Glossary

• Overload Principle

  Overloading or taxing a muscle will promote hypertrophy. Once a muscle is used to a specific resistance or workload, it won’t grow. Therefore, increasing the weight as needed will help promote muscle growth.

• Onion Skin

  This refers to skin with minimal subcutaneous fat which helps emphasise musculature. Having onion skin is an advantage for competitive bodybuilders.

• Non-Locks

  Doing an exercise without going through the full range of motion. A lifter who does leg presses without locking out his knees fits this description.

• Namaste

  Namaste is a greeting in yoga which means “I bow to you.” Instructors typically conclude a yoga session with this greeting.

• Muscular Strength

  This refers to how much force a particular muscle produces. Muscular strength intangibles include age, gender, and genetics.

• Muscle Endurance Rep Range

  This refers to the ideal number of repetitions per set one should aim for when training for endurance. Fitness experts believe doing 13 to 20 reps will help an individual achieve that goal.

• Muscle Confusion

  According to this principle, when muscles adapt to constantly-changing stimuli, they grow. Making tweaks or changes in one’s fitness program after several weeks help promote muscle confusion.

• Muscle Burn

  Fitness experts believe one experiences muscle burn – an intense sensation felt during or after a hard workout – because of microscopic tears in the muscle. To help offset this, one must have ample recovery time in his fitness program.

• Muscle Belly

  This accounts for all the muscle fibres in a particular muscle. When broken down further, these muscle fibres become fasciculi. The latter is made up of hundreds of thousands of myofibrils.

• Mula Bandha Bitchslap

  This is the act of reprimanding someone verbally at the fitness centre. For instance, you tell a bloke he’s taking too long using a pair of dumbbells because he’s been using his phone too much.

• Movement Planes

  These are three categories of exercise movements: sagittal (front to back), frontal (side to side), and transverse (rotational). The best fitness programs include all three for better long-term results.

• Moderate Intensity

  This refers to physical activities which one does at 40 to 60 percent of his maximum heart rate. Examples include brisk walking, cycling, dancing, hiking, and playing doubles tennis.