Strength training glossary: lifting terms from A to Z

0-9

21s (method 21)

21s are one set of 21 reps without rest: 7 in the bottom half of the movement, 7 in the top half and 7 through the full range, most often in the Barbell Biceps Curl. The first 14 are partial reps, and the whole thing counts as one set.

A

Accumulation, transmutation and realization

Accumulation, transmutation and realization are the three blocks of block periodization in order: accumulation piles up many sets, transmutation shifts the work to heavier sets, and realization cuts the sets before a test or a meet. Each block usually lasts 2-4 weeks, accumulation up to 6.

Activation set

The activation set is the first and longest part of myo-reps: you keep going until the reps clearly slow down despite full effort, which is RIR 1-2 (RPE 8-9).

AMRAP

AMRAP (as many reps as possible) is a set in which you do as many clean reps as you can with a given weight; plans write it as “10+”, a minimum with no upper limit. A set like this gives you an estimated 1RM; the CrossFit AMRAP workout is something else: as many rounds as possible in a set time.

Autoregulation

Autoregulation means matching the weight, reps or number of sets to how you perform that day, for example with an RIR target, an AMRAP set or bar speed: on a weaker day the same RIR 2 comes at a lighter weight. In a meta-analysis of 8 studies in athletes, autoregulation built more maximal strength than a fixed load (Zhang et al. 2021).

B

Back-off sets

Back-off sets (down sets) are 2-4 working sets after a top set, done after full rest and usually 5-20% lighter. The top set and back-off mode of the 1RM calculator gives you the weight, and the page on top sets and back-off sets covers the whole setup.

Block periodization

Block periodization is a plan made of consecutive blocks of 2-4 weeks, each with one main goal: accumulation, transmutation or realization.

Body-part split (bro split)

A body-part split (bro split) gives each day 1-2 muscle groups, for example chest and triceps, back and biceps, legs, shoulders and arms, and usually one session a week to each large muscle group.

Borg scale

The Borg scale is the oldest RPE scale, used mainly for endurance work: the 6-20 version roughly tracks heart rate, and the CR-10 version goes up to 10. It rates overall effort, not reps in reserve, so it does not fit a single lifting set.

C

Cheat reps

Cheat reps are reps finished with body swing or help from other muscles, for example a torso swing in a curl. They don't count as reps in reserve, because muscular failure is the point where you can't do another rep without swinging.

Circuit training

A circuit is 3 or more exercises, not all for the same muscle group, done one after another in rounds with a short walk between them. When all the exercises share a main muscle group, the group is called a tri-set or a giant set instead.

Cluster set

A cluster set is one set split into mini sets of 1-5 reps with short rests inside the set, usually 15-45 s. When you split the same total rest into more frequent, shorter breaks and the session gets no longer, that is rest redistribution.

Compound and isolation exercises

A compound exercise (multi-joint exercise) moves several joints at once and loads several muscle groups, for example the Barbell Squat or the Barbell Bench Press. An isolation exercise moves one joint, for example the Seated Leg Extension Machine or the Dumbbell Lateral Raise; a compound exercise is not the same as a compound set.

Compound set

A compound set is two exercises for the same muscle group done back to back without rest, with the rest coming only after both. Doing it in reverse order, isolation before the compound exercise, is pre-exhaustion.

D

Deload

A deload (deload week) is a planned period of lighter training, usually 5-7 days, that lowers fatigue before the next block. Coaches cut sets or reps by 30-50% and end sets further from failure.

Double progression

Double progression works inside a rep range, for example 3 × 8-12 at RIR 2: you add reps at the same weight, and once all sets reach the top of the range, you add weight and drop back toward the bottom.

Drop set

A drop set (dropset) is a set taken to or close to failure, after which you cut the weight by about 20-30% without rest and keep doing reps. A whole drop set counts as 1 set in your weekly volume, because there is no rest between the drops.

E

Eccentric and concentric phase

The eccentric phase is the part of a rep in which the muscle lengthens under load, usually the lowering; the concentric phase is the part in which the muscle shortens and you lift the weight. In tempo notation the first digit is the eccentric phase and the third is the concentric phase.

