Explaining Basic Gym Terms for Beginners

Hi There! Today I will explain a few gym terminologies you will encounter through out your journey to building muscles & gaining mass. Its important to understand these terms properly before you start lifting weights. I have myself been a victim of not knowing these things when I started lifting & it stalled my gains & progress. So, make sure you understand all these aspects so as to be able to get the maximum benefits. This list will be updated from time to time. I will also be writing separate posts for different common exercises & muscles involved.

Form

This is the most important part of any workout. Form means how an exercise is done? How weight has to lifted? What should be the position of your target body parts be like while performing it? It includes the upward & downward motion. Suppose, you are doing a dumbbell biceps curl. So, its form is to move only your fore-arm keeping the elbow motion-less by placing it firmly on waist or bench. If you move your full arm, its not the proper form.

Rep

One complete motion is counted as one rep or repetition. Again, lets suppose you are doing a dumbbell biceps curl. One rep will be when you bring your arm containing dumbbell up and then bring it down where you started from. This full motion will count as 1 rep. I will be covering how many reps you need to do later.

Set

How many reps you do in one go or at a time becomes a set. I will be covering how many sets you need to do later in subsequent blog posts.

Rest

Rest is the interval between 2 sets of exercises. Its different from sleep ;-) You should take proper rest between your sets. Not too much, not too less.

Superset

When you have just finished a set & immediately you start another set of another exercise. Suppose, you have just finished your set of dumbbell biceps curls. Without taking any rest, you go pick a barbell & start doing barbell biceps curls. This is needed by advanced body-builders who have been lifting for at-least 6 months regularly. Beginners don't need it. But its good to know ;-)

Burn set

A set that is performed with lighter weights immediately after finishing your usual set (without taking rest) to cause extra burn(described below) & extra muscle tear. Its great when you are lifting heavy weights & can't do more than 6-8 reps. Just drop the weight & finish your burn set :-)

Burn

The burning sensation you feel while working out. Its caused when there is a fatigue in muscles because of accumulation of lactic acid there.

Soreness

Its the slight pain or burn that you feel after your workout session. Its quite evident when you workout your arms. Soreness is a sign that you have worked out hard ;-) But not necessarily.

DOMS or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

When you exercise for the very first time or you exercise after a long time, you will feel soreness in your body after a few hours of finishing your work out. That's why its called delayed. If its your first ever workout, you will find yourself in awkward position 1-2 days later :-D But don't worry, it will fade in a few days as soon as your body adapts to weight lifting :-)

Hypertrophy

Increase in size of muscles. Hypertrophy may or may not be linked with strength. Some people develop more strength but not much size in their muscles & vice-versa.

Compound Exercise

All the exercises that target more than one muscle group or joint are compound exercises. Prime example is push-ups(works chest as primary muscle group & shoulders, arms as secondary) & bench-press(same as push-ups). Compound exercises are your best bet if you are a complete beginner.

Isolation Exercise

These exercises target just one muscle group or joint. Classic example is dumbbell biceps curl. It just targets your biceps & nothing else. These are better suited for advanced body-builders.

Plateau

That phase of your weight-lifting life when you can't make any further gains or progress despite lifting with the same intensity. Its because your muscles don't find it challenging enough to cause tears in them. Remember how muscles grow?

Spotter

A person who watches you as you lift weights & helps you put the weights off your body once you finish your set or lift weights off the ground to begin your set. Spotter also spots you for those extra final reps that you otherwise can't perform without assistance. Spotter also saves you in case you lose balance while lifting ;-)