Top 6 Fitness Expressions You Need To Know

As you go about your getting started on your workout routine and diet plan, you’re likely going to come across a wide variety of new terms.  Some of them you may have heard in passing before, while others you’ll have no idea what they could possibly mean.

By taking the time to understand some of the common fitness terms you may come across, you can ensure that you’re not left questioning what you’re supposed to be doing in your workout sessions.

Recently I came across a post by DailyBurn.com that discussed a few to get you started, but now let’s expand on this list to enrich your knowledge.

Here are some further fitness terms that will help you take your workouts to the next level.

Drop Sets:

A drop set is one of the fastest ways to really boost your fitness progress by strengthening the muscles, increasing your tolerance to fatigue, and sending your metabolism into high gear.

To perform a drop set you start with a standard set of an exercise and immediately after that set is completed, drop the weight down by about 5 pounds and complete a second.  Once that set is completed, drop the weight one more time and continue on with a third.

Supersets:

Supersets are like drop sets in that they will enhance the intensity of your workout, but the structure of them is slightly different.  With a superset you’re going to pair two exercises immediately back to back, only resting after the second one is complete.

So for instance you might perform a bicep curl and then perform a tricep extension. Or, you could perform a lunge followed by a set of shoulder presses.

This will cut down your total workout time and get your body burning up calories quickly.

Fat Oxidation:

Fat oxidation is a term that’s used to describe the actual process of burning fat in the body.  When you’re consuming fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its weight and performing exercise, fat oxidation will be taking place.

Interval Sprints:

Interval sprints are one of the top rated cardio workouts as they’ll quickly boost your fitness level, increase your metabolism, and allow you to get in and out of the gym in less than 30 minutes.

With interval sprints you’ll alternate between all out bursts of activity for 20-45 seconds and supplement this with active rest periods lasting two to three times as long as the work interval.

These intervals are repeated 6-10 times to complete the workout session along with a five minute warm-up and cool-down.

Compound Exercise:

When looking at the specific exercises to add to your workout program, compound exercises refer to those that are going to target more than one muscle group at once.

So for example, since the squat will work the glutes, quads, hamstrings, and core muscles, this makes it a compound exercise.  Compound exercises will also call into play two different joints as well, so that’s another way to recognize them in your workout program.

Isolation Exercise:

On the other hand, isolation exercises are those that will zero in and target one specific muscle group. So for example, a bicep curl is an isolation exercise. It’s only going to target the biceps as no other muscle groups will be involved.

Likewise, a leg extension is an isolation exercise as this one will primarily hit the quad muscle only.

These exercises should be added towards the end of your workout program once your compound exercises are completed.

So there you have some of the top fitness terms that you should know so that you can fully understand any workout program you come across.  Sometimes it can feel overwhelming trying to understand the language of fitness, but with a little bit of research and time learning, you’ll be a pro in no time.