R

Ratio of fast, intermediate and slow twitch fibers -- A fundamental strength factor relating to the distribution and specific capabilities of fibers within muscle tissue. "Fast twitch" (predominantly white fiber) muscles are stronger and more suited for strength activities. "Slow twitch" (red fiber) muscles are more enduring and suited for long-distance exercise. This ratio can be only slightly changed through training. You must train fast to be fast, and train long to be enduring.

Reciprocal Innervation -- A phenomenon in which the opposing muscle group is stimulated to relax while the prime mover muscle(s) is simultaneously stimulated to contract, thereby allowing movement to occur.

Recruitment -- Activation of motor units; the greater the resistance encountered, the greater will be the recruitment necessary to overcome its inertia.

Recuperation -- A physiological process involving full body and muscle recovery and subsequent muscle growth during a rest period between training sessions. Optimum increases in muscle growth or strength occurs only with complete recovery.
When you increase the intensity of your workout, there's a price that must be paid. That price is DISCIPLINE in finding ways of improving your recuperative ability. The most important method is called "periodization" training. There are ancillary methods:

• pre-workout meal of low glycemic index foods
• pre-workout use of appropriate supplements
• during-workout use of appropriate supplements
• post-exercise cooldown
• post-cooldown whirlpool of affected muscles
• post-whirlpool massage of affected muscles
• scheduling 2-3 meals daily
• ensuring that each meal follows the 1-2-3 rule (1 part of each meal's calories come from fat, 2 parts from protein and 3 parts from carbohydrates)

1. Big muscles take longer to recover than smaller ones
2. Fast twitch muscles (your "explosive" muscles) take longer to recover than slow twitch muscle fibers ("endurance" muscles);
3. Males recover faster than females;
4. They recover faster from slow movements than from fast movements;
5. They recover faster from low intensity training than from high intensity training.

Repetition -- One complete movement of an exercise. Slang: rep.

Rep out -- Repeat the same exercise movement until they are unable to continue.

Resistance -- The amount of weight used in each set of an exercise.

Rest interval -- Pause between sets of an exercise which allows muscles to recover partially before beginning next set.

Rest pause training -- Training method.

Ripped -- Slang meaning extremely visible muscularity resulting from both hypertrophy and subcutaneous fat removal.

RM -- Acronym for "repetitions maximum." Thus, for example, 5RM stands for the maximum amount of pull weight they can perform for five repetitions.

'Roids -- Slang for anabolic steroid.
 

S

Saturated fat -- Dietary fat from primarily animal sources. Excessive consumption is the major dietary contributor to total blood cholesterol levels.

Saturated Fatty Acid -- A saturated fatty acid is an acid which, by definition, has no available bonds in its hydrocarbon chain; all bonds are filled or saturated with hydrogen atoms. Thus the chain of a saturated fatty acid contains no double bond. The saturated fatty acids are more slowly metabolized by the body than are the unsaturated fatty acids.
Saturated fatty acids include acetic acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, and steric acid. These acids come primarily from animal sources, with the exception of coconut oil, and are usually solid at room temperature. In the case of vegetable shortening and margarine, oil products have undergone a process called "hydrogenation", in which the unsaturated oils are converted to a more solid form. Other principal sources of saturated fats are milk products and eggs.

Selenium -- A major nutrient antioxidant along with vitamins A, C and E. Dietary sources: wheat germ, bran, tuna.

Set -- Fixed number of repetitions of an exercise movement. Example: There may be 10 repetitions in a set.

Siberian ginseng (eleutherococcus senticosus) -- A cousin of traditional Oriental ginsengs widely used among Russian athletes for boosting stamina and endurance, speeding workout recovery, and as a health tonic to normalize systemic functions and counter stress. An adaptogenic substance that enables athletes over time to adapt to increased training intensity.

Simple carbohydrates -- Simple carbohydrates are monosaccharides and disaccharides occurring naturally in fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. Some examples of simple carbohydrates are glucose, galactose, and fructose, all of which are monosaccharides and, sucrose, lactose, and maltose, all of which are disaccharides.
Most simple carbohydrates elevate blood sugar levels rapidly, providing "instant energy" which is quickly utilized and dissipated. Fructose is an exception. Additionally, refined sources of simple carbohydrates, contribute only calories to the diet. These "empty calories" are often consumed in place of foods which would provide important nutrients in addition to the energy.

Skeletal muscle -- Muscle that attaches to the skeletal system and causes body movement by a shortening or pulling action against its bony attachment.

Slow-twitch fibers -- Red muscle cells that fire slowly and are designed for aerobic (enduring) activities.

Smooth muscle -- Involuntary muscle tissue found in the walls of almost every organ of the body.

