Glossary of Weight Lifting Equipment Terms

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This glossary weight lifting and sports nutrition terms and definitions is organized alphabetically for your convenience. It is our hope that this will become an excellent reference headquarters for you.

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Giant Set – A weight training technique where three or four exercises are performed successively on one muscle group. Pretty much every muscle in your body can perform giant sets, except for your back. One example of a giant set for your biceps could be barbell curls, hammer curls and preacher curls. Figure out what you would usually lift with each of these exercises and arrange them in order of the exercise that you can lift the most weight with first, and the lowest one last. Perform 10 reps of each exercise with no rest between, give yourself a 2 to 3 minute break and then perform the giant set again.

Gloves - Weight lifting gloves are a necessity for weight training exercises. When lifting weights your hands come in contact with raw metal bars and poorly padded equipment handles, thus putting constant strain on your hands every time you work out. This often results in calloused, bruised and blistered hands, along with strained fingers and wrists and sore palms, too. A weight lifting glove is made to help prevent these injuries from occurring, while enabling the lifter to get more intensity out of their routine; however, you want to choose a workout glove that will provide the in ultimate comfort and safety.

Glycogen – A carbohydrate stored in the liver and muscles. Glycogen is used as a fuel by exercising muscles. The body generally has enough glycogen stored to sustain 65-85 minutes of exercise. Carbo-loading is a technique used by endurance athletes to increase the amount of glycogen available for a long event such as a marathon.

Gravity Boots – Also know as inversion boots, these specialty boots are made to attach to an overhead bar. Various exercises are performed while you hang upside down from the bar. One of the benefits of gravity/inversion boots is to allow your body weight to stretch your spine, which decompresses the joints and discs while you perform exercises. Gravity boots are a great tool for inverted exercises like crunches, sit-ups and squats. It is interesting to note that full range inverted sit-ups are ten times tougher than horizontal sit-ups (thus you get 10 times the workout!) and they have minimal load on the back.

Gym – This can either be a home gym or a weight training facility or club. Any facility that allows you to perform weight lifting and cardio workouts.

Hack Squats – Lower Quadriceps Exercise – You need a hack squat machine to perform this exercise. Step into the machine and hook your shoulders under the padded bars, keeping your feet together with the toes pointed slightly out. Unhook the safety latch to release the weights and lower your legs all the way down (until your buttock almost touches your feet). Now press upward with your legs and lift the bars with your shoulders to lift the weights upward; stop when your legs are fully extended. Repeat for your designated number of reps.

Hamstrings - The prominent tendons located on the back of the upper legs. Both hamstrings connect to muscles that flex the knee and are responsible for curling the upper leg to the lower leg. The hamstrings are equivalent to the biceps in your upper arm. A pulled hamstring is a common athletic injury.

Head Straps – A nylon or leather harness that is placed on the head to allow a bodybuilder to attach weights and weight train the neck muscles. Great for exercises such as Head Strap Neck Raises.

Home Gym – A home gym is quite simply a gym that you have in your home. The term home gym also refers to a fitness unit that has benches and pulleys to allow you to complete gym style exercises at home. If you do not have the space for one of these units in your home then a simple weight bench and a set of dumbbells will suffice. The conveniences of a home gym are many. For example: you do not have to travel to the gym, being in the privacy of your own home, wearing what you want, listening to the music you want, the flexibility to exercise when you want and however long you want. And your own shower is just around the corner. What could be better than this?

Homeopathics - Homeopathy is a natural approach to medicine that works without contraindications (interference with other medications you may be taking) or side effects to stimulate the body's curative responses so the body heals itself. In bodybuilding homeopathic tissue salts are very useful to help prevent the cramping that is often associated with the electrolytes and minerals that are lost during the depletion phase previous to a bodybuilding competition. Homeopathic tissue salts are natural and therefore allowed to be consumed by natural bodybuilders. For more information please see: http://www.hylands.com/

Hooks - Weight lifting hooks are an accessory used by weightlifters and body builders to help them lift more, lift safer and longer. There are various brand name hooks to choose from, all ranging in price and made of different materials. We like to recommend the 1-Ton Lifting Hooks as the best weight lifting hook available on the market. They are very comfortable and have a very thick layer of neoprene to protect your wrists, they are made from 12-Guage solid steel so they do not break or bend and they are fully adjustable! For more information see: 1 Ton Hooks

Hourglass Back – A descriptive definition of a fit looking back. If your back has an hourglass shape it is thought to be fit and sexy looking.

Hypertrophy – A biological term that means an increase in bulk without multiplication of parts. Muscles do not grow by increasing in numbers they grow just by enlarging. You cannot grow more muscles, you can only grow the ones that already exist in your body. The goal of natural muscle mass gain will always be hypertrophy; which is accomplished by overloading the muscles and tearing the muscle fibers. The muscles then need time to rest and heal the tears before you work them out again. The period of rest time between workouts varies depending upon the intensity and the length or workout, your ability to recover and your body type. Generally it is recommended that you allow a minimum of 48 hours rebuilding time before working out the same muscles. It is the constant tearing and healing of muscles over time that builds them. Also see: Muscle Hypertrophy.

