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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Cable Crossovers – Chest Exercise – Grasp the handles of an overhead pulley (cable crossover machine). Stand with one foot about 12 inches behind your other foot and slightly bend forward at the waist. Slowly pull the handles down and across your body in a semicircle to meet at hip level. Once your hands are at hip level bring them together and squeeze your chest so that you feel a contraction. Slowly reverse direction, returning to the starting position. Repeat for your designated number of reps. For information on other chest exercises please see: Chest Exercise - Incline Dumbbell Flys , Chest Exercise - Low Cable Crossovers, Chest Exercise - One Arm Cable Crossovers, Chest Exercise – Peck Deck Flys, Chest Exercise – Push Ups.

Cables – Long twisted wire cables that are attached to weight stacks at one end and an attachment hook at the other. There are a variety of cable attachments (i.e. lat bars, curl bars, triceps bars, stirrups, hooks, ankle collars, triceps ropes, etc.) available at weight lifting equipment stores that will allow you to work various parts of the body. Cable exercises keep tension on the working muscle throughout a full range of motion.

Calves – The muscles that are located on the backs of the lower leg bones. In the world of bodybuilding they are also known as the “lowers” and “bodybuilder’s diamonds”. The calves are made up of the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles. They are made from very dense muscle tissue and their purpose is to flex the feet.

Carbohydrate Loading – a strategy employed by endurance athletes to maximize the storage of glycogen   (a polysaccharide that is the principal storage form of glucose [sugar]) in the muscles. Excess glycogen in muscles creates water saturation in muscles, thus making the muscles fuller and harder. Bodybuilders do this by depleting and replenishing the body’s glycogen levels in the weeks leading up to a bodybuilding contest. It is starchy foods that increase carbohydrate reserves in muscles.

Cartilage – Tough, elastic, fibrous connective tissue that acts as a shock absorber between the joints of bones. Cartilage is found in the joints, the rib cage, the ear, the nose, in the throat and between intervertebral disks. Cartilage can be worn down over time if improper exercise techniques are consistently used.

Chest - The region of the body between the neck and the abdomen. In bodybuilding and weight lifting terms chest refers to the large pectoral muscles that are located on the front of the upper torso. The primary responsibility of the chest muscles is to draw the arms towards the center of the body. The chest muscle can be worked and built up with exercises such as cable crossovers and chest dips.

Chest Dips – Chest Exercise – Grasp the bars on a parallel bar unit with your palms turned in toward your body. Bend your legs to a 90° angle, cross your ankles and tilt your upper body forward with your hips tilting to the back. Maintaining a distinct forward tilt, slowly bend your elbows and lower your body as far as comfortably possible. Return to the starting position and repeat for your designated number of reps. Please note that for novice weight lifters and bodybuilders this exercise may be too hard. It might be necessary to spend some time building up the strength in your arm muscles before you are able to support the weight of your body to properly execute this exercise.

Chins or Chin Ups – Back Exercise – Grab hold of a chin up bar by using an overhand grip. Fully straighten your arms so that you feel a complete stretch in your lats. Bend your knees and cross your ankles. Keep your back arched and slowly pull yourself up until your chin rises above the bar. Contract your lats and slowly lower yourself to the starting position. Repeat for your designated number of reps. Note that this is a fairly advanced exercise and as a novice weight lifter you may have to build up your back muscles, lats and arm muscles a little before you have the strength to be able to perform this exercise.

Circuit Training – Exercises that are performed in sequence, using large muscle groups in such an order that no body part is exercised twice in a row, with little or no rest between stations. The emphasis here is on training speed and intensity. Circuit training also causes the heart rate to be elevated and sustained, thus making it an excellent cardiovascular training exercise.

Collar – Round metal or plastic clamps that are used to anchor plates on bars, barbells or dumbbells. Most collars are a clamp style, but in some cases they can be screwed on.

Compound Exercises – Any exercise that works out more than one muscle group at a time. Some examples of compound exercises are squats, bent over rows, bench presses and shoulder presses.

Compulsory Poses – There are seven poses that are considered compulsory during bodybuilding contests. These poses are used to compare contestants’ bodies, the poses are: rear lat spread, side chest, front lat spread, rear double biceps, front double biceps, side triceps, front thigh and abs.

Concentric - The type of exercise motion or muscle contraction that develops tension through a muscle shortening, this is also called the positive motion of an exercise. Concentric contractions are one of the two types of isotonic contraction, the other type of isotonic contraction is an eccentric contraction. Examples of concentric contractions are the up-phase of a chin-up, the up-phase of a squat and the movement of picking up a child.

