I remember when I first started out on my health and fitness journey and begun to dabble in the gym or at workout classes and GFs, I had NO IDEA what anyone was talking about. Fitness coaches, PT’s, even social media fit-influencers used to confuse me with their terminology... it was honestly an entirely new world to me!
Now that I’ve been immersed in health and fitness for a fair few years, I’ve learned SO much about the fitness industry! But I realised that some of you are still at the very beginning of your health and fitness journeys, trying to work it all out for yourselves too. That’s why I decided it would be fun to give you the rundown on all that confusing terminology in one quick and easy to read blog post.
So without further ado, here’s your very own glossary of the top 11 most commonly used health and fitness definitions:
DOMS
DOMS stands for “delayed onset muscle soreness”. You know that aching feeling you get in your muscles a few days after a hard gym session? Yep, that’s DOMS!
SUPERSETTING
To superset a workout is to perform two exercises back to back, without any rest in between exercises. This is most often used with opposite movements, such as an upper body exercise mixed with a lower body exercise.
REPS AND SETS
Reps is short for repetitions, and refers to how many times you perform an exercise, such as 10 bicep curls. Sets refers to how many times you complete the repetitions of an exercise. If you are performing 3 sets of bicep curls, you are doing 10 repetitions of bicep curls, three times through with rest in between each set.
COMPOUND EXERCISE
Compound exercises are movements that utilise more than one joint and work multiple muscle groups at once! These are great for burning more energy with less amount of work, making them super effective.
CORE ENGAGEMENT
You engage your core by contracting your abdominal muscles while performing an exercise (focus on pulling your belly button in towards your spine!). This is essential for protecting your back during lower body movements.
HIIT
HIIT stands for “high intensity interval training” and is a cardiovascular workout, essentially performing interval training at a high intensity, with rest in between to raise and lower your heart rate. It generally requires lots of high intensity bursts of exercise, and due this type of exercise raising of your heart rate quickly, HITT is known to produce an “after burn” effect where your body can continue to burn fat long after you finish exercising.
LISS
LISS stands for “low intensity steady state” and is a type of low intensity cardio workout. LISS is perfect for those who suffer from injuries or are new to exercise and are looking to increase their fitness levels, because the nature of LISS is simple, easy to follow and is a low intensity form of exercise. Going for a walk is a great form of LISS cardio.
MACROS
Do you always hear people talking about tracking their macros? Well, macros refer to the three macronutrients that are vital for your body to function; those macronutrients being proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Without all three of these macronutrients, your body cannot survive!
AMRAP
AMRAP stands for “as many reps as possible” and is usually performed as a way to exhaust your muscles and achieve as many repetitions as possible of an exercise during a certain timeframe. For example, you may try to hit as many jumping lunges as you can in 30 seconds.
EMOM
EMOM stands for “every minute on the minute”. This method of training requires you to complete the desired amount of repetitions within the minute, using the remainder amount of time in that 60 second window for rest, before beginning again. The goal with this type of training is to improve your cardiovascular and muscle endurance!
STATIC AND BALLISTIC STRETCHING
Static stretching is to perform a stretch at maximum point of tension for at least 30 seconds at a time, whereas ballistic stretching requires you to use the momentum of a moving body part to bounce in and out of a stretching position, usually beyond your usual range of motion.
So there you have it GFs! I hope this clears up most of the confusion and provides the knowledge for you need to feel more confident and smash your next workout! In the wise words of Kris Jenner, I am here to tell you that “you’re doing amazing sweetie!”
Love always,
G x