What are sets? Are they different to a rep? All the exercise definitions you need to know.

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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.

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• 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 [email protected] we are happy to help! 

By, Aleisha Michael
Accredited Exercise Physiologist. 

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