Glossary

Workout terms, explained simply

No jargon. Quick, plain-English definitions of the fitness words you'll actually run into.

Rep (Repetition)

A rep is one complete performance of an exercise — a single full range-of-motion cycle, like lowering and raising a weight once.

A set is a group of reps performed back-to-back without resting, such as 10 reps in a row.

Progressive overload is gradually increasing the demand on your muscles over time — more weight, reps, or sets — so they keep getting stronger.

Hypertrophy is the growth of muscle size in response to training — it's what people mean by "building muscle."

A superset is two exercises performed back-to-back with no rest in between, saving time and raising intensity.

Range of motion (ROM) is how far a joint moves through an exercise — a full ROM means completing the whole movement, not a partial one.