Gym Terms Glossary

RPE

Rate of Perceived Exertion — how hard a set felt, on a 1–10 scale. 10 means you could not have done another rep.

1RM

One-Rep Max — the heaviest weight you could lift for a single rep. Usually estimated from a top set with a formula rather than tested directly, since a true max attempt carries injury risk.

Deload

A planned lighter week — less weight or fewer sets — that lets your body recover before you push the weights back up. Typically scheduled every 4-8 weeks in a structured program.

Superset

Two exercises done back-to-back with no rest in between, then a normal rest. Saves time and raises intensity.

Ghost numbers

A workout-log UI pattern that shows what you lifted for this exact set last session as a greyed-out placeholder, so you always know the number to beat.

Tonnage

Total volume lifted — weight × reps, added up across sets. A rough measure of how much work a session or week did.

PR (Personal Record)

The heaviest weight, most reps, or best time you have ever logged for a given exercise.

Progressive overload

Gradually increasing the demand placed on a muscle over time — more weight, more reps, more sets, or less rest — so the body keeps adapting instead of plateauing.

Hypertrophy

An increase in muscle size, typically driven by training in a moderate rep range with enough total volume and adequate protein intake.

Compound lift

An exercise that moves more than one joint at once and recruits multiple muscle groups, e.g. the squat, deadlift, bench press and overhead press.

Isolation exercise

An exercise that moves a single joint and targets one muscle group directly, e.g. a bicep curl or leg extension.

Working set

A set performed at a weight and effort meant to drive adaptation, as opposed to a warm-up set.

Warm-up set

A lighter, lower-effort set performed before working sets to prepare the joints and nervous system for heavier loads.

Failure (training to failure)

Continuing a set until no further reps can be completed with good form.

AMRAP

As Many Reps (or Rounds) As Possible — a set or workout performed for maximum output within given constraints, often used to gauge fitness or finish a session.

EMOM

Every Minute On the Minute — a workout format where a set task is performed at the start of each minute, with any remaining time as rest.

WOD

Workout of the Day — a CrossFit term for the specific workout prescribed on a given day.

Drop set

A technique where a set is taken to or near failure, the weight is immediately reduced, and reps continue without rest.

Rest-pause

A technique that breaks one heavy set into several mini-sets with brief rests (10-20 seconds), extending a set beyond normal failure.

Giant set

Three or more exercises performed back-to-back with minimal rest, usually targeting the same muscle group.

Periodization

Structuring training into phases (e.g. blocks of volume-focused then intensity-focused work) to manage fatigue and peak performance at a planned time.

Mesocycle

A training block, typically 3-6 weeks, built around a specific focus such as hypertrophy or strength, often ending in a deload.

Microcycle

The smallest repeating unit of a training program, usually one week, containing a fixed pattern of training and rest days.

Macrocycle

The full training period toward a long-term goal, made up of multiple mesocycles — often several months to a year.

Volume (training volume)

The total amount of work performed, most simply counted as sets × reps, or weight × reps × sets when using tonnage.

Intensity (training intensity)

How heavy a lift is relative to your one-rep max, usually expressed as a percentage of 1RM.

Frequency (training frequency)

How often a muscle group or lift is trained per week.

Split (training split)

How training days are divided across muscle groups or movement patterns, e.g. push/pull/legs or upper/lower.

Push day

A training day focused on pressing movements — chest, shoulders and triceps.

Pull day

A training day focused on pulling movements — back and biceps.

Leg day

A training day focused on the lower body — quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves.

DOMS

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness — muscle soreness that peaks 24-72 hours after unfamiliar or high-intensity exercise.

Spotter

A training partner positioned to assist safely if a lifter fails a rep, most important on the bench press and squat.

Rep range

The number of repetitions targeted per set, commonly grouped as strength (1-5), hypertrophy (6-12) and endurance (12+).

Tempo

The speed of each phase of a rep, often written as four numbers for eccentric-pause-concentric-pause, e.g. 3-1-1-0.

Eccentric

The lengthening phase of a muscle contraction, e.g. lowering the bar on a bench press.

Concentric

The shortening phase of a muscle contraction, e.g. pressing the bar up on a bench press.

Time under tension

The total duration a muscle is under load during a set, influenced by tempo and rep count.

Adherence

How consistently a plan is followed over time, usually tracked as the share of scheduled sessions actually completed.

Macros (macronutrients)

Protein, carbohydrates and fat — the three nutrient categories that supply calories and are typically tracked as daily targets.

TDEE

Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the estimated total calories burned in a day, including activity, used as the baseline for setting a calorie target.

BMR

Basal Metabolic Rate — the calories the body burns at rest to maintain basic functions, before activity is added.

Calorie deficit

Eating fewer calories than TDEE, the basic requirement for losing body fat over time.

Calorie surplus

Eating more calories than TDEE, generally required to support muscle gain over time.

Maintenance calories

A calorie intake roughly equal to TDEE, keeping body weight stable.

Protein per kg

A common way to size a protein target relative to bodyweight, e.g. 1.6-2.2 g of protein per kg of bodyweight for most lifters.

Bulking

A training and eating phase built around a calorie surplus to gain muscle, usually alongside progressive overload.

Cutting

A training and eating phase built around a calorie deficit to lose body fat while trying to retain muscle.

Recomposition (recomp)

Building muscle and losing fat over the same period, typically at or near maintenance calories with high protein intake.

Estimated 1RM (e1RM)

A one-rep max calculated from a submaximal set (e.g. 5 reps at a given weight) using a formula such as Epley, rather than a directly tested single max lift.

Barbell

A long metal bar loaded with weight plates on each end, used for compound lifts like the squat, bench press and deadlift.

Dumbbell

A short, handheld weight used singly or in pairs, allowing each side of the body to work independently.

Bodyweight exercise

An exercise performed using your own body as resistance, with no external weight, e.g. push-ups or pull-ups.

Plate calculator

A tool that works out which weight plates to load on each side of a barbell to reach a target total weight.

CSV export

A common file format (comma-separated values) that spreadsheet software can open, used here to move workout plans, logs or measurements out of an app.

PWA (Progressive Web App)

A website built to behave like a native app — installable to a home screen, capable of working offline, without an app-store download.

Free weight

Resistance equipment not fixed to a machine track — barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells — requiring the lifter to stabilize the weight through the whole movement.

Machine (exercise equipment)

Resistance equipment that guides the movement along a fixed path, generally requiring less stabilization than a free weight for the same muscle group.

Cardio (aerobic exercise)

Sustained activity — running, cycling, rowing — that raises heart rate over an extended period, as distinct from short, high-load strength sets.

HIIT

High-Intensity Interval Training — short bursts of near-maximal effort alternated with brief rest or low-intensity recovery periods.

Training streak

A count of consecutive completed training sessions with no missed scheduled or logged day in between.

Dietary tier

A classification of how strictly a diet excludes animal products — commonly strict vegetarian, eggetarian (vegetarian plus eggs) or non-vegetarian — used to filter meal suggestions.