Glossary
Every term in the book. Tap a dotted word anywhere on the site to see its definition and mark whether you know it. Your list here grows as you learn.
A
- Accessory Work Smaller exercises that support your main lifts and fix weak points.
- Aerobic Energy made using oxygen: your system for longer, steadier efforts.
- AMRAP As Many Reps (or Rounds) As Possible, with good form.
- Anaerobic Energy made without relying on oxygen: fast and powerful, but short-lived.
- ATP The molecule your muscles burn directly for energy.
- Autoregulation Adjusting today's training based on how ready you actually are.
B
C
D
E
G
H
I
K
L
M
- Mechanical Tension The force a muscle produces against resistance: the main signal for growth.
- Metabolic Stress The burn and pump from byproducts building up in a working muscle.
- Motor Unit One nerve cell plus all the muscle fibers it controls.
- mTOR A signaling pathway inside cells that switches on muscle protein building.
O
P
- Periodization Organizing training into phases with different focuses over weeks and months.
- Plateau A stretch of time where your progress stalls.
- Plyometrics Jumping and bounding drills that train you to be quick and springy.
- Posterior Chain The muscles along the back of your body: hamstrings, glutes, and back.
- Potentiation A short-term boost in power after a heavy or explosive effort.
- PR (Personal Record) Your best-ever result on a lift, a time, or a distance.
- Progressive Overload Gradually asking your body for a little more than it's used to, so it keeps adapting.
R
- Range of Motion (ROM) How far a joint moves during an exercise.
- Rate of Force Development (RFD) How fast you can produce force, not just how much.
- RIR (Reps in Reserve) How many more good reps you could have done when you stopped the set.
- RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) A 1–10 score for how hard a set felt. 10 means you couldn't have done another rep.
S
T
- Tempo The speed of each phase of a rep, often written as numbers like 3-1-1.
- Top Set The heaviest set of the day for a lift.
- Training Age How long you've been training seriously, not how old you are.
- Training Max (TM) A number set slightly below your true max (often 90%) that a program bases its weights on.
V
W
No terms match.