the heart and greatly elevated blood pressure.
Work:
The product of the resistance force (weightload) times the distance it is moved. Bench pressing 200 pounds two feet produces 400 foot pounds of force.