# Gym jargon: a beginner's glossary

_Beginner · 9 July 2026 · 2 min read · By The MapYourGym Team_

> Reps, sets, supersets, DOMS, PBs and more - a plain-English glossary of the gym terms beginners hear most, so nothing gets lost in translation.

Walk into any gym and you'll hear a language of its own. None of it is as complicated as it sounds. Here's a plain-English glossary of the terms you'll come across most often.

## The basics

- Rep - short for repetition: one full completion of an exercise, like a single squat.
- Set - a group of reps done back to back, e.g. one set of 10 reps before you rest.
- Rest - the short break between sets that lets your muscles recover before the next one.
- Form - your technique on an exercise. Good form means doing a movement safely and correctly.

## Structuring your workout

- Warm-up - light activity at the start of a session to prepare your body and reduce injury risk.
- Cool-down - gentle movement and stretching at the end to help you recover.
- Superset - doing two exercises back to back with no rest in between.
- Drop set - continuing an exercise with a lighter weight once you can't manage the heavier one.
- Cardio vs resistance - cardio (like running or cycling) trains your heart and lungs; resistance training (weights) builds strength and muscle.

## Terms you'll hear around the gym

- PB - personal best: your strongest lift or fastest time so far.
- DOMS - delayed onset muscle soreness: the achiness that shows up a day or two after training. Normal, and it eases as you get fitter.
- Reps in reserve (RIR) / RPE - ways of judging effort, i.e. how many more reps you could have done.
- Compound vs isolation - compound moves work several muscles at once (like a squat); isolation moves target one (like a bicep curl).

Don't feel you need to memorise all of this. Pick it up as you go, and never hesitate to ask a coach what a term means - everyone was a beginner once. When these start to feel familiar, [the next set of terms](/blog/gym-jargon-training-and-nutrition-terms) covers training techniques and nutrition.

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Read online: https://www.mapyourgym.co.uk/blog/gym-jargon-glossary-for-beginners