Isokinetic Contraction: Isokinetic contractions can refer to either a concentric or eccentric contraction. Isokinetic contraction occurs at a set speed against a force of maximal resistance produced at all points in the range of motion. This contraction type is performed under controlled same - speed conditions.

Isometric Contraction: Isometric contraction is a muscular contraction not accompanied by movement of the joint. The muscle is neither lengthened nor shortened but tension changes can be measured. Due to the lack of visible muscle shortening, there is no movement of the actins. The term “dynamic tension” was used by Charles Atlas to refer to this term.

Isotonic Contraction: In an isotonic contraction, the tension within the muscle remains the same throughout the motion, which is to say the force of the contraction remains constant. This is also called the positive portion of an exercise movement. There are two aspects of isotonic contraction, concentric, and eccentric. Concentric contraction occurs when the muscle fibers shorten as tension develops. At the onset of the movement, the actin and myosin filaments have tremendous pulling force. Thus you will be stronger in the initial phase of most movements. Toward the end or near the peak of contraction, the ability of the filaments to slide toward each other reaches a limit and strength weakens. An eccentric contraction is the type of muscle contraction that involves lengthening the muscle fibers, such as when a weight is lowered through a range of motion. The muscle yields to the resistance, allowing itself to be stretched. Here the actin and myosin slide away from each other. The level of force generated is much higher in the eccentric phase as opposed to the concentric phase. This is due to the added friction in the eccentric portion. Concentric aspect is a form of muscle contraction that occurs when muscle fibers shorten as tension develops. Eccentric aspect is a contraction that involves lengthening the muscle fibers, such as when a weight is lowered through a range of motion. The muscle yields to the resistance, allowing itself to be stretched. This is the age of the focused eccentric contraction. Too often bodybuilders focus their attention only on the positive motion (concentratric) and pay little attention to the negative motion (eccentric). It is a matter of common sense to perform the lowering of resistance with at least as much focus and effort given to lifting the same weight.

Layoff: Most bodybuilders take a one to two week layoff from bodybuilding training from time to time. During this time, no exercise is done whatsoever. A layoff after a period of intense precompetition training is particularly benegicial as a means of allowing the body to completely rest, recuperate, and heal any minor training injuries that might have cropped up during the peaking cycle.

Log: See Weight Training Log

Long Bar: These bars are commonly used in exercises for the back, such as lat pulldowns. The advantage of the long bar is that you can adjust the width depending on how you would like to work the exercises.

Mass: The relative size of each muscle group, or of the entire physique. As long as you also have a high degree of muscularity and good balance of physical proportions, muscle mass is a highly prized quality among competitive bodybuilders.

Muscle Contraction: Any of five types of movement caused by muscular work. See: Isometric Contraction, Concentric Contraction, Eccentric Contraction, Isotonic Contraction, and Isokinetic Contraction.

Muscle Atrophy: See Atrophy

Muscle Hypertrophy: See Hypertrophy

Nautilus: A brand of exercise machin in common use in large gyms. Used when bodybuilders want to add variety to their workouts. For example, doing front squats on a Nautilus squat machine as oppsed to free weight squats for a workout.

Negative (Rep): The downward half of a repetition, also known as the eccentric contraction. By placing resistance on the negative half of the movement, you can induce a high degree of muscular hypertrophy.

NPC: The National Physique Committee, Inc., which administers men's and women's amateur bodybuilding competitions in the United States. THe NPC National Champions in each weight class are annually sent abroad to compete in the IFBB World Championships.

Olympian: A term reserved for use when regerring only to a bodybuilder who has competed in the Mr. Olympia or Ms. Olympia competitions. Not to be confused with the more common meaning of the term, which refers to those athletes who have competed in the Olympic games.

Olympic Barbell: A special type of barbell used in weight - lifting and power - lifting competitions, but also used by bodybuilders in heavy basic exercises such as bench press, squat and deadlifting (the three basic powerlifting movements, which can also be incorporated into bodybuilding). Each bar weighs 45 lbs (20 kg). The collars used in powerlifting and weightlifting weigh 5.5 lbs (2.5 kg). Collars at your gym may vary in weight, however.

Olympic Lifting: The type of weight lifting contested at the Olympic Games every four years, as well as at national and international competitions each year. The two lifts (the snatch and the clean - and - jerk) are contested in a wide variety of weight classes.

Overload: The amount of weight that you force a muscle to use that is over and above its normal strength ability. Applying an overload to a muscle forces it to increase in hypertrophy.

Overtraining: Chronically exceeding the body's recovery ability by doing too lengthy and . or too frequent workouts. Chronic overtraining can lead to injuries, infectious illness and worse: a cessation or even regression in gains of a muscle mass, tone, and strength.

Passive Stretch: A partner assists you in moving joints through their ranges of motion. You can achieve a greater range of motion passively than you can statically. However, because you are not controlling the movement, there is a greater risk of injury. Passive stretching is a valuable technique but should only be used by experienced people who thoroughly understand the technique. There must also be good communication between the people performing and receiving the passive stretches.

Peak: The absolute Zenith of competitive condition achieved by a bodybuilder. To peak out optimally for a bodybuilding show, you must intelligently combine bodybuilding training, aerobic workouts, diet, mental conditioning, tanning, and a large number of other preparatory factors.

Peaking: See Peak

Plantar Flexion: Moving the top of the foot away from the shin, that is, pointing the toes down, as in heel raises.

Plates: The flat discs placed on the ends of the barbell and dumbbell bars to increase the weight of the apparatus. Although some plates are made from vinyl - covered concrete, the best and most durable plates are manufactured from metal.

Poundage: The amount of weight that you use in an exercise, whether that weight is on a barbell, dumbbell, or exercise machine.

Power: In bodybuilding and power lifting, this is strength, of the ability to use very heavy poundages on all basic movements. In a sports context, power is the ability to move heavy weights explosively.

Power Lifting: A second form of competitive weight lifting (not contested at the Olympics, however) featuring three lifts: the squat, the bench press, and the deadlift. Power lifting is contested both nationally and internationally in a wide variety of weight and age classes for both men and women.

Power Rack: A power rack is a safety apparatus that has two thick adjustable steel pins that the barbell rests upon. Bodybuilders and powerlifters use the power rack to perform squats, shrugs, deadlifts and presses.

Pre-Exhaustion: A technique used primarily on torso - muscle groups (chest, back, shoulders) which makes the weaker arm muscles temporarily stronger than normal, so basic exercises like bench press, lat machine pulldowns, and standing barbell presses can be pushed far past the point at which a bodybuilder would fail to continue a set. Preex involves supersetting an isolation exercise for a particular torso muscle (for example, flat bench flyes for the pecotral muscles) with a basic movement (for example, bench presses) for the same muscle.

Progression: The act of gradually adding the amount of resistance that you use in each exercise. Without consistent progression in your workouts, you won't overload your muscles sufficiently to promote optimum increases in hypertrophy.

Pronation: You pronate your hand when you turn the palm down.

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF): PNF techniques are used to improve strength and flexibility. The technique attempts to use reflexes initiated by muscle and joint receptors to cause greater training effects. The most popular PNF stretching technique is the contract - relax stretching method. The muscle is actively contracted before it is stretched. Static stretching is generally preferred over PNF.

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