Reps, Sets, and All That Jazz

Reps, Sets, and All That Jazz

Weight rooms have a bit of mystique to the uninitiated, partly because of all the complicated-looking apparatus and partly because of the lingo that flies through the air.
Two words you’ll hear constantly in the weight room are “rep” and “set.” Rep, short for repetition, refers to one completed movement. Set refers to the number of reps performed steadily, without stopping or taking a break. These terms are applied to exercises that use both free weights and weight machines. As an example, people speak of doing “one set of 10 reps” or “two sets of 15 reps” and so on.
Other words also are bandied about the weight room. In fitness-speak, circuit has nothing to do with electricity. The word refers to the sequential use of all the machines in a weight room. It developed this meaning because many gyms arrange their weight machines roughly in a circle. In fact, even when a gym arranges machines in a row, the word circuit often is used because you go from one station to the next with little rest in between. When you move between stations without a break between exercises, you keep your heart elevated in addition to strengthening your muscles.”Whew! Only two more reps to go in this set.” Your muscles should be fatigued at the end of a set.
The weights on traditional weight machines are called plates. They resemble iron bricks, and they each weigh 5, 10, or 20 pounds, depending on the manufacturer. These
plates are placed one on top of the other in a stack and are guided by a cable-and-pulley system along a path or track of some kind. To adjust the desired amount of weight, you insert a metal pin into a hole in one of the plates. When you begin using the apparatus,you are lifting that plate and every one above it. Sticking the pin into the bottom plate to capture all the plates in the stack is called racking.
Between 1987 and 1998, Americans’ use of weight or resistance machines rose by 47.6 percent and use of free weights skyrocketed by 83 percent, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. Weight rooms attract serious body-builders and lifters, as well as those who use weight training as just one component of a fitness program. Even if you are just starting out,don’t be intimidated by sharing space with people who lift way more weight than youcould ever dream of—and don’t feel you have to try to match their abilities.