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​Have you ever been in a gym or group class and all these words are being yelled out and you have no idea what they mean or what you are meant to be doing? We are here to help you understand what all those terms mean to help you feel more comfortable when exercising. 
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Here is our guide to all the exercise terminology you need to know: 

• Repetition (Rep): How many times an exercise or movement is prescribed to be completed. 
• Set: Is the number of times you complete the desired number of repetitions in a row before having a break. Completing a number of sets with rest breaks in between is a common exercise method used in resistance or aerobic based training. For example, you may be asked to complete 3 sets of 10 reps of an exercise. 
• Warm-up: Exactly as the name says this involves warming the body up before you begin the main portion of your exercise session. This is crucial for priming the body for movement and preventing injury.
• Cool down: Involves cooling the body down and returning it to pre-exercise levels in regards to breathing and heart rate. This assists your body in stabilising and prevents post exercise stiffness and soreness. 
• DOM’s (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness): Is muscle pain that occurs after exercise when a muscle has been used excessively during strength or aerobic training and is recovering. Usually results in the muscle feeling tender for 24-48 hours. 
• Cardio: Cardio is short for cardiovascular exercise which involves exercise that increases your heart rate for a continuous period of time longer than 10mins. This generally involves activities like walking, running, cycling, swimming, etc. 
• Strength training: This is training that involves some form of resistance. This may be produced from body weight, free weights, machines or bands. It aims to improve either muscular strength, muscular power or muscular endurance. 
• Stretching: Involves lengthening a muscle to improve its flexibility which in turn improves joint range of motion, decreases stiffness and improves overall movement/ function.

• RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion): Is a subjective measure used to determine what exercise intensity an individual is working at. It ranges from a score of 1 which equates to doing nothing, all the way up to 10 which is your absolute maximal effort. 
• Heart Rate: The rate at which your heart is beating, this will increase with exercise. 

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This is a beginner’s guide to exercise terminology, if there are more terms you would like to know the meaning of, please get in touch at info@optimumep.com.au we are happy to help! 

By, Aleisha Michael
Accredited Exercise Physiologist. 

  
Stretching has been a hot topic in the health and fitness world for a few years now and one that everybody seems to have their own opinions on!
When should I stretch?
How long should I stretch for?
What types of stretching should I be doing?
We will discuss all these
questions and more!



What is stretching?
Stretching is the act of getting you out of the posture that you spend most of your time in
and moving joints through their full range. It involves placing parts of your body into a
position that with lengthen the muscles and surrounding fascia/ connective tissue. It can be
done before or after exercise but also throughout the day when in sustained postures, to
prevent muscle tightness, aches and pains and improve circulation.

What types of stretching should you be doing?
As a general rule of thumb there are two main types of stretching;

     ● Static stretching – this type of stretch is performed without movement meaning you
        would get into the stretch position and hold that position for a given amount of
        time.
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     ● Dynamic stretching – this type of stretch is performed with movement meaning you
        use a swinging or bouncing movement to extend your range of motion and flexibility.
        Depending on what you are trying to achieve from your stretching (eg. Warming up before
        exercise or increasing muscle length) will determine which type of stretching to complete
        and when.

When should you stretch?
It has long been believed that we should stretch for long periods of time before and after an
activity, but this isn’t necessarily true! It is crucial to warm-up your body prior to exercise
through dynamic movements. The aim of these movements before exercise is not to
improve your flexibility but to simply prime the muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons that
you are about to use.
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In regard to trying to improve your flexibility and muscle length the most effective time to
conduct this type of static stretching is after exercise as the muscles are warm and pliable.
Another great time to stretch can be straight before bed as this is when our muscles and
soft tissues heal, meaning they are healing in an elongated or stretched position that was
achieved before going to sleep.

How long should your stretch for?
When completing static stretching a single stretch should be held for at least 30-60 seconds
and repeated two or three times on each side. This gives the muscle enough time to relax
and begin to lengthen. When performing dynamic stretches prior to exercise the duration ca
depend on a number of things including how tight you may be already, the temperature and
how long your exercise session is going to be. At a minimum, dynamic stretches should be
performed for 5-10 minutes before any exercise, but longer than this for higher intensity,
longer duration activities.

If you would like more assistance or guidance around stretching, get in touch with us!

By Aleisha Michael

Accredited Exercise Physiologist.