Reference
Plain definitions of the strength-training terms serious lifters actually use, from RPE and e1RM to autoregulation, periodization, and the volume landmarks. Written for the lifter who already trains, not the one being sold on it.
The most weight you can lift for a single repetition of an exercise. It is the reference point most strength programming is built around, since working weights are often prescribed as a percentage of it.
Testing a true 1RM is taxing, so most lifters estimate it from a heavier set instead (see e1RM).
Also searched as: one rep max, 1 rep max, max lift.
A set taken to as many reps as you can manage at a given weight, often the last set of an exercise. AMRAP sets double as a built-in progress test, since the rep count at a fixed load is a direct read on whether you are getting stronger.
Also searched as: AMRAP, AMRAP set, rep max set.
Adjusting the day's training to your readiness instead of following a fixed number no matter what. RPE and RIR are the usual instruments: if a prescribed weight feels heavier than planned, you back off; if it flies, you push.
Autoregulation is why an experienced lifter's log is full of judgment calls, and why a tracker that respects the lifter surfaces context rather than barking prescriptions.
Also searched as: autoregulation training, autoregulated programming.
A planned, lighter period, usually a week, that reduces volume or intensity to let accumulated fatigue dissipate so you come back stronger. Skipping deloads is a common reason progress stalls and stays stalled.
Knowing when to deload is easier when your history shows the fatigue building before the lift actually fails.
Also searched as: deload week, when to deload.
A one-rep max estimated from a set you actually did, using a formula (commonly Epley or Brzycki) that maps weight and reps to a predicted single. A set of 5 at 225 implies an e1RM you never had to grind out at a true max.
Tracking e1RM over time is the cleanest single signal of whether a lift is progressing, which is why it matters more than any single session's top weight.
Also searched as: estimated 1RM, e1RM progression, estimated one rep max.
How often you train a given lift or muscle group per week. Frequency interacts with volume: spreading the same weekly sets across more sessions can make each one more productive and easier to recover from.
Also searched as: training frequency, how often to train a muscle.
Muscle growth, the increase in muscle-fiber size from training. Hypertrophy-focused programming generally lives in moderate rep ranges with enough weekly volume to drive adaptation without exceeding what you can recover from.
Also searched as: hypertrophy, muscle growth training.
In strength training, intensity usually means load relative to your max, expressed as a percentage of 1RM, not how sweaty a session felt. A program prescribing 80 percent for triples is talking about this kind of intensity.
Also searched as: training intensity, percentage based training, percent of 1RM.
The longest planning block, often a season or a year, made up of several mesocycles aimed at a larger goal such as a meet or a peak.
Also searched as: macrocycle, training year.
A training block of roughly three to six weeks built around one focus, such as accumulating volume or intensifying load, usually ending in a deload. It is the unit most lifters actually plan in.
Also searched as: mesocycle, training block length.
A set of weekly-volume landmarks popularized in hypertrophy programming: MEV (minimum effective volume) is the least that still drives growth, MAV (maximum adaptive volume) is the productive middle, and MRV (maximum recoverable volume) is the most you can do and still recover.
The point of the landmarks is that more volume is only better up to a ceiling, after which it just adds fatigue.
Also searched as: MEV MAV MRV, volume landmarks, maximum recoverable volume.
The shortest planning unit, typically a week, the repeating pattern of sessions that a mesocycle is built from.
Also searched as: microcycle, training week.
Organizing training into phases that vary volume and intensity over time, rather than doing the same thing every week. Common models include linear (intensity climbs as volume drops) and undulating (load varies session to session).
Periodization is structured across nested time scales: the macrocycle, mesocycle, and microcycle.
Also searched as: periodization, training blocks, linear vs undulating periodization.
A period where a lift stops progressing despite continued training. Real plateaus are distinct from a single bad session, which is why they are best identified from the trend across several weeks rather than from one workout.
Catching a stall early, before the third failed week, is one of the more useful things a tracker can do with your history.
Also searched as: plateau, lifting plateau, stalled lift, training plateau.
The principle that to keep adapting, the demand on the muscle has to increase over time, whether through more weight, more reps, more sets, or better execution. It is the engine of every serious program.
The hard part is not the principle, it is noticing when overload has quietly stopped, which is a pattern that lives in your history.
Also searched as: progressive overload, how to progress lifting.
How many more reps you could have done at the end of a set before failure. RIR is the inverse of RPE on the same idea: 2 reps in reserve is roughly an RPE of 8. Both are tools for putting effort, not just load, into your log.
Also searched as: reps in reserve, RIR vs RPE.
A 1 to 10 scale for how hard a set was, where 10 means no reps left in the tank and 8 means you could have done two more. In strength training it is used to autoregulate load, so the weight bends to how you feel that day rather than the other way around.
RPE is only useful if something is done with it. Many apps let you log it and then ignore it.
Also searched as: RPE scale, RPE lifting, rate of perceived exertion.
Two exercises performed back to back with little or no rest between them. Used to save time or to pair non-competing movements; a tracker that handles supersets cleanly is logging them as a linked unit rather than two separate entries.
Also searched as: superset, supersets lifting.
A common structure where you work up to one heavy top set, then drop the weight for one or more back-off sets at higher reps. The top set provides the intensity stimulus; the back-offs add volume.
Also searched as: top set, back-off sets, top set back off.
Volume is the total work done, most simply counted as hard sets per muscle group per week, or as tonnage (sets times reps times weight). It is the primary driver of hypertrophy within a sensible range.
Tracking volume by muscle group over time is how you catch imbalances and creeping fatigue that a single session never shows.
Also searched as: training volume, tonnage, volume tracking, how to track training volume.
A set performed at your real training load, as opposed to a warm-up set. When people count sets for volume, they mean working sets.
Also searched as: working set, working sets vs warmup.
The terms are the easy part. The trend is the hard part.
Platepusher is built around turning your e1RM, your volume, and your stalls into something that informs today's session, not just an archive of numbers. Imports your Strong and Hevy history. No leaderboards, no fake coach.
Get Platepusher