Written by Samm Parker
Let’s take some time to look back and remember your first day in a workout session with an instructor; did you feel lost? Did you hear new vocabulary words that everyone else nodded along with? I could assume that maybe a run down of the lingo you were going to encounter would have been nice notes to look over beforehand. Here’s where we think you should start.
Reps: aka repetitions: this is the number of times an instructor tells you to move your body repeatedly
Sets/ Rounds: These words are used interchangeably. Sets are the amount of times you will perform the number of repetitions instructed. When you are working in a circuit, you will have several movements to perform one after the other. This is considered a round; when you get back to the first movement you will be starting the next round.
The trainer could instruct an example of 5 sets of 5 which translates to 5 rounds of 5 repetitions; you will take 5 turns doing the same motion 5 times.
A simplified example: 3 sets of 10 which translates to 3 rounds of 10 repetitions; you will take 3 turns doing a repeated motion 10 times
Block- there will be sections of the planned workout. The sections are referred to as blocks and the blocks have a focus in mind. A focus might be upper body or lower body, as well as a push, pull or full body circuit.
Group/ Partner: Let’s start with a partner; a partner is someone that you are sharing equipment with in an organized way for the session. Within the partners, you may decide who is going first, second and so on. If you are the first partner, you are in group 1. Groups help organize the partners across the room. Instructors will tell members what groups are starting what exercises to best organize the flow of the session.
At Corax, members will hear “Group one you may start your next set” as well as “Partner two, you may begin when partner one is on exercise X”, This is much like staging cues, when to start and whose turn it is.
Moving on to more movement based vocabulary;
Tempo: the rate or speed of a motion. Trainers may give you counts to follow. This is best used to keep form and move within safe ranges at controlled speeds.
Accessory: an added movement that follows a major lift of squat/ hinge/push/ pull
Activate/Contract: the action the muscle makes that shortens the muscle fibers
These terms are used when describing a movement typically for the first time. Instructors want to detail out what is expected to assist your mind body connection. The coaching may sound a little like “ We are adding an accessory to this set; in this exercise you should keep a tempo of 4 seconds down with a 2 second hold at the bottom then return to starting position”. When learning what muscles to contract a trainer will use the word ‘squeeze’; “ Make sure you are squeezing your glutes to return to standing” . The next time a coach wants to give this reminder they can switch to say “ Make sure you are contracting your glutes to return to standing”.
There are many gym terms, definitions and explanations, be sure to connect with a trainer if the instruction is not clear or there are words being used that seem to be new to you. Everyone has had their first day in a small group session, sometimes a quick study guide comes in handy.