27 Must Know Exercise Terms & Concepts

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The exercise and fitness terms that get thrown around the gym can be intimidating. Here is your Crash Course into the terms that I see as valuable to know for people to know when they are participating in physical therapy and trying to get started with being more active.

Questions This Post Answers

• What is the difference between a Stretching & Strengthening Exercise?
• What does hypertrophy mean?
• What is a Concentric vs Eccentric vs Isometric Exercise?
• How can I make my body more powerful?
• Does a warm up really matter?

1. “DOMS” (rhymes with “Tom’s”)

DOMS stands for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.

After you have completed a strengthening workout, ideally you will get muscle soreness within the next 24-48 hours. This means that you have worked out hard enough that a signal has been received by the body to make those muscles stronger.

If your soreness lasts longer than 48 hours this usually means that your workout was a little more challenging than your body would have liked.

Aim for that sweet spot. Soreness that lasts 24-48 hours after the workout is “just right”.

2. Alternate Muscle Groups

What does this mean? Often people will say to “alternate muscle groups” when you work out at the gym.

What that means is that you group your leg exercises onto the same day (for example, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and your upper body exercises onto the same day (for example, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday).

This directly leads back to what we discussed in #1. Your body NEEDS 48 hours of time to recover from a good workout. If you work out the same muscles day in and day out, you will use them too much and are likely headed for an injury.

So, if you want to work out daily, the best way to do this while avoiding injury is to “Alternate Your Muscle Groups.”

3. Stretching

Many people head into the gym or arrive in the clinic not fully understanding what is a stretching exercise and what is a strengthening exercise.

Stretch= An exercise that helps improves the flexibility (or “stretchiness”) of a muscle.

For a stretch to be effective, you must hold the stretch for at least 20 seconds.

More than a 30 second hold is still good for you; you’re just not necessarily adding to your flexibility further.

20-30 second holds are how you optimize your time!

This is how you can identify what is a Stretching Exercise. An exercise that you hold for 20-30 seconds to try and improve your flexibility, stretchiness, or range of motion available in a given muscle.

Stretching Intensity. Your stretch should feel mild to medium. You want the tissue to be able to relax. If you are stretching so hard you’re shaking and sweating bullets, those muscles are definitely not going to feel like they can loosen up, they’re going to want to protect you and will hang onto that tightness for dear life.

Stretching Guidelines. Perform 3 x 20-30 second holds. Practice 3-5x per day to obtain maximum benefit. Stretch should feel mild to medium.

4. Strengthening

Strengthening exercises increases the ability of a muscle to lift or hold a load.

You’ll typically be able to tell an exercise is a strengthening exercise if you are:

1. Counting in Sets and Repetitions
2. Using Resistance (free weights, a machine, exercise bands, or sometimes just the weight of your body)

Strengthening of a muscle can be performed using 3 Different Types of Muscle Contraction (See Descriptions that Follow).

1. Concentric
2. Eccentric
3. Isometric

There are also 4 Different Purposes of Strengthening that You Can Target (See Descriptions that Follow).

1. Power
2. Strength
3. Hypertrophy
4. Endurance

5. Sets and “Reps” (Repetitions)

Reps= The number of times you complete an exercise in a row to make up a set.

For example, you might perform ten repetitions (reps) of push-ups in a row to make up one set.

During your whole workout you might perform three sets of push-ups.

Why Do We Do This? By breaking the repetitions or times you do an exercise into Sets and Repetitions you can do more. This allows you to get stronger faster. If someone asked me to do 30 push-ups in a row, this would be very difficult for me. My muscles would tire before I made it to 30. BUT. If I had the chance to rest after 10 and then try again 30-60 seconds later, I could do more.

6. Concentric Exercise.

This is one of those words that can make your eyes glaze over in boredom if you don’t love science.

“Concentric”= Refers to the lifting part of an exercise, when the fibers inside the muscle that is working are contracting or getting shorter.

Example: With a bicep curl, when your elbow goes from straight to bent. This is called the “concentric phase” of the exercise.

