So, for those of us who are not fitness models, how can we develop a trim, defined midsection? Several points need to be addressed. First, 'abs' are made up of several muscles. The one most people associate with is rectus abdominus, located in front of abdomen between ribs and pelvis. Although it is one muscle, it is divided by grooves, tendinous inscriptions, which is why it is often referred to as 'six pack' (in reality it is an 'eight pack'). The primary function of rectus abdominus is to flex trunk, or bring rib cage down towards pelvic bone. In addition to this muscle, internal and external obliques (located on sides of your abdomen), and transverse abdominus (running perpendicular to and underneath rectus abdominus) are main muscles that make up your 'abs'. A properly designed fitness program will incorporate exercises that work each of these muscles and not focus solely on 'six pack'. In addition, in order to provide strength and stabilization to your trunk, and avoid imbalances that can lead to injury, exercises that strengthen muscles of back and hips should be part of a complete program.

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Natural Bodybuilding Jargon By Kevin Doberstein CFT Copyright © 2005 Nature Boy Bodybuilding

This glossary contains definitions of world of Natural Bodybuilding. It is by no means a complete guide to Bodybuilding. However, I do believe that if you go through this bilingual dictionary, you should become fairly knowledgeable of Natural Bodybuilding language. This could also become a resource to find quick answers once you start designing training programs on your own. Be sure to add this bodybuilding jargon guide to your favorites for future reference.

Rep. Abbreviation for repetition. For example, one repetition or “rep” would be one barbell bicep curl.

Rep Tempo. The speed repetition is done at. A slow tempo works slow twitch muscle fiber. A fast explosive rep works fast twitch muscle fiber.

Set. A set of repetitions. An example would be 1 set of 8 bicep curl repetitions.

Tri-Set. Three exercises work together in one set. Usually done with a muscle group with three or more sections. An example would be deltoids with front raises; side laterals, and rear raises all done continuously in one set.

Giant-Set. Four to six exercises done together in one set.

Staggered-Sets. Adding a different muscle exercise in between sets. An example would be doing a abdominal crunch exercise in between bench presses.

Pre-Exhaustion set. Doing a isolation exercise before a basic movement exercise. This is done to focus on one muscle in a group of muscles. An example would be doing dumbbell flys before bench press.

Basic-Movement set. A multi-joint exercise. An example would be bench press.

Rest-Pause set. Resting for 10 to 15 seconds in between reps. This is done to further set and increase intensity. An example would be doing a barbell curl then stopping on bottom of movement (resting) for 10 to 15 seconds and then do another rep.

Muscle Mix-Up. Changing rep scheme and exercises to force muscles into new growth.

Holistic Training. The theory that parts of any whole should be considered in relation to whole and that whole is greater than sum of its parts. What this means in bodybuilding is training a bodypart in different rep speed and volume to stimulate entire muscle structure of that bodypart. This is an example using pectoral muscle. First do a set of 5 to 6 reps of bench presses with explosive speed to stimulate fast twitch muscle fiber. Then do a set of 10 to 12 reps of dumbbell flys with moderate speed to stimulate fast and slow twitch fiber. Then do a set of 25 to 40 reps of cable crossovers to stimulate slow twitch fiber.

Alternating Set. Isolating one muscle then isolating other muscle out of one group. This is done to focus on each part of muscle group. An example would be dumbbell alternating bicep curls. You can curl one arm at a time to increase intensity in each biceps.

Quaker Thunder Blast. Too much oatmeal taken in for carbohydrates mixed with squat night. Don’t laugh, this is a serious condition.

Baseballs. Sometimes used slang for a well defined bicep muscle when it is fully contracted.

V-taper. Refers to back side of upper torso. A wide back to a narrow waist which makes a V. Generally to increase V-taper one must increase size of latissimi dorsi muscle of upper back and decrease fat around waist.

Negs. The eccentric portion of strength curve. For example in bench it is when you lower it to your chest. Negs or negative reps are when you resist force from weight and slowly lowering it to your chest. This will cause above normal trauma to your muscle fiber and shouldn’t be done too often. This process can also be done with other lifts.