Fitness Jargon for Beginners

The fitness world is intense and understanding all of the language used can get confusing. We’re going to review common fitness terms and define them to help with your introduction to the workout world!

• Rep: One complete motion of an exercise.
• Set: A group of consecutive repetitions of an exercise.
• Spotter: Someone to assist you when performing an exercise.
• Racking: Putting weights back on the rack after you’re finished.
• Warm up: Preparing for an athletic event or workout by exercising, stretching, or practising beforehand.
• Cool down: This is what you do after your workout is over to lower your heart rate. During the cool down, you are also calming your nervous system and it is typically done by stretching and light movements.
• Resistance: How much weight your muscles are working against.
• Cardio: Exercises that work the cardiovascular system.
• Strength training: Exercises that focus on one group of muscles at a time.
• HIIT: High intensity interval training, which consists of intense cardio periods and recovery periods.
• Active rest: Low-intensity activity to help with circulation.
• BMI: Body mass index, which is the measure of the relationship between height and weight.
• Core: A group of muscles in your torso - abdominals, obliques, hips, and lower back.

 If you nail this terminology down, you will be on your way from a beginner to an expert in fitness jargon! Starting your fitness journey is never easy, but these keywords should help keep you to feel more confident in yourself when speaking about it.

*Post courtesy of Rainbeau Curves.