Sodium -- An essential mineral for proper growth, and nerve and muscle tissue function. A diet high in salt (40% of salt is sodium) causes a potassium imbalance and is associated with high blood pressure. Dietary sources: salt, shellfish, celery, beets, artichokes.

Specificity -- Principle which states that the body will adapt in highly specific ways in response to variable forms of stress which you impose (through training) upon it.

Speed-Strength -- A type of strength typically referred to as power. Power, however, is an inadequate term as it does not differentiate between the two important types of speed-strength.

• 1. Starting strength involves turning on a maximum number of muscle fibers instantly in any given movement. Ballistic athletes, such as a sprinter, need this strength the most to make his muscles fire simultaneously with each stride. A boxer does the same with each punch, a baseball pitcher each time he hurls.
• 2. Explosive strength describes the firing of muscles fibers over a longer period of time after initial activation, for the purpose of pushing, pulling or moving a weighted object. Examples: weightlifting, shotputting and football.

Sprain -- Joint injury involving partial or total rupture of ligaments.

Stabilizer -- A muscle that stabilizes (or fixes) a bone so that movement can occur efficiently at another bone articulating with the stabilized bone.

Starch -- Starch is a polysaccharide made of glucose linked together. The body must convert starch into glucose which can be utilized for immediate energy or converted to glycogen and stored in the liver for later energy needs. It exists throughout the vegetable kingdom, its chief commercial sources being the cereals.

Steroids -- Naturally-occurring and synthetic chemicals that include some hormones, bile acids, and other substances. See anabolic steroids.

Straight sets -- Groups of repetitions (sets) interrupted by only brief pauses (30-90 seconds).

Strength -- The application of force in any endeavor. There are 5 broad categories of strength, each with its own special training requirements: absolute, limit, speed, anaerobic and aerobic.
There are many different factors that affect strength, and they fall into 4 broad categories:

• 1. Structural/Anatomical: muscle fiber arrangement, musculoskeletal leverage, ratio of fast- vs. slow-twitch fibers, tissue leverage, motion-limiting factors (scar tissue and adhesions), tissue elasticity, intramuscular\intracellular friction, and others.
• 2. Physiological/biochemical: stretch reflex, sensitivity of the Golgi tendon organ, hormonal function, energy transfer systems efficiency, extent of hyperplasia (muscle splitting), myofibrillar development, motor unit recruitment, cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory factors, and others.
• 3. Psychoneural/learned responses: "psych", pain tolerance, "focus" (concentration),  "skill" (coordination), and others.
• 4. External/environmental: equipment, weather and altitude, gravity, opposing and assistive forces.

• General strength. In this category, you train all the muscle groups without concentrating on the muscles that assist them in a particular event. Training for general strength will give them a base for their event - specific strength.
• Specific strength. Training for specific strength is an intermediate type of training that takes into consideration only one aspect of a specific demand. It has an important function in joining general and special strength training together.Specific strength will help  improve the techniques as they develop the strength needed to execute the exact movements of the event.

• Special strength. The term special, as it is used here, means "specialized." Each sport or event requires a specialized type of strength. They can  need starting strength and explosive strength, while others need anaerobic strength endurance. While the exercises for building specific strength are often of different intensity and duration than those of the typical agnostic movement, the exercises done for special strength training have to reflect all the components of the agnostic movement.

Strength training -- Using resistance  training to build maximum muscle force is the traditional way of defining the practice of strength training. However, a more global definition would account for the metabolic circumstances under which force is being applied (i.e., the energy contribution from ATP/CP, glycolytic or oxidative sources).

Stretch reflex -- To prevent overextension and serious injury to muscles and tendons, muscles are equipped with specialized nerve cells (spindles) that "apply the brakes" when elasticity maximum is reached. Careful ballistic training augmented with plyometric sessions can heighten the threshold of the stretch reflex mechanism and improve strength-generating ability.

Striations -- Grooves or ridge marks of muscles' individual myofibrils visible through the skin, and resulting from both hypertrophy training and extremely low subcutaneous fat deposits; the ultimate degree of muscle definition.

Stroke volume -- The amount of blood forced into the circulatory system with each beat.

Succinates -- Succinic acid's biological activities are varied. Their chief function is in their enzyme activity, but they also combine with protein to rebuild muscle fiber and nerve endings, and help fight infection.

Sucrose -- Sucrose is a sweet disaccharide that occurs naturally in most land plants and is the simple carbohydrate obtained from sugarcane, sugar beet and other sources. It is hydrolyzed in the intestine by sucrase to glucose and fructose.