Effective reps

Effective reps are the last reps of a set close to failure. The term comes from the creator of myo-reps: in a 12-rep set to failure he puts it at about the last 5 (Fagerli 2023). It is a hypothesis, and the Rios et al. 2026 review sees collecting such reps quickly as the main benefit of rest-pause and drop sets.

Effort

Effort is how close to failure you end a set, described by RIR or RPE. It is a different measure from %1RM: the same RIR 2 can come at 60% or at 85% of 1RM, depending on the number of reps.

EMOM

EMOM (every minute on the minute) is a format in which you do a set number of reps at the start of each minute and rest for the remainder of it. EMOM 10 in the squat could be 3 reps every minute, 30 in total.

Estimated 1RM (e1RM)

An estimated 1RM (e1RM, estimated one-rep max) is a one-rep max calculated by formula from a set of several reps, without a single-rep test; it is most reliable from a heavy set of 3-10 reps. The RIR/RPE mode of the 1RM calculator accounts for reps in reserve, while a formula without RIR treats the set as taken to failure, so it underestimates your 1RM when the set ended with reps left.

Exercise group

An exercise group is 2 or more exercises done one after another without rest, with rest only after the whole round. The group's name depends on the number of exercises and on whether all of them share a main muscle group, because that decides whether a muscle rests while you do the next exercise; SmartWorkout names groups the same way from version 5.2:

Many guides call any pair of exercises a superset and any larger group a giant set. All the kinds are covered in the exercise groups section.

F

Fitness-fatigue model

The fitness-fatigue model assumes that every session brings both a small, long-lasting gain in fitness and a large, short-lived dose of fatigue, and your performance in the gym is the difference between the two. That is why results after a hard block often go up only after a lighter week.

Forced reps

Forced reps are usually 1-3 reps after muscular failure in which a partner helps lift the weight just enough to finish the movement. In a 6-week bench press study, more forced reps after failure did not build more strength (Drinkwater et al. 2007).

Full body workout (FBW)

A full body workout (FBW) covers chest, back and legs in every session, usually 2-3 times a week with a day off in between. A ready example is the 3-day full body plan.

G

General adaptation syndrome (GAS)

General adaptation syndrome (GAS) is the body's response to stress in three phases, alarm, resistance and exhaustion, described by Hans Selye in 1936. Coaches link it to supercompensation, but it is a model of stress in general, not of training.

Giant set

A giant set is four or more exercises for the same muscle group done back to back without rest.

I

Indirect sets (fractional sets)

A set counts as 1 for the muscle that mainly does the movement (a direct set) and as 0.5 for a muscle that clearly helps (an indirect set): one set of the Barbell Bench Press is 1 set for the chest and 0.5 each for the triceps and front delts. Of the three ways to count indirect sets, as 1, 0.5 or 0, the data of a meta-analysis of 67 studies fit best with 0.5 (Pelland et al. 2025); the details are on the page on how to count sets.

Intensity

Training intensity has two meanings: load as a percentage of your one-rep max (%1RM), and effort, meaning how close to failure a set ends. In this wiki intensity means load, and closeness to failure is called effort, because they are two separate measures.

Intensity techniques

Intensity techniques extend a set or shorten the rest, for example drop sets, rest-pause and supersets.

Isometrics

An isometric contraction is muscle work without a change in muscle length: you hold a position instead of lifting and lowering a weight, as in the Plank or a pause written into the tempo. Timed exercises don't count toward your weekly sets in the volume zones, because the meta-analysis behind the zones only included training that lifts and lowers a weight.

L

Linear periodization

Linear periodization is a plan in which the weight goes up and the reps per set go down every few weeks, for example from 4 × 10 at 65% of 1RM to 5 × 3 at 85% over 12 weeks.

Linear progression

Linear progression means adding a fixed weight step every session with the same sets and reps, for example 2.5 kg to a 3 × 5 squat. It is not the same as linear periodization, which plans changes in weight and reps over weeks.

M

Macrocycle

A macrocycle is the plan for a whole season, made of several mesocycles; it usually lasts a year. Without competitions it is simply a run of blocks, and between them you change whatever has stopped improving.

Mesocycle (training block)

A mesocycle is a training block of several weeks, usually 4-8, planned around one goal and often ending with a deload. It is made of microcycles, and several mesocycles form a macrocycle.

