There are various terms used when working out and very often assumptions are made that everyone understands these terms when it is not always the case.
Unilateral movements
This means movement done on one side. We include unilateral movements in our programs to create balance between the two sides of our bodies. Most of us have one side that is stronger than the other and it will naturally compensate during a bilateral (when we use both sides of the body) movement, which means that our stronger side grows stronger while our weaker side does not. An example of a unilateral movement would be a single-leg bridge, Bulgarian split squats, curtsey lunges etc.
Repetitions
A repetition, or “rep” refers to the number of times that you perform an exercise or movement. For example, if you are doing squats, one repetition would be the entire movement from standing upright, lowering the body toward the floor and then coming back up to standing. One completed movement of that exercise is one repetition. You would then repeat this movement for as many times, or reps, as required
In general, if you are performing a unilateral movement (as above), then you will repeat this movement for the required amount of reps on one side before repeating that same number of reps on the other side.
If the word “alternating” appears in the description of a unilateral exercise, that means that it requires you to do the same movement once on each side – this would be one repetition. So, lets imagine you are required to do 8 reps of alternating reverse lunges, you would then step your left leg back and lower the knee toward the ground before straightening the leg as the body comes back up and the left foot comes back to join the right, then the right foot moves back as you perform this same movement, coming back up and the right foot comes back to meet the left – you have just performed one rep, and you would repeat this alternating movement again for as many reps as required. I find it helpful when doing alternating movements to only count the repetition on the second side.
Sets
Reps and sets go hand-in-hand. Sets are groups of reps.
If you are instructed to perform 3 sets of 12 reps, you would do your exercise for the 12 reps (as described above) and that would be 1 set. You would rest and then do another 12 reps of the exercise, rest again and then do your third set of 12 reps.
Rep ranges (the number of reps), number of sets and rest times vary according to the purpose of the training cycle you are in. I will do another blog article breaking this down further.
Sets can further be divided into:
Supersets
This means that you will perform 2 different exercises with little to no rest between them. Let’s say you are doing a superset of bicep curls and shoulder presses, you would do your required number of reps of bicep curls and then move straight into your required number of reps of shoulder presses. This is one superset. You will rest and then move onto the next superset and repeat for as many times as required.
Tri-sets
As for supersets but with 3 exercises instead of 2
Giant sets
As for supersets but with 4 – 6 exercises instead of 2
Circuits
A circuit would describe a series of exercises that are performed one after the other, for their prescribed number of reps each. Circuits are sometimes used instead of sets to group exercises together and once all exercises are complete the circuit is then repeated as many times as required.
Circuit training is often used as a tool in order to incorporate cardio-vascular training into strength movements by reducing the amount of rest between exercises and thus keeping the heart rate elevated.
Activation exercises
These are exercise that are performed at the beginning of a workout with the intent of “switching on”, or activating the muscles or muscle groups we are targeting in that workout.
Dynamic stretches
These are stretches that are performed utilising movement and momentum to stretch various muscles, often performed at the beginning of a workout
Static stretches
These are stretches that are held, without movement, in a challenging but comfortable position for a fixed period of time, usually 20 – 30 seconds. Static stretching is most often performed at the end of a workout unless being used to deactivate overactive compensatory muscles before training. Using static stretching for this purpose is a topic I will discuss in another blog post.