Sulfur -- A mineral of major structural importance to proteins, enzymes, antibodies, skin and hair. Dietary sources: beans, beef, eggs.

Summation of Forces-- Biomechanical technique for producing greater speed of release in striking. Force is initiated by the central segments of the body, which are larger (and thus stronger), and then transferred to more distal segments, resulting in an acceleration of force. The speed of the last segment of this "chain" is the total produced by adding all the individual speeds of all of the preceding segments with the appropriate timing. If a contraction of a distal segment occurs before the proximal segment has been introduced, a less efficient performance will result.

Superset -- Alternating back and forth between two exercises until the prescribed number of sets is completed. The two exercises generally involve a protagonist and antagonist (e.g., the biceps and triceps, or the chest and upper back); however, common usage of the term also can mean any two exercises alternated with one another.

Supplements -- Concentrated forms of nutritional factors, such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids, taken to augment the nutritional value of food.

Synergism -- The combined effect of two or more parts of forces or agents which is greater than the sum of the individual effects. Example: the synergistic effect of a multiple vitamin and mineral formula compared to the benefits of one or two vitamins.
 

T

Tendon -- A band or cord of strong, fibrous (collagenous) tissue that connects muscles to bone.

Testosterone -- The principle male hormone that accelerates tissue growth. Anabolic steroids are synthetic chemicals that mimic the muscle-building effects of testosterone. Testosterone is an androgen, a sex hormone. It is important in the development of male gonads and sex characteristics. In females, testosterone is an intermediate product in the production of estradiols.
As a pharmaceutical drug, it is used to stimulate sex characteristics, to stimulate production of red blood cells, and to suppress estrogen production. Long-term use can lead to kidney stones, unnatural hair growth, voice changes, and decreased sperm count.

Tiron -- Tiron (Sodium-4,5-dihydroxybenzene-1,3-disulfonate) is a chelator mentioned in the research literature which effectively clears vanadium from body tissues right from the first day of use. (See vanadyl sulfate.)

Tissue elasticity -- Tissue elasticity ("viscoelasticity") is involved in all explosive sports. After being stretched, most bodily tissues -- including muscles, but not so much with ligaments and tendons -- return to their original shape or length. The quicker they do, the more force there is added to the forcee output stemming from both stretch reflex and muscle contraction.

Tissue (or interstitial) leverage -- The degree of extra mechanical advantage by packing sheer mass from extra fat, liquid and protein between and inside muscle fibers.

Torque -- Moment of force; The turning or twisting effect of a force.

Training effect -- Increase in functional capacity of muscles and other bodily tissues as a result of increased (overload) placed upon them.

Training technologies -- We can provide eight broad categories of accepted methods to attain performance goals: weight pulling training, light resistance training, medical support, therapeutic modalities (laser therapy, massage,acupuncture, etc), psychological support, biomechanics, diet and nutritional supplements.

Training to failure -- Continuing a set in weight pull training until apears the inability to complete another rep without assistance.

Trimming down -- Gaining hard muscular appearance by losing body fat (a more contemporary phrase is "trimming and toning").

Troponin -- A protein that reacts with calcium to set the contractile mechanism into action within muscle fibers.

Triglyceride -- Triglycerides are a combination of glycerol with three fatty acids: stearic acid, oleic acid, and palmitic acid.
 

U

Unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) -- UFAs are important in lowering blood cholesterol and may thus help prevent heart disease. They are essential for normal glandular activity, healthy skin, mucous membranes and many metabolic processes.
Unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) are fatty acids whose carbon chain contains one or more double or triple bonds, and which are capable or absorbing more hydrogen. They include the group polyunsaturates, are generally liquid at room temperature and are derived from vegetables, nuts, seeds or other sources. Examples of unsaturated fatty acids include corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil and olive oil.
A small amount of highly unsaturated fatty acid is essential to animal nutrition. The body cannot desaturate a fat, such as vegetable shortening or margarine, sufficiently by its own metabolic processes to supply this essential need. Therefore, the dietary inclusion of unsaturated or polyunsaturated fats is vital.
The three essential fatty acids (those which the body is unable to manufacture) are linoleic acid, linolenic acid, and arachidonic acid. However, these fatty acids can be synthesized from linoleic acid if sufficient intake occurs. Linoleic acid should provide about 2% of total dietary calories. Corn, safflower and soybean oils are high in linoleic acid.
 

V

Vanadyl Sulfate -- Vanadyl sulfate (VOSO4) has been very extensively studied for its insulin-like activity as a blood glucose lowering agent. In other words, vanadyl sulfate dramatically increases glucose uptake by the muscle cells. There are many benefits:

• Increased energy for workouts;
• More rapid recovery following workouts;

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