Microcycle

A microcycle is the shortest repeating part of a plan, in the gym usually one week of training. When workouts A and B alternate every other day, one full rotation is the microcycle.

Mini set

A mini set is a short set with the same weight after a rest of 10-20 seconds, part of myo-reps, rest-pause or a cluster set. SmartWorkout counts each mini set as a separate set, because you log them separately; how to count them when planning your week is explained on the page on how to count sets.

Muscle priority

Muscle priority is a plan in which 1-2 muscle groups get 4-8 more weekly sets than in a balanced plan, usually 12-18, while the rest stay at 4-10. One example is the chest-focused upper/lower plan.

Muscular failure

Muscular failure (momentary muscular failure) is the point at which, despite full effort, you can't do another full-range rep without swinging or changing your technique. In effort notation it is RIR 0 or RPE 10.

MV, MEV, MAV and MRV

MV, MEV, MAV and MRV are volume zones (volume landmarks), ranges of weekly working sets per muscle group: MV 2-4 sets, MEV 4-10, MAV 10-20 and MRV 20 and more. A regular muscle group needs MEV and a priority group MAV; the ranges are our reading of a meta-analysis of 67 studies (Pelland et al. 2025), explained in the zone methodology.

Myo-reps

Myo-reps are a rest-pause method developed by Børge Fagerli: an activation set stopped 1-2 reps short of failure, then 2-5 mini sets of 2-4 reps with the same weight after 3-5 breaths of rest (10-15 s).

N

Negative reps (negatives)

Negative reps are reps with only the eccentric phase: you lower the weight over 3-5 s, and a partner, the other limb or a bench helps it back up. On a pull-up bar this is the Negative Pull-Up, a common first step toward a full pull-up.

O

Off-season (transition phase)

An off-season or transition phase is a few weeks of lighter, often different activity after a season or a competition, for example after a marathon. It differs from a deload, in which you keep following your plan, only lighter; the deload page compares the two.

One-rep max (1RM)

Your one-rep max (1RM) is the heaviest weight you can lift once through a full range of motion. You don't have to test it: the 1RM calculator estimates it from a set of several reps.

P

Partial reps

Partial reps (partials) are reps through part of the range of motion, for example continuing in the bottom half once you can't do another full-range rep. Whether they add muscle after failure is still open; the studies are summarized on the page on training to failure.

Percent of 1RM (%1RM)

Percent of 1RM (%1RM) is the set's weight divided by your 1RM and multiplied by 100: with a 1RM of 120 kg, a set with 90 kg is 75% of 1RM.

Periodization

Periodization is planning how weight, sets and reps change over the weeks, most often in a linear, undulating or block model.

Plateau

A plateau is the point at which you stop progressing despite regular training. For a single exercise in your first year of training, it is two sessions in a row at the same weight, with no added reps and no easier RIR.

Pre-exhaustion

Pre-exhaustion (pre-exhaust) is a compound set in reverse order: an isolation exercise first, then right after it a compound exercise for the same muscle group. It showed no advantage over the usual order (Trindade et al. 2022).

Progressive overload

Progressive overload is gradually raising the demands of training, most often weight, reps or sets.

Push pull legs (PPL)

Push pull legs (PPL) is a split into a push day (chest, shoulders, triceps), a pull day (back, rear delts, biceps) and a leg day, 3 or 6 sessions a week.

Pyramid

A pyramid (pyramid sets) is a run of sets in which the weight goes up and the reps go down, for example 12, 10, 8.

R

Ramp

A ramp (ramping sets) is a run of sets with the same reps and a rising weight, up to the heaviest set of the day.

Rep range

A rep range is a span, for example 8-12, within which a set with a given weight should end. Once all sets reach the top of the range, you add weight.

Rest between sets

Rest between sets (rest interval) is the time from the end of one set to the start of the next. For muscle growth 1.5-2 minutes is usually enough, 2-3 minutes in heavy lifts and 3-5 minutes in sets of 1-5 reps.

Rest-pause

Rest-pause is a set to muscular failure followed by 20-30 s of rest and more reps with the same weight, usually 1-2 times.

Reverse pyramid

A reverse pyramid is a set scheme in which the heaviest set comes first after the warm-up, and in the following sets the weight drops and the reps go up, for example 6, 8, 10.

