Plain-language fitness reference
Fitness terms without the jargon
Use this glossary when a programme, coach or fitness article uses an unfamiliar term. Each definition explains the basic meaning; individual application still depends on your goal and starting point.
- Assessment
- The movement, strength and lifestyle check we do before training to set a safe, personal starting point.
- Body recomposition
- Losing fat and building muscle at the same time, common in beginners and returners.
- Compound exercise
- A movement using multiple joints and muscles, e.g. squat, deadlift, row. Efficient for strength.
- Core
- The muscles around your trunk that stabilise the spine and transfer force. More than just abs.
- Deload
- A planned lighter week to recover, reduce fatigue and let progress catch up.
- DOMS
- Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, the ache 1–2 days after new or hard training. Normal, not a measure of a good session.
- Functional fitness
- Training that improves everyday movements, lifting, carrying, standing up, climbing stairs.
- Hypertrophy
- Growth in muscle size, typically trained with moderate weights for 8–12 reps.
- Medical clearance
- Sign-off from a doctor that it is safe for you to exercise, needed with certain health conditions.
- Mobility
- The ability to move a joint actively through its full range with control. Different from passive flexibility.
- NEAT
- Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, calories burned through daily movement like walking and chores.
- One-rep max (1RM)
- The most weight you can lift once with good form. Used to set training percentages.
- Progression / regression
- A harder or easier version of an exercise, used to match your current ability.
- Progressive overload
- Gradually increasing weight, reps or difficulty over time so the body keeps adapting. The core driver of strength and muscle gains.
- Repetition (rep)
- One complete movement of an exercise, e.g. lowering and pressing a weight once.
- RPE
- Rate of Perceived Exertion, a 1–10 scale of how hard a set felt. A simple way to gauge effort.
- Sarcopenia
- Age-related loss of muscle and strength. Resistance training is the main way to slow it.
- Set
- A group of reps done back-to-back before resting, e.g. 3 sets of 10 reps.
- Talk test
- A simple intensity check: if you can speak in full sentences, you are at an easy pace.
- Zone 2
- Easy-effort cardio at ~60–70% of max heart rate where you can still talk. Builds your aerobic base.
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