IFBB – The International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness. The IFBB was founded in 1946 by Joe Weider, it currently has 173 affiliated National Federations and is recognized by over 90 National Olympic Committees. It is the largest bodybuilding federation in the world and the 5th largest sporting federation. For more information and to check out their upcoming events please see: http://www.ifbb.com/

Incline Bench – An exercise bench that is adjustable to varying degrees of an incline. An incline bench is primarily used for upper chest workouts. They can be a stand alone bench or attached to a larger unit such as a home gym.

Incline Dumbbell Flys – Chest Exercise – Lie on an incline bench with dumbbells held at arms length directly above your shoulders, palms facing each other. Inhale and lower the dumbbells to either side with elbows slightly bent, until your wrists are level with your ears. Exhale and lift, returning to the starting position with a movement similar to as if you were going to hug someone. For other Chest Exercises see: Chest Exercise - Cable Crossovers, Chest Exercise - Low Cable Crossovers, Chest Exercise - One Arm Cable Crossovers, Chest Exercise – Peck Deck Flys, Chest Exercise – Push Ups.

Incline Curls – Biceps Exercise – Lie on a 45° incline bench. Grasp two dumbbells with your palms facing forward and allow the weights to hang by your hips. Keeping your upper arm stable, slowly curl the dumbbells toward your shoulders. Keep your elbows back. Contract your biceps. Return to the starting position and repeat for your designated number of reps.

Infra Red Sauna - Infrared saunas are a modern twist to an age-old experience. Whereas traditional saunas raise air temperature with hot steam to warm the body and build up a sweat. Far-infrared radiant heat is a form of naturally occurring energy that heats objects by direct light conversion. Thus, infrared Saunas heat the body directly and because the rays are absorbed directly by your skin, you can work up a sweat at less intense temperatures (100 - 130° F. vs. 185-195° F.) Infrared rays penetrate your skin up to 2" thereby increasing blood circulation and cellular activity.

One of the benefits of an infra red sauna is to stimulate our immune system - The effects of simulating a fever cause the immune system to spring into action which is beneficial for some health conditions. Infra red saunas also release toxins from our cells by causing our heart rate to increase. Your heart rate increases when your temperature rises and as you start to sweat. Sweat is an exit channel from our bodies for toxins. A 30 minute sauna once a day for a year will get rid of most of our accumulated toxins and pollutants and help our liver and kidneys cleanse and thus be able to better keep our bodies healthy. The liver and the kidneys are the organs in our bodies that clean the blood and help eliminate other impurities. It is very common today with our busy lifestyles and overabundance of fast foods to have congested liver and kidneys, thus making a body a breeding ground for diseases. Besides helping to rid the body of toxins infra red saunas are beneficial to bodybuilders as they are said to help with healing soft tissue injuries, increasing blood flow, pain relief, relieving muscle spasms and decreasing joint stiffness.

Intensity – After a sufficient exercise warm-up you should perform all sets of each exercise to muscular failure (100% intensity). For example; you should use a weight that causes failure on or about your last repetition.

Intercostals – The small, spidery like muscles located along the sides of the lower abdomen. They are located between the obliques and the rib cage.

Inversion Table - These machines allow you to hang upside down for extended periods of time. Inversion tables not only offer a great way to relieve back and neck pain, stress, and tension, but they also increase circulation and stretch and rejuvenate muscles. Also known as an inversion therapy table.

Isolation Exercise – This is a term that refers to any exercise that attempts to work only one muscle. It is actually quite impossible to totally isolate one muscle, but you can specifically target one muscle with some exercises (even though some other muscles might be slightly involved). Examples of isolation exercises are lateral raises, triceps pushdowns and preacher curls.

Isometric – Isometric refers to an exercise or contraction that involves no movement. In an isometric contraction tension develops without change in muscle length or joint angle. Resistance is produced by force of muscle contraction against an immovable object. Examples of isometric contractions are holding a barbell in a stationary position, holding a child in your arms, pushing against a wall or carrying a bucket of water. Conventional exercise is isotonic and uses eccentric (muscle lengthens) and concentric (muscle shortens) movement. For example with the bench press exercise: pressing the barbell upwards is the concentric movement and lowering it back is the eccentric movement.

Isotension - A system of muscle-building exercises, that involves muscular contractions against resistance without movement. An example of isotension is doing a squat while leaning against a wall and holding this position for 10 to 20 seconds or more. During this type of exercise the muscles contracts but the length of the muscle does not change. Bodybuilders make use of isotension during pre-competition times as this type of exercise improves muscle definition and separation.

Isotonic –The type of muscle contraction that creates tension in muscles while they shorten and lengthen. Isotonic contractions can be broken down into two movements: concentric (muscle shortens) and eccentric (muscle lengthens). Most bodybuilding exercises that build muscle are isotonic contractions. Examples of isotonic exercises that include both the negative (eccentric) and positive (concentric) phases of movement are: lowering and lifting a barbell, running and cable/pulley equipment exercises.