RIR

RIR (reps in reserve) is the number of clean reps left before failure when you end a set. RIR 0 means nothing left, and RIR 2 means you stopped with 2 reps in reserve.

RPE

The RPE scale (rating of perceived exertion) in lifting describes a set by the reps left in reserve: RPE 10 means none left, RPE 9 one rep and RPE 8 two.

S

Set

A set is a run of reps done one after another without rest (2026 ACSM position stand). 4 × 8 means 4 sets of 8 reps; how to read the rest of a plan line is explained on the page on how to read a workout plan.

Supercompensation

Supercompensation is a model in which performance drops after training, recovers and briefly rises above the starting level. It is a simplification; the fitness-fatigue model describes the same process more accurately.

Superset

A superset is two exercises for different muscle groups done back to back without rest, with rest only after both. A biceps and triceps pair is a superset, while two exercises for the same muscle group make a compound set.

T

Taper

A taper is 1-2 weeks of clearly less work at a high weight before a meet or a 1RM test, so fatigue is gone on test or competition day. In block periodization it is the realization block; how it differs from a deload is shown in the comparison on the deload page.

Technical failure

Technical failure ends a set before muscular failure: at the first rep in which your technique breaks down, even though the target muscle could still do a rep or two. You log it the same way, as RIR 0.

Tempo

Lifting tempo is a four-digit code for the time of each rep phase in seconds: lowering, pause in the stretch, lifting and pause at the top. Tempo 3010 means 3 s down and 1 s up with no pauses, and an X in third place means lifting as fast as you can.

Time under tension (TUT)

Time under tension (TUT) is the total time a set spends under load; it follows from the tempo and the number of reps, for example 10 reps at tempo 3010 take about 40 s. According to the 2026 ACSM position stand, time under tension did not change training results consistently, so don't treat it as a goal.

Tonnage

Tonnage (volume load in research) is weight times reps, summed for a set, an exercise or a session: 3 sets of 10 reps with 60 kg is 1,800 kg. It shows progress in one exercise, while muscle growth is planned with volume counted in sets; how SmartWorkout counts tonnage in dumbbell exercises is explained in the help article on tonnage.

Top set

A top set is the heaviest working set of an exercise in a session, usually just one. The lighter working sets after it are back-off sets.

Training frequency

Training frequency is the number of sessions per week in which a muscle group does working sets. How many times a week to train a muscle group depends mainly on how many sets it should get.

Training to failure

Training to failure means ending a set only when, despite full effort, you can't do another full-range rep without changing your technique. In SmartWorkout you log a set to failure as RIR 0 or RPE 10.

Training volume

Training volume is the number of working sets a muscle group gets per week. The weekly volume calculator counts the sets for each muscle group.

Tri-set

A tri-set is three exercises for the same muscle group done back to back without rest. Three exercises for different muscle groups make a circuit.

U

Undulating periodization (DUP)

Undulating periodization is a plan in which the rep range and weight change from session to session, for example 8, 6 and 4 reps across three sessions in a week. A change every session is daily undulating periodization (DUP), and a change every week is weekly undulating periodization (WUP).

Upper/lower split

An upper/lower split alternates an upper body day (chest, back, shoulders, arms) with a lower body day (quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves), usually 4 sessions a week, so each muscle group works twice.

V

VBT (velocity-based training)

VBT (velocity-based training) sets the weight and the length of a set by measured bar speed: you end the set when the speed drops by a chosen percentage from the fastest rep. Without a sensor, the closest thing to VBT is judging RIR by how much your reps slow down.

W

Warm-up set

A warm-up set is a lighter set before your working sets: the weight goes up, the reps go down, and it doesn't count toward your weekly sets. The warm-up mode of the 1RM calculator works out the warm-up weights.

Working set

A working set is a set with your target weight, stopped with at most 4 reps in reserve; only these sets count toward weekly volume. Many guides call sets close to failure hard sets or effective sets; what counts is explained on the page on how to count sets.

Workout plan

A workout plan is a written-out week: days, exercises, sets, reps, reps in reserve (RIR) and rest. How to build and read one is covered on the page on how to make a workout plan, and ready 8-week plans are in the free plans section.