WORKOUT TERMINOLOGY
Progressive overload is increasing something overtime. Weight, reps or intensity. Something must be increasing to increase the stress and tension on the muscle so it can grow. A simple way, is to create a rep range for your set. Example 5-8, use a weight where you get 5 reps, overtime you progress and get stronger until you get to 8 reps, (this is why tracking is so important). Once you get to the upper limit of the rep range, add weight and repeat the cycle, over and over and over again. Make sure however your form stays consistent otherwise, you aren’t progressing, you’re just ego lifting. It’s worth noting that every time you step in the gym and everytime you go to do a set, you should be pushing to get atleast 1 more rep than last week with the same form.
PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
CONCENTRIC
ECCENTRIC
The ‘downward’ portion of a lift where the working muscle is stretching. (An increasing angle between the joint and muscle).
The ‘upward’ portion of a lift where the working muscle is contracting or squeezing. (A decreasing angle between joint and muscle).
TOP SET
A top set is a term, like working set, which refers to a set of an exercise where you intent to train for hypertrophy or strength and with intensity, not a warm up set where your goal is to prime your body.
MIND MUSCLE CONNECTION
The mind muscle connection is how you feel a muscle. How much control you have over the muscle, how well you feel it during movements. It will improve with experience, and by practising on isolating muscles. The better the mind muscle connection, the more muscle you will build.
These are all term you need to know, they will be used throughout the rest of the website, so if you forget anything just refer back to here.
HYPERTROPHY
Hypertrophy refers to the growing of a tissue ie muscle tissue and hence muscle. Training for hypertrophy just means your singular purpose is to build muscle and size.
RANGE OF MOTION (ROM)
The range in which your muscle is working between stretched and contracted. A larger ROM means more tension, more potential muscle growth. Muscles grow most at the stretched portion, so don’t half rep.
DROP SET
A drop set is an intensifier. After you finish your set, drop the weight by around 1/3 of the weight and continue to perform the exercise. For example, if you are performing a bicep curl, after reaching failure at 10 reps with 15kg, drop to kg and squeeze out a few more reps. This is meant to add intensity by allowing you to squeeze out extra reps after reaching failure with your working weight. Don’t abuse this intensifier tho, limit it to one exercise per muscle group per session. Therefore, you will get the best out of it. Throughout my whole training journey, i have always used drop sets. Give them a go.
REST PAUSE SET
A rest pause set is an intensifier. After you finish your set, wait 25 seconds, re-catch your breath, then go back to the exercise and squeeze out more reps till failure. The short ‘rest’ and ‘pause’ gives your muscles a moment to recover from the stress, helps you re-catch your breath, meaning you can get extra reps and stimuli on the muscle. Don’t abuse this intensifier tho, limit it to one exercise per muscle group per session. Therefore, you will get the best out of it.