Gym Lingo - What does it all mean?

The Gym can be a confusing place, especially when it comes to lingo and jargon that you'll hear in many gyms up and down the country. You will no doubt come across some of these terms here at the Gym Directory.

Acronyms like AMRAP, DOMS and words like superset may be unfamiliar at first. So let's delve into some of the more common terms and lingo with our guide below:

General Gym Jargon

Rep

Short for repetition, one complete motion of an exercise

Set

A group of consecutive reps

PR

Personal Best or Personal record. The heaviest weight or most reps you've lifted on an exercise or furthest distance or longest time.

1RM

The maximum amount of weight a lifter can lift for a single repetition

PB

Personal Best or Personal record. The heaviest weight or most reps you've lifted on an exercise or farthest distance or longest time.

Superset

Doing two exercises back-to-back with no rest in between

Drop Set

A technique where you perform a set of an exercise until failure, then drop the weight and continue for more reps.

AMRAP

AMRAP is an acronym that stands for as many reps as possible. Typically performed on an exercise and then completing as many repetitions or rounds of that pattern as you can in a set amount of time or until exhaustion

HIIT

High-intensity interval Training is a method of cardio where you alternate short bursts of intense exercise with less intense recovery periods.

DOMS

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, is the pain and stiffness felt in muscles several hours to days after unaccustomed or strenuous exercise.

Bulking

A period where the primary goal is to build muscle, often accompanied by a calorie surplus.

Cutting

A period of eating in a calorie deficit to lose fat while attempting to maintain muscle mass

Spotter

Someone who watches over a person performing an exercise for safety reasons to avoid/prevent injury during a workout, particularly during weightlifting exercises.

WOD

Workout of the Day is commonly used in CrossFit and other workout programs to define a workout for a given day

BMI

Calculation of your body weight is based simply on your weight and height. BMI is a score which falls into categories like underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese

BMR

BMR is the number of calories your body needs to perform basic life-sustaining functions like breathing, circulation, and cell production. This calculation gives you a baseline for understanding your body's energy requirements at rest.

TDEE

TDEE is the estimate of how many calories you burn per day based on your age, gender, height, weight, and activity level