✦ Glossary
Glossary of technical terms
Briefly explained: the terms that appear in the app and in our articles. Each entry points to the fuller explanation.
20 terms
Numbers
- 1RMOne-repetition maximum
- The weight that can be moved exactly once in an exercise with clean technique. It serves as the reference for training intensities expressed as percentages. An actual maximum attempt is demanding and taxing, which is why the value is usually estimated from a set of several repetitions.
Read more: Understanding RIR and RPE: making effort measurable1RM calculator
B
- BMRBasal metabolic rate
- The amount of energy the body needs at complete rest to maintain its functions. For most people it accounts for the largest share of total expenditure and is estimated using formulas such as Mifflin-St Jeor or Katch-McArdle. These estimates can be considerably off for individuals.
C
- Compound exerciseMulti-joint exercise
- An exercise moving several joints at once, with correspondingly several muscle groups involved — such as squats, deadlifts, bench press or pull-ups. Such exercises cover more per set than isolation work but demand more technique and create more general fatigue. In training plans they therefore usually come at the start of a session.
Read more: How a training plan is built
D
- DeloadPlanned lighter week
- A deliberately reduced training phase, usually a week, in which volume, weight or proximity to the limit is lowered. Training does not stop; it becomes lighter. The aim is to clear accumulated fatigue without losing the routine and the feel of the movement.
Read more: Deloads and recovery: why lighter phases belong in the plan
E
- e1RMEstimated one-repetition maximum
- The 1RM calculated from a set actually completed — the “e” stands for estimated. It rests on formulas extrapolating from weight and repetition count; adding the reserve left at the end of the set makes the estimate considerably more usable. Because different formulas give different results, an e1RM is a range rather than an exact value.
Read more: 1RM calculator
F
- FFMIFat-free mass index
- A metric relating fat-free mass to height — comparable to BMI but excluding the fat share. It is calculated from weight, body fat percentage and height. Because it rests on a body fat estimate, that estimate’s uncertainty carries over into the result.
Read more: Body fat calculator
- FrequencyTraining frequency per muscle group
- How often a muscle group or movement pattern is trained within a week. At equal weekly volume, frequency appears to play a subordinate role for muscular adaptation; it matters practically because spreading work across several sessions makes individual appointments shorter.
Read more: Sets and repetitions — what actually counts?
H
- HypertrophyIncrease in muscle cross-section
- The enlargement of individual muscle fibres and thus of the muscle cross-section, as an adaptation to repeated loading. It should be distinguished from a pure increase in strength, which can also arise through improved coordination without visible growth. The two frequently occur together but are not the same.
Read more: Sets and repetitions — what actually counts?
I
- Isolation exerciseSingle-joint exercise
- An exercise moving essentially one joint and loading one muscle group — such as biceps curls or leg extensions. It creates less general fatigue than a compound lift and makes lower technical demands, but covers less per set. In plans it usually comes after the multi-joint work.
Read more: How a training plan is built
M
- MacronutrientsProtein, fat, carbohydrates
- The three nutrient groups the body takes in in gram amounts and from which it draws energy and building material. The calculation figures are around 4 kilocalories per gram of protein, around 9 per gram of fat and around 4 per gram of carbohydrate. Usually shortened to “macros” in everyday use.
Read more: What macronutrients areMacro calculator
- MesocycleTraining block of several weeks
- A section of training planning grouping several weeks with a shared focus — usually four to eight. Below it sits the microcycle, typically a single training week, above it the macrocycle. A clearly delimited block makes evaluation easier and creates a natural point for a lighter week.
Read more: How a training plan is built
N
- Nutri-ScoreFront-of-pack nutrition label
- A voluntary label summarising a food’s nutrient composition per 100 grams into a grade from A to E, using a defined calculation. Energy content, sugar, saturated fat, salt as well as fibre and protein content are among the factors included. It compares within a product group and is not intended for setting different types of food against each other.
Read more: What macronutrients are
P
- Progressive overloadGradually rising demand
- The principle of continuously raising the training demand over time so that a stimulus is maintained. What can be increased is not only weight but equally repetitions, sets, frequency, movement quality or the density of a session. “Progressive” means ongoing, not as fast as possible.
Read more: Progressive overload: why training has to keep changing
R
- RIRReps in reserve
- The number of repetitions that would still have been possible cleanly at the end of a set. RIR 0 means none left, RIR 3 that three more would have worked. The figure rests on self-assessment, is learnable but not precise — and it makes maximum-strength estimates from sets considerably more usable.
Read more: Understanding RIR and RPE: making effort measurable1RM calculator
- RPERate of perceived exertion
- A scale for perceived effort, in strength training usually from 1 to 10, where 10 corresponds to a set with no reserve left. RPE and RIR describe the same thing from two sides: on this reading, RPE 8 corresponds to roughly RIR 2. The scale originates in endurance research.
Read more: Understanding RIR and RPE: making effort measurable
S
- SplitDividing training across days
- A training arrangement in which not every session addresses all muscle groups but only a part — for example by upper and lower body, or by movement direction. Splits shorten the individual session and allow more volume per area, but they require the intended appointments actually to happen.
- Strength enduranceResistance to fatigue
- The ability to sustain a strength output over many repetitions or a longer period. In the classic division of repetition ranges it is assigned to high repetition counts. That assignment describes emphases rather than mutually exclusive effects, however — the transitions to maximal strength and muscle growth are gradual.
Read more: Sets and repetitions — what actually counts?
- SupersetTwo exercises without a rest between
- Two exercises performed immediately one after the other without a rest. Movements that do not get in each other’s way are frequently combined — one for the upper body and one for the lower, say — so that the rest for one muscle group runs during work on the other. This saves time but increases general fatigue.
Read more: Rest periods: how long between sets?
T
- TDEETotal daily energy expenditure
- Total daily energy expenditure from basal rate, the work of digestion, training and everyday movement. It is usually calculated as the basal rate multiplied by an activity factor. That factor is the most uncertain figure in the calculation, because movement outside training differs considerably between people.
V
- VolumeAmount of work performed
- In strength training usually the number of working sets per muscle group per week; sometimes the product of sets, repetitions and weight is meant. Warm-up sets do not count. There is a relationship between volume and adaptation, but only up to an individual point — beyond that, mainly fatigue grows.
Read more: Sets and repetitions — what actually counts?