New to health
and fitness? Unsure of some of the commonly used fitness terms? See our list
below.
Aerobic fitness
A measure of how well your blood transports oxygen around the body, and how well your muscles utilize the oxygen.
Aerobic
Meaning with oxygen. Aerobic training is at a lower intensity, with the purpose of stimulating aerobic metabolism to improve.
Aerobic endurance
A term for someone's aerobic fitness capacity - their ability to do prolonged exercise without fatigue.
Anaerobic
Anaerobic processes occur in the cells of the body without the presence of oxygen. Anaerobic training is of high intensity and short duration, with the aim of the efficiency of the body's anaerobic energy-producing systems.
Anaerobic threshold
The physiological point during exercise at which lactic acid starts to accumulate in the muscles. It occurs around the point of the exercise intensity increasing such that anaerobic processes are becoming more dominant.
Beats per Minute (bpm)
The units of heart rate, beats per minute
Basal metabolic rate (BMR)
The lowest rate of body metabolism (rate of energy use) that can sustain life, measured after a full night's sleep in a laboratory under optimal conditions of quiet, rest and relaxation.
BMI
Body Mass Index – measurement of health taken by a ration of height vs weight.
Body composition
Body composition refers to the components of the body. It is usually divided into two components: the amount of fat mass (weight) and the amount of fat-free mass (muscle, bone, skin and organs) in the body.
Cardiovascular
Concerning the heart and blood vessels.
CZ
Coaching Zone – Small Group Team Training
DOMS
Delayed onset of muscle soreness – that feeling of soreness in the muscles a day or two after exercising
Endurance
The body's ability to exercise with minimal fatigue. Often used with other terms such as; endurance training, muscular endurance and cardiorespiratory endurance.
EPOC
(Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption)
An increased rate of oxygen intake following strenuous activity
Fartlek training (speed play)
Training in which the pace is varied from a fast sprint to slow jogging.
Fat-free mass
The combined mass of the body of everything that is not fat (e.g. muscle, bone, skin and organs) .
Frequency
How often you work out, such as the number of days lifted per week.
Glycogen
The form in which carbohydrates are stored in the body. Primary sites for storage are the muscles and the liver.
Heart rate
A measurement of the work done by the heart, commonly expressed as the number of beats per minute (bpm).
HIIT
High Intensity Interval training – 100% effort for short periods
Interval training
A training session that involves repeated bouts of exercise, separated by rest intervals. Depending of the length of exercise and rest periods, it may be anaerobic or aerobic training.
Lactate threshold
The point during increasingly intensive exercise at which blood lactate begins to accumulate above resting levels.
Lactic acid
Anaerobic exercise produces lactic acid, which quickly forms lactate in the muscles. because of this, the terms "lactate" and "lactic acid" are often used interchangeably.
Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max)
The maximum capacity for oxygen consumption by the body during maximum exercise. Also known as aerobic power or maximal oxygen intake/consumption. VO2max is commonly used as a measure of aerobic fitness.
Maximum heart rate
The highest number of heart beats per minute (bpm) when exercising maximally.
MEP
Myzone Effort Point – a world health organisation recognised scoring system representing the effort associated with a certain heart rate zone. Our members target 1300 per month.
Myzone
The Heart Rate technology we use to structure and review your workout
Overtraining
A physical and metal state which occurs due to excessive training without adequate recovery
Oxygen Consumption
Oxygen consumption (VO2) may be defined as ones ability to extract oxygen from the atmosphere via the respiratory system sand transport it in the blood to the working tissues (eg. muscles) for the energy production by the oxidation of carbohydrate and fat. The highest rate at which you can uptake oxygen is termed the maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max). Research has shown VO2max to be one of the most important determinants of aerobic or endurance performance.
PT
Personal Trainers
Repetitions or REPs
The number of times a lift or effort is made continuously, one after another and without any rest.
Resistance training
Training designed to increase the body's strength, power, and muscular endurance through resistance exercise. The most common form of which is weight training.
Resting heart rate
The number of heart beats in one minute (bpm) when a person is at complete rest. A person's resting heart rate decreases as they become more fit.
Resting metabolic rate (RMR)
The body's metabolic rate (rate of energy use) early in the morning after an overnight fast and a full eight hours' sleep. This is different than Basal metabolic rate.
RM
Referring to Maximum amount of Repetitions possible under a certain weight. A 5RM is the maximum weight you can move 5 times, 3RM is 3 times etc.
Sets
A set is a group of repetitions. A workout usually includes several sets of each exercise.
Spotting
A person, normally your workout partner, who watches your lifts for technique and safety. Their role is also to help you finish your movement.
SS
Superset – two exercises done back to back without any rest. Can be the same muscle group or different
Tempo
The speed at which you move a weight. Sometimes seen as 301 or 3010 it represents the movements and their speed. In a squat the first 3 represents the lowing phase, the 0 is the bottom of the lift, the next digit (1) is the way up and the final is the top of the movement. A 5555 tempo would be 5seconds down, 5sec hold at bottom, 5sec up and 5sec pause at top!
VO2
Oxygen consumption/uptake by the body. Usually expressed in ml.kg-1.min-1, sometimes in l.min-1.
VO2max
See maximal oxygen uptake
