AMRAP: “As many reps as possible” (with decent form).

Concentric: The contracting, positive half of the lift

Eccentric: The lowering, negative half of the lift

DB: Dumbbell

Frequency: How often you train a muscle per week

Hypertrophy: The growth of muscle tissue

Intensity: Effort and load

Load: The weight or external resistance

Periodization: The organization of your training over time

Primary exercise: Main compound movement that involves a large muscle mass (squats, bench presses, deadlifts)

Secondary exercise: Compound exercises which involve less muscle mass (cable rows, lunges, hip thrusts, pull-ups)

Tertiary exercise: Isolation movements involving only one joint and targeting a single muscle

Progressive Overload: The gradual increase of weight or stress placed upon the body during training.

ROM: Range of motion

RPE: “Rate of perceived exertion” on a 1–10 scale (10 = failure)

Tempo: The speed at which the lift occurs.

Volume: Total work (sets × reps × load)

Accessory Work: Exercises that support primary lifts by targeting weak points or stabilisers.

Deload: Planned reduction in intensity/volume for recovery.

Failure: Point where another rep with proper form isn’t possible.

1RM: One-rep max for an exercise.

Training Split: How workouts are divided across the week.

Superset: Two exercises back-to-back with little/no rest.

Deload Week: A lighter training week for recovery.

DOMS: Delayed onset muscle soreness 24–72 hours post-training.

Neural Adaptation: Strength gains from improved nervous-system efficiency.

Strength Plateau: A stall in size/strength progress.

TUT: Time under tension during a set.

Overtraining: Excess training without enough recovery.