Contraction – The act of shortening a muscle. A muscle contraction (also known as a muscle twitch or simply a twitch) occurs when a muscle cell (called a muscle fiber) shortens. For most muscles, contraction occurs as a result of conscious effort originating in the brain.

Cooldown -The period after a workout that is used to "cool down" the body. The main purpose of this, often neglected, activity is to aid in the recovery process of removing lactic acid from the muscles. Muscles cannot grow until lactic acid had been removed from them, it is only then that the rebuilding process can proceed. Often much more attention is paid to the warm up and work-out process than to the cooldown process.

Weight lifting is by nature, a high intensity activity and large amounts of energy must be supplied to the muscles during contraction. Lactic acid, as a by-product of anaerobic exercise, builds up in the muscles and must be removed for muscle recovery to happen. The best type of activities for a cooldown period are 10-15 minutes of a moderate activity such as walking, jogging, easy swimming or cycling. These activities will increase circulation and will hasten the rate of lactic acid removal. Gradual cooldown also facilitates the return of blood to the heart, thereby reducing the risk of developing cardiovascular problems, lightheadedness and escalation of blood pressure.  Note that rigorous activities such as sprinting, squash, racquetball or high intensity cycling, produce additional lactic acid and make the recovery process for muscles take longer.

Cortisol - A steroid hormone secreted by the outer portion, or cortex, of the adrenal glands. Cortisol is our main stress response hormone, it is released by the body in response to stress (exercise and worrying are forms of stress to the body). Cortisol increases blood pressure and blood sugar levels and suppresses the immune system. Any type of physical or mental stress can increase the production and release of cortisol, and this hormone is often called the "stress hormone" due to its increased secretion during stress responses in the body. Cortisol has a strong anti-inflammatory effect, and it increases mobilization of amino acids from muscle (increasing protein breakdown), increases mobilization of fatty acids (increasing lipid concentrations in the blood), balances minerals, and increases blood glucose concentration.

In Today’s world with the constant stresses and the almost zero amount of downtime that most people get it is very common for the adrenal glands to get burned out due to the fact that the constant stress causes them to work overtime. When the body needs more cortisol and the adrenals are either burned out or already functioning at full capacity it is able to convert progesterone into cortisol. The danger here, for women, is that it creates an estrogen dominant situation, which puts them at an increased risk for certain diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and breast cancer. Excess cortisol production is also linked to increased abdominal fat and is responsible for leaching calcium from bones which leads to osteoporosis. Thus, it is important to find times of rest and solitude to allow your adrenals to rest and give your body a break from excess cortisol production.

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Crunches – Abdominal Exercise – Lie on the floor with your calves resting on a flat bench. Keep your thighs perpendicular to the ground and fold your hands across your chest. Slowly raise your shoulders toward your knees. It is important that you feel a contraction in your abdomen. Slowly return to the starting position and repeat for your designated number of reps.

Cut – This is a bodybuilding term that is used to describe the physical appearance of a bodybuilder or weight lifter. If you are “cut” it implies that you have very low body fat and your muscle definition is amazing – in other words if you are looking cut, you are looking great! Most competitive bodybuilders try to be very cut before a competition.

Cycle Training – This refers to a type of bodybuilding training where high intensity workouts are alternated with low intensity workouts.

Decline Bench – A workout bench that is on an incline and is designed for the user to place their head at the lower end of the bench, and their feet at the higher end. This type of type is specifically designed to work the pecs.

Definition – Similar to the term cut in that it refers to the percentage of bodyfat that a bodybuilder has. A bodybuilder who has good definition is showing a good display of muscular separation and vascularity. In other words good definition means they are looking cut!

Dehydration – The human body is made up of 90% water and it is important for all people, especially athletes to continuously replenish their water throughout the day. Athletes lose a lot of water through intense exercise and it is therefore vital that they replenish their water regularly or they will end up dehydrated, which is a biological state where the body has insufficient water levels for appropriate functioning.
Individual needs for water vary depending on factors such as diet, climate and exercise level. It is recommended that nn adequate amount of water is about 10 to 12 full (8oz) glasses per day. You can use this handy calculation tool to help you figure out how much water is best for you: Divide your body weigh in half, then drink that amount in ounces (one ounce equals two tablespoons or 30 ml). For example a 130 lb woman would divide her weight in half = 65lb; so she would drink 65 oz per day (65/8oz = approx 8 glasses per day).

Density – A term that generally refers to the hardness and thickness of a persons’ muscles, or the amount of muscle mass carried by a bodybuilder.

