Health / Fitness Glossary

Onion Skin: Slang denoting skin with very low percentage of subcutaneous fat, which helps to accentuate muscularity.

Orthotics: Fitted shoe inserts designed by a podiatrist that correct weight distribution along the foot.

Overload Principle: Used to increase strength in the body, this principle says when you lift a weight more than you are used to, your body will react causing changes, and you will be able to handle this change . . . View Full Definition

Overtraining: Excess of exercise resulting in inadequete recovery.

Parasympathetic Nervous System: Branch of the autonomic nervous system that slows the heart rate.

Partial Reps: Performing an exercise without going through a complete range of motion either at the beginning or end of a rep.

Peak Contraction: Exercising a muscle until it cramps by using shortened movements.

Pecs: Abbreviation for pectorial muscles of the chest.

Perceived Exertion: A self-selected subjective measurement of an exerciser's overall level of intensity, usually described on a scale of 1 to 10.

Performance Benefit: Improvements in physical fitness as a result of exercise.

Periodization: A method of organizing a strength training workout program into several periods, each lasting about four weeks. Each phase has a different emphasis.

Peripheral Heart Action (PHA): A system of training where you go from one exercise to another, with little or no rest, preferably alternating upper body and lower body exercises. Designed for cardiovascular training and t . . . View Full Definition

Peripheral Vascular Disease: Lack of oxygen supply to the working muscles and tissues of the body, resulting from decreased blood supply.Predominately affects the limbs,the parts of the body furthest away from the heart . . . View Full Definition

Physical Fitness: Well-being physical condition got through workout, such as muscle strength and endurance, cardiovascular endurance, and flexibility.

Pilates: A form of exercise that emphasizes correct form using your body’s core. Pilates is named after its inventor, Joseph Pilates, who invented the technique for injured dancers.

Plantar Fasciitis: An inflammation of the tough fibrous band of tissue that runs the length of the bottom of your foot.

Plyometric Exercise: A technique that includes specific exercises which encompass a rapid stretch of a muscle eccentrically, followed immediately by a rapid concentric contraction of that muscle for the purpose . . . View Full Definition

Pose Down: Bodybuilders performing their poses at the same time in a competition, trying to out pose one another.

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