- Joining a gym is a good start to achieving your fitness goals
- Exercise terminology can be daunting at first, especially for gym-newbies.
- Your PT or personal trainer will, however, be able to explain everything to you.
Sticking to your new year’s resolution, you eventually make it to the gym – only to be flabbergasted by terms like “PT”, “rep”, and “squats”.
If you’re a gym-newbie struggling with fitness jargon, don’t worry, we have you covered.
Here are the five most-searched-for gym terms in 2021:
Squat (96 700 searches)
Squatting forms part of everyday movements like sitting down, ascending and descending stairs, and standing up. In the gym, however, squats involve weighted sets. Squatting is beneficial for strengthening the lower-limb area, working multiple muscle groups across multiple joints. You must pay attention to the correct stance width and foot placement angles when focusing on the targeted joint moments to avoid injury.
DOMS (58 000 searches)
Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is considered a mild injury after physical activity. Soreness can be felt 48–72 hours post-workout, but usually eases up after that. DOMS can be caused by a new exercise programme, a change-up in routine, or an increase in the intensity of a regular workout, leading to an inflammatory response.
Unilateral (56 100 searches)
During a unilateral exercise, one focuses on one limb at a time. However, when training one side of the body, the other is still being stimulated. Unilateral exercises can be effective for rehabilitation when dealing with injury – isolating one limb forces one to concentrate on a specific area.
Reps (55 900 searches)
Rep is an abbreviated form of the word “repetition”, and reps are the number of times you complete a single exercise before taking a break. This is usually associated with weighted exercises. A predetermined number of reps is called a set, and numerous sets can be done when focusing on muscle growth.
PT (31 980 searches)
PT is shortened for personal trainer and not physical therapy. A personal trainer develops, educates, documents, and implements exercise routines for a client. A PT dedicates one-on-one attention to a client, ensuring goals and objectives for the desired fitness outcome are met.
No need to feel intimidated by gym jargon any longer, these popular definitions can help you get through your workouts one set at a time.