Descending Sets – An advanced weight training technique where the heaviest weights are used first, and with each set some weight is removed. Then each subsequent set is performed with the lighter weight.

Diet – A daily meal plan or a prescribed selection of foods. Generally this term is used in a phrase that refers to people who want to restrict their daily food intake to lose weight. In reality this term should refer to a person’s daily fixed eating pattern; whether it be healthy or not.

Dislocation – Any injury where the ball of one bone (the end of a bone that fits in a socket) slips out of the socket (hollow indentation) of another bone; for example the hip joint is a ball and socket joint. This type of injury is typically accompanied by tearing of ligaments which also makes the injury very painful. This type of injury is best healed with physio and lots of rest; it can take a long time to heal torn ligaments.

Diuretics – Any synthetic chemical product or natural herbal product that causes the body to excrete excess urine and sweat (water). Some bodybuilders use diuretic products before a competition to improve their definition (muscular separation and a vascular look). But diuretics can be very dangerous too as they also flush electrolytes and minerals from the body; some electrolytes are responsible for controlling the heart rate. There are actually a few bodybuilders who have passed away from diuretic induced heart attacks.

Dumbbell – A short version of a barbell. Each dumbbell is 10-16 inches long and they are designed to be used with one in each hand; one or both arms at the same time. Dumbbells may be adjustable, may allow for weights or weight magnets to be added or they may be welded as fixed weights. They usually range from 2˝ to 150 lbs each.

Dumbbell Lateral Raises – Shoulder Exercise – Stand upright with a slight arch in your lower back, feet shoulder length apart, toes pointed slightly outward and knees soft (not locked). Hold a dumbbell in each hand, either in front of your upper thighs or at your sides, with a neutral grip (palms facing each other). Your arms should be straight and relaxed, and your vision should be focused forward. Bend your elbows slightly and hold this position throughout the exercise by keeping your elbows locked at that angle. Inhale slightly more than usual and hold your breath as you raise your arms up and out to the sides. Raise your arms to a level just above your shoulders. Exhale at the top, and then return to the start position, keeping the weights under control at all times. Repeat for your designated number of reps.

Dumbbell Pullovers – Back Exercise – Lie on a flat bench. Grasp a dumbbell with both hands and raise it directly over your face. Keeping your arms slightly bent, slowly lower the dumbbell behind your head as fast as comfortably possible, feeling a complete stretch in our lats. Reverse direction, squeezing your lats as you return to the starting position.

Dumbbell Racks – These are specialized frames that are manufactured specifically as shelving for dumbbells. Dumbell racks come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Every gym and professional weight lifter has one. They are pretty much a necessity if you own dumbells. Aside from coming in a variety of styles and colors, they also come in a variety of materials. Most are constructed with structural steel tubing and plates to ensure that they are sturdy and solid. Other features to look for when purchasing your dumbell storage stand is the ease with which you can load and unload your weights, thick rubber encased saddles that absorb contact with the dumbells, and thus minimizes the noise in a gym, as well as warranty and workmanship.

Dumbbell Rows – Lat/Upper Back Exercise – Note: dumbbell rows can be done one at a time while leaning on a flat bench with one arm, or two at a time with a bent over stance.
To Do Dumbbell Rows Using a Flat Bench: Place dumbbell on the floor in front of bench. Put left leg back, Knee locked. Bend right knee slightly. Bend over and hold dumbbell with left hand, palm in towards your body, about 6" off floor. Put right hand on bench, elbows locked with your back straight and parallel to the floor (it is best to have a mirror for this exercise to watch and see that you keep your back straight – do not sag at your stomach). Pull dumbbell straight up to side of chest, keeping arm close to side. Return to starting position using same path. Inhale up, Exhale down. Repeat for designated number or reps then reverse position and repeat movement on other side.
To Do Dumbbell Rows Two At a Time Without a Bench: Grasp a dumbbell in each hand, bend your knees slightly, then bend forward from your waist,. Keep your head up and your back straight. Let the weight hang at arm’s length below the shoulders. Simultaneously lift both weights up as far as possible to your sides, holding your upper body steady to avoid using your lower back (helps avoid back injury). The weights should come up to your sides, not your chest, in order that you don’t use your biceps muscles and that your lats get a complete workout. Slowly lower the weights and repeat for your designated number of reps.

Dumbbell Shoulder Press – Sit on the edge of a flat workout bench. Bring two dumbbells to shoulder level, your palms facing away from you. Slowly press the dumbbells directly up and in, touching them directly over your head. Contract your deltoids (shoulder muscles). Reverse direction, returning the dumbbells along the same arc to the start position. Repeat for your designated number of reps.