Fitness Terms & What they Mean
Whether you're new to the fitness scene or have been working out in health clubs for years, you've probably heard certain terms thrown around, maybe even used a few yourself without really knowing exactly what they mean. Here are 10 commonly used fitness terms along with a brief explanation of the science behind each one.
Burning
When it comes to exercise, burning is often used to refer to the feeling of when muscles experience an accumulation of metabolic waste, which creates fatigue. Acidosis is a change in blood acidity-- specifically, elevated levels of lactic acid and hydrogen ions-- that is often the result of moderate- to high-intensity exercise.
Cardio
Cardio is short for cardiovascular or cardiorespiratory exercise and refers to exercise that elevates the heart rate to pump oxygen and nutrient-carrying blood to the working muscles. Most often used for exercise performed on equipment like treadmills, stationary bikes or elliptical runners, it is important to know that ANY exercise that elevates the heart rate can provide cardiorespiratory benefits. Circuit training with free-weights or performing an AMRAP (as many rounds of a particular circuit as possible in a given amount of time) can be considered cardiorespiratory exercise.
Core Training
The "core" most often refers to the muscles that make up the mid-section of the body, including the ever-elusive six-pack. When we look at how the body functions during upright movement patterns such as walking, lifting an object off of the ground or moving an object from one place to another, we have to consider the fact that any muscle that attaches to the spine, rib cage or pelvis influences movement around the body's center of gravity.
Metabolic Conditioning.
Similar to HIIT, metabolic conditioning is often used to refer to high-intensity exercise performed to the point of being out of breath or experiencing muscle soreness. That means that any exercise requiring a muscle contraction (which in itself requires energy) is a form of metabolic conditioning.
Muscle Confusion
A popular consumer-oriented fitness program claims to be based on the science of "muscle confusion." This is simply a marketing term created to describe the physiological effect of periodization, which is a method of organizing exercise programs based on alternating periods of intensity. The concept of periodization was developed by Soviet Union sport scientists who recognized that periods of high-intensity exercise (high stress) should be followed by a period of low-intensity exercise (low stress) to let the body to fully recover from the workouts and allow the time for the physiological adaptations to occur.
Plyometrics.
Plyometric training was developed by Soviet sport scientists who originally referred to it as "shock training" because of the high forces experienced by the involved tissue. That's why it's important to perform only a few repetitions at a time to achieve the highest level of force output possible. Any program requiring participants to perform more than five or six rapid movements (i.e., jumps or explosive lifts) in a row can significantly increase the risk of injury by placing too much force on the involved tissue.
High-intensity Interval Training (HIIT).
We have written previous blogs about the benefits of HIIT here and here. Because it is often used to refer to exercise performed at maximal intensity, this term makes the list. It's important to remember that intensity can be subjective-- what may be low intensity for some may be high intensity for others.
For individuals with a history of being sedentary or who have been dealing with chronic medical conditions that limit their ability to exercise, simply walking continuously for a few minutes at a time could be considered "high intensity.".
Many programs or fitness classes refer to using plyos, which is short for plyometrics. Looking at the etiology of the word, 'plyo' (from pleio) is a pre-fix for "more" and metric refers to length; therefore, plyometric means "more length." This describes the physiological affect of the involved muscles during jump training (the most common application for the lower body) or explosive movements such as medicine ball throws (often used for upper-body plyometric training).