7. Eccentric Exercise.

This is the counterpart of “Concentric Exercise”.

“Eccentric”= Refers to the lowering part of an exercise, when the fibers inside the muscle that is working are extending or getting longer.

Example: With a bicep curl, when your elbow goes from the bent position to the straight position. This is called the “eccentric phase” of the exercise.

8. Isometric Exercise

Isometric Exercise is in between Concentric and Eccentric.

“Isometric”= Refers to an exercise that uses a static hold to workout the muscle. The fibers inside the muscle are still working, but they are not actually moving (i.e. neither contracting or extending).

Example: With a bicep curl, if I told you to hold the weight at the halfway point. You know your muscles are absolutely still working to hold up that weight, even though you’re not actually moving.

9. Power

Power= the ability of a muscle to create strength with speed

Examples of Instances When We Use Power:

1. Football lineman exploding off the line when the football is snapped.
2. Hitting a baseball with a baseball bat.
3. Shutting your car trunk (some of them have a significant amount of resistance to them).

You can perform your strengthening exercises in a certain way to target power/ create powerful muscles.

If you are looking to Target Power, please see the table below. NOTE: Recommended amounts/ numbers may vary depending on the source.

What does the “% of Max” mean? When working out, it is common to describe your “1 Repetition Maximum”. Example: If you were to do a Bicep Curl, what is the maximum amount of weight you could do, if you only had to do one repetition. For me, say that number is 25 lbs. Then, if I were to Target Power in my biceps, I would select a dumbbell that was as close to 85% of 25 lb= 21.25 lbs as possible. So I would select a 20 lb dumbbell for my Bicep Power Workout.

10. Strength

Strength= the ability of a muscle to lift a load

Examples of Instances When We Use Strength:

1. Our legs are strong when they help us go upstairs with ease.
2. We are strong if we can lift a case of water from the floor up to a table.
3. Your arms are strong if they can lift a baby out of a crib.

If you are looking to Target Strength, please see the table below. NOTE: Recommended amounts/ numbers may vary depending on the source.

What does the “% of Max” mean? When working out, it is common to describe your “1 Repetition Maximum”. Example: If you were to do a Bicep Curl, what is the maximum amount of weight you could do, if you only had to do one repetition. For me, say that number is 25 lbs. Then, if I were to Target Strength in my biceps, I would select a dumbbell that was ~75% of 25 lb= 18.75 lbs as possible. So I would still select a 20 lb dumbbell for my Bicep Strength Workout. I would change the Speed, Reps, and Sets to Target Strength even though I’m still lifting the same dumbbell.

11. Hypertrophy

Hypertrophy= “Big Muscles”

Technically, “hyper-“ means “more” (this can be bigger, faster, etc) and “-trophy” refers to form/ shape. If you put them together à “bigger shape” or “bigger form”.

Examples of Hypertrophy:

1. Wanting your biceps (upper arms) to look bigger.
2. Wanting defined abdominal muscles.
3. Wanting well-developed calves.

If you are looking to Target Hypertrophy, please see the table below. NOTE: Recommended amounts/ numbers may vary depending on the source.

What does the “% of Max” mean? When working out, it is common to describe your “1 Repetition Maximum”. Example: If you were to do a Bicep Curl, what is the maximum amount of weight you could do, if you only had to do one repetition. For me, say that number is 25 lbs. Then, if I were to Target Hypertrophy in my biceps, I would select a dumbbell that was as close to 67% of 25 lb= 16.75 lbs as possible. So I would select a 15 lb dumbbell for my Bicep Hypertrophy Workout.

12. Endurance

Endurance= the ability of a muscle to do things for a long time

Examples of Muscle Endurance:

1. Muscles involved in posture ideally hold you in good position all day long.
2. Running, walking, or hiking multiple miles.
3. Carrying a bag of groceries all the way home from the grocery store.

If you are looking to Target Endurance, please see the table below. NOTE: Recommended amounts/ numbers may vary depending on the source.

