Fitness Terminology

One of the problems about starting a health and fitness regime is all the different acronyms, phrases and terminology used. For the newbie it can be a nightmare and often fitness professionals take it for granted that you know what they are talking about. So for your benefit I have put together a quick reference guide for the most commonly used phrases, terms and acronyms used in the health and fitness world.

Cardiovascular (CV) – Your bodies system for pumping blood around it. CV exercise will train your heart to become stronger and more efficient helping to prevent cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular exercise is also known as aerobic or cardio for short.

RPE - Rate of Perceived Exertion.
How you rate the intensity of an activity usually between 6 and 20. 6 being easy and 20 being very hard.

Metabolism – Is the rate at which your body cells burn energy.

LBM – Lean Body Mass (muscle, skeleton and vital organs). Also known as Fat Free Mass

VLCD - Very Low Carbohydrate Diet

GDA – Guideline Daily Allowance

RDA – Recommended Daily Allowance

REP – Or repetition is used to describe the number repeats performed of one complete movement of a particular exercise. (For example 10 REPS of press ups is equivalent to 10 complete press ups)

SET - A set is a fixed number of repetitions of one exercise. (For example 3 sets of 10 reps is equal to a total of 30 repetitions. But you will only perform 10 reps at each time with a short rest between the next 10 reps)

Body Composition - Is defined as the percentage or ratio of body fat to lean body mass

Aerobic – Exercise performed at a pace that requires sufficient oxygen to enable you to continue (Example; running at a brisk pace). Usually 60 to 90% of MHR

Anaerobic – Exercise performed at a pace that does not require sufficient oxygen to continue (Example; Power Lifting) 90 to 100% of MHR

Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) – Maximum number of time per minute the heart is capable of beating

Resting Heart Rate (RHR) – The number of times per minute the heart beats when at rest

Resistance Training – Training using weights, bands or body weight to provide sufficient resistance to work the muscles, to increase, endurance, strength, power and size