Glossary

One complete execution of an exercise — the lift and the return. Avoid: count, movement.

A group of consecutive reps with no rest. In this course "set" always means a working set; warm-up sets are tracked separately. Avoid: round.

A multi-joint exercise training several muscles at once (squat, row, press). The backbone of a time-efficient programme — see the Program Card. Avoid: big lift.

A single-joint exercise targeting one muscle (e.g. a biceps curl). Accessory work, not the backbone of the session.

A session structure where every workout trains the whole body. Suits 3 days/week — each muscle gets trained ~2–3× without long sessions. See frequency.

Muscle growth, driven mainly by mechanical tension accumulated through hard sets over time. Avoid: bulking, getting big, toning.

Gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time. Most achievable for the untrained and the overweight — exactly this learner's profile. Avoid: toning.

The blunted muscle-building response to training and protein seen mainly in older age (65+). Largely overcome by the training stimulus itself; only a minor factor at 40.

How a muscle fibre converts mechanical force (tension) into the chemical signals that switch on growth — notably mTORC1 → protein synthesis. The reason mechanical tension, not soreness, is the real growth stimulus.

The building of new muscle protein. A hard session raises MPS for ~24–48 h; net growth = MPS minus protein breakdown, which dietary protein tips positive. The molecular reason behind the protein target. Avoid: "the pump builds muscle".

Henneman's rule that the body recruits motor units small-to-large as effort rises. The big, high-growth fibres only switch on near the end of a hard set — which is why training to RIR 1–3 (or with heavy load) matters.

The total amount of hard work for a muscle, counted as hard sets per muscle per week. The strongest lever for hypertrophy — start ~8–12, build toward 10–20. Avoid: "how much you do".

How you measure weekly volume. Count only hard working sets (taken to ~1–3 RIR) — warm-ups don't count. Add them up across the whole week and all sessions, not per workout. A compound counts for each major muscle it trains (a row = 1 set for the back; a bench = 1 set for the chest). Count primary movers fully; don't fuss over indirect work (biceps in rows, triceps in presses).

How many times per week a muscle is trained. Mainly a way to distribute weekly volume into recoverable, high-quality sessions.

The most weight you can lift for a single rep. Loads are often described as a percentage of 1RM (e.g. ~70% 1RM ≈ a weight you could lift ~12 times).

How many more reps you could have done before failure. "Stop at 2 RIR" = stop with 2 reps left in the tank. The practical effort gauge in this course; most sets sit at RIR 1–3. Avoid: "how hard it felt".

A 1–10 effort rating where 10 = failure. RPE 8 ≈ 2 RIR. The inverse view of RIR. Avoid: effort score.

Systematically increasing the demand on a muscle over time — usually by adding load or reps. The engine of all progress. Avoid: pushing harder, levelling up.

The progression rule used here: work within a rep range at a fixed load until you hit the top of the range on all sets, then add the smallest load and rebuild. Self-regulating; outlasts linear progression.

Adding a fixed weight every session (e.g. +2.5 kg). Works briefly for novices, then stalls — which is why this course uses double progression instead.

The hip-dominant movement pattern (deadlift, Romanian deadlift, hip thrust). Trains the posterior chain — glutes, hamstrings, back. The barbell Romanian deadlift is this course's main hinge.

A palms-facing-each-other / hammer grip that keeps the wrist straight, with no extension. The default grip for this learner, because a healed scaphoid (a wrist bone) can't bear load in extension — so flat-palm push-ups and barbell pressing are out. Avoid using "hammer grip" except as an alias.

The perpendicular distance from a force's line of action to the joint. Torque = force × moment arm, so a longer lever means more turning effort. A lift is hardest where the weight's moment arm is longest (its sticking point).

How a lift's difficulty changes through its range, set by the moment arm: ascending (hardest at the bottom — squat, press), descending (hardest at the start — rows, pulldowns), or bell-shaped (hardest in the middle — curls).

How far a joint travels in a rep. Full ROM grows at least as much as partial ROM, and loading the muscle at long (stretched) lengths is especially valuable. Default to full range, emphasising the stretch.

Stiffening the trunk to protect the spine under load: breathe into the belly so it expands all the way around (360°), brace the abs as if to take a punch, and hold through the hard part of the rep. Used on every working rep of the big lifts.

Pulling the shoulder blades down and back ("into your back pockets") and holding them before pressing or pulling. Gives a stable base on presses and engages and protects the shoulder on pulls.

The transporter that opens a "door" to let glucose into a muscle cell. It is moved to the cell surface by two separate signals — insulin, and (independently) muscle contraction — which is why exercise clears glucose even when insulin isn't working well.

How readily insulin moves glucose out of the blood and into tissue — mostly muscle. Higher is better; resistance training improves it both acutely (~24–72 h) and chronically. Low sensitivity (insulin resistance) is the earliest step toward type 2 diabetes.

A signalling molecule released by contracting muscle (e.g. IL-6) that acts on fat, liver and brain — making muscle an endocrine organ. The transient, exercise-driven IL-6 spike is beneficial, unlike chronically elevated IL-6 from fat tissue.

Calories eaten minus calories burned. A deficit drives fat loss; a surplus drives gain. A small deficit (~300–500 kcal) + high protein + lifting is the recipe for recomposition.

The principle that training is only a stimulus — muscle is built and adaptation happens during the recovery after it (synthesis stays elevated ~24–48 h). Why rest days and sleep are part of the programme, not time off it.

An amino acid that acts as the trigger for muscle protein synthesis. A meal needs ~2.5–3 g leucine (≈20–40 g of quality protein) to maximally switch on growth — the reason for ~0.4 g/kg protein per meal.

A compound stored in muscle (as phosphocreatine) that rapidly recharges ATP for short, hard efforts — letting you train slightly harder, which compounds into more muscle. Taken as 3–5 g/day of monohydrate; the most evidence-backed supplement for muscle and strength.