What does the “% of Max” mean? When working out, it is common to describe your “1 Repetition Maximum”. Example: If you were to do a Bicep Curl, what is the maximum amount of weight you could do, if you only had to do one repetition. For me, say that number is 25 lbs. Then, if I were to Target Endurance in my biceps, I would select a dumbbell that was ~50% of 25 lb= 12.5 lbs as possible. So I would select a 12 lb dumbbell for my Bicep Endurance Workout.

Power, Strength, Hypertrophy, & Endurance Table

Let’s bring it all together!

When you are doing a strengthening workout, you can target your workout for Power, Strength, Hypertrophy, or Endurance.

Technically, if you practice strengthening of any kind you will improve the ability of your muscles and body in all four of these arenas. However, if you do have a specific goal for your workout, you are better off trying to target your strengthening with the recommended parameters outlined in this table below.

13. Core Stabilization

Core refers to the muscles around your middle that is supposed to support your spine and help you generate force and power for movement.

If you were to imagine someone wearing a corset, the muscles underneath that corset would likely qualify as a core muscle.

There is great confusion about the best way to strengthen your core muscles. Sit ups and crunches are a popular go-to. As a physical therapist, I rarely recommend sit ups or crunches to patients as they can aggravate certain types of low back pain. They also bias the most superficial/ shallow layer of our abdominal muscles, while nearly completely neglecting the deeper layer.

When I am talking Core Strengthening, I am most often trying to help people access this deeper layer.

Check Out “Your Essential Deep Core Strengthening Program” Here:

14. Planks

Planks are a type of isometric exercise used to strengthen primarily the superficial core muscles.

Don’t be tempted, the deep core muscles described above often require more attention than the superficial group.

Because you are supporting your body weight with your arms, your shoulders are getting a good workout as well. As long as this is not painful, it is a good exercise for your shoulders.  

Goals. I want my adults to be able to do at least 1-minute-long forward planks and 30-second-long side planks. If you are a Half Marathoner or Greater, double that to 2-minute-long forward planks and 1-minute-long side planks.

15. BOSU Ball

BOSU stands for BOth Sides Up, as exercises can be practiced on both the black and the blue side of this piece of equipment.

I see the black side of the BOSU as helping to improve core, hip, and knee stability, while the blue focuses more on ankle and foot stability.

16. Yoga Ball= Swiss Ball = Exercise Ball

The big balls at the gym.

They Serve Two Main Purposes:

Movement. These are great to facilitate movement. When you’re having trouble moving a body part on your own, we will often use this to help you get your body moving.

Stability Challenge. When you are higher level, a yoga ball is a great tool to add greater challenge to your exercises/ workouts because of the stabilization challenge it can create.

Debunking a Common Myth

If you sit on a yoga ball and it is easy for you, it is unfortunately, not improving your core stability. This is a popular myth that I debunk on a regular basis.

17. Isolation Exercise

An isolation exercise is intended to target a specific muscle.

Examples of Isolation Exercises:

1. Bicep Curls target your biceps.
2. Heel Raises/ Calf Raises target your calves.
3. Hamstring Curls target your hamstrings.

What is Better? An Isolation or Functional Exercise? Physical Therapy research says that making sure to perform BOTH an isolation and a functional exercise for a given muscle will increase your strength the fastest.

18. Functional Exercise

A functional exercise mimics motions that we do in daily life. They copy functional movements.

Examples of Functional Exercises:

1. Squats (similar to getting in and out of a chair)
2. Step ups/ downs
3. Push Ups (mimic pushing open a door)
4. Rows (mimics pulling open a door)

What is Better? An Isolation or Functional Exercise? Our research says that making sure to perform BOTH an isolation and a functional exercise for a given muscle will increase your strength the fastest.

19. Cardio

Cardio= Exercise whose goal is to increase heart rate for a prolonged period. When safe to do so and done well, this improves heart health.

Cardio is short for cardiovascular. A word that refers to the heart (“cardio”) and the blood vessels in the body (the “vascular” system).

20. HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)

HIIT is a very popular type of workout that involves short quick bursts of work/ energy expenditure with quick rest breaks in between. Trainers and exercisers love these workouts because they can burn a significant number of calories without requiring you to workout for a long period of time.

21. Plyometrics or “Plyo”

Plyometrics refers to exercises that involve explosive movements, often jumping and throwing.

Examples of Plyometrics:

1. Jump Squats
2. Box Jumps
3. Long Jumps
4. Medicine Ball Slams (on the ground)
5. Wall Balls (throwing a Medicine Ball Against a Wall)

22. WOD

What is a WOD (pronounced “wad”)?

WOD= Workout of the Day

Very popular in CrossFit or group fitness exercise classes. The instructors/ coaches establish a list of exercises, often written on a chalkboard or whiteboard, and the class runs through the workout together.

23. Cross Training

Most of us find a specific type of exercise that we like and stick with it. The problem with this is that we end up making our body one dimensional. If we love CrossFit, we might have a very strong body that is very tight and inflexible. If we love Yoga, we might be very flexible, but our body might not be very strong. If we are a gymnast, we’ll be very powerful, but running even a mile might be a challenge because we don’t have good endurance fitness.

Cross Training refers to alternating the types of exercise you do to make your fitness well-rounded.

Examples of Cross Training:

1. Running 3 days per week and doing 1 day per week of Swimming
2. Yoga 3 days per week and 2 days per week of strength training in the gym
3. CrossFit 4 days per week and 2 days of yoga for flexibility  

24. Foam Roller

A 36” long, 6” diameter high density foam cylinder used to help improve mobility and flexibility through muscles and joints in the body.

This can be a very helpful tool to decrease thigh tightness, back stiffness, and chest stiffness.

25. Warm Up

A warm up is a set of typically gentle activities, movements, or exercises that are performed prior to your intended workout to prepare your body. Ideally, this is to reduce your risk of injury and improve your performance in your workout or your athletic event.

There is conflicting evidence on whether we need to Warm Up prior to physical activity. For every study that says yes, there is another study that says no.

As a physical therapist, I say we should. Especially, if your exercise or work is going to require significant strength and power, I think it is beneficial for the muscles to literally be “warm” so they are flexible, and they can contract smoothly.

Examples of Warm-Ups:

1. If You Plan to Go on a Run: Easy jog for 2-5 min, then perform Dynamic Warm Up.
2. If You Plan to Play a Soccer Game: Easy 1-2 laps around the field, then Static Stretching. Dynamic Warm Up, including practicing passing short and long distances and running at different speeds.

26. Dynamic Stretching/ Warm Up

A set of stretches that are performed while walking.

While stretching like this does not optimally increase the flexibility of these muscles, it will make them feel less tight for your sport or activity.

Dynamic Warm Up/ Dynamic Stretching is a good alternative for those who truly despise static stretching. Something is better than nothing.

Examples:

1. Walking Hip Flexor Stretch
2. Hamstring Sweeps
3. Adductor Pendulums
4. Walking Quad Stretch
5. Walking Piriformis Stretch

27. Cool Down

Similar to a Warm Up, a Cool Down is a set of typically gentle activities, movements, and exercises to help transition your muscles and body from working very hard to a more restful state. This is ideally to prevent your body from experiencing excessive tightness and to reduce risk of injury.

There is also conflicting evidence on whether or not Cooling Down after activity is beneficial.

As a physical therapist, I think there is value in Cooling Down following athletic activity.

Examples of Cool Downs:

1. Following a Run: Walking for ¼ mile and follow that with static stretching.
2. Following a Gym Workout: Last 1-2 minutes on cardio machine at easier pace followed by foam rolling and static stretching
3. Following a Yoga Workout: Spending some time in relaxing poses like Happy Baby and Shavasana

Wrapping It All Up

As with all activities, exercise comes with its own vocabulary.

Please feel free to ask clarifying questions in the Comments section below or ask about other Exercise Terms you’ve heard of that were not included on this list.

Be well!