Glossary
The key terms around bulking, cutting, trend weight, nutrition and training, each explained in a few paragraphs. Every entry links to the matching calculator and, where there is one, to the in-depth article.
81 terms
A
B
- Basal metabolic rate (BMR) Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the energy your body uses at complete rest. How equations estimate it, how accurate they are, with a worked example.
- BMI BMI divides your weight by your height squared. The formula, WHO categories, a worked example and why it says little when you carry a lot of muscle.
- Body composition Body composition describes how your weight splits into fat and fat-free mass. Why the scale cannot show it and how to track it while bulking or cutting.
- Body fat percentage Body fat percentage is the share of your weight that is fat. How to estimate it, how accurate that is and why you need it to choose between bulk and cut.
- Body recomposition (recomp) What is body recomposition? Building muscle and losing fat while your weight stays about the same. Who a recomp works for and how to track progress.
- Bulk and cut cycle What is a bulk and cut cycle? Planned alternation between building phases and diets. How to start, when to switch and where mini cuts and maintenance fit.
- Bulking What is bulking? A muscle-building phase with a calorie surplus. Target rate of gain per week, a worked example and how to decide when your bulk should end.
C
- Calorie (kcal) A calorie, or more precisely a kilocalorie (kcal), is the unit for energy in food. What the macros provide and how calories relate to body weight.
- Calorie adjustment What is a calorie adjustment? Changing your calories when your trend is off your target rate. With the formula, a worked example and how long to wait.
- Calorie counting Calorie counting means logging what you eat. Why consistency matters more than precision and how your logs let you calculate your real maintenance.
- Calorie deficit A calorie deficit means eating less than you burn. How big it should be in a cut so you lose fat and keep your muscle, with a worked example.
- Calorie surplus A calorie surplus means eating more than you burn. How big it should be in a lean bulk and how to calculate it from your target rate of gain, with an example.
- Carbohydrates Carbohydrates are the macronutrient your body stores as glycogen. What role they play in a bulk and a cut, and why they move the scale so quickly.
- Cheat day What is a cheat day? A day when you deliberately set your meal plan aside. Why the scale jumps afterwards, how much of it is fat, with a worked example.
- Compound exercises Compound exercises are multi-joint lifts like squats, deadlifts and bench press. Why they form the base of every program and how to count their sets.
- Crash diet What is a crash diet? Losing weight with a very large deficit in a short time. Why the scale drops so fast, what it means for muscle and what works better.
- Creatine Creatine is a well-studied supplement for short, intense efforts. Why your weight goes up after you start taking it and why that is not fat.
- Creatine loading phase A creatine loading phase fills your creatine stores in a short time. What that means, how it affects your weight and how to read your trend during it.
- Cutting What is cutting? A diet phase with a calorie deficit where you lose fat and keep your muscle. Rate of loss per week, what studies show and a worked example.
D
- Deload A deload is a planned lighter training week with fewer sets and less effort. When it makes sense and how to set it up, with a worked example.
- Diet break What is a diet break? A planned pause of usually 1 to 2 weeks at maintenance calories in the middle of a long diet. What studies show, with an example.
- Dietary fat Dietary fat is the most energy-dense macronutrient at 9 kcal per gram. What you need it for, how much makes sense and where the lower limit is.
- Dirty bulk What is a dirty bulk? Gaining weight with a large, unplanned calorie surplus. Why it mostly adds fat, what a study shows and what to do instead.
- DOMS (muscle soreness) DOMS shows a muscle was loaded in an unfamiliar way and is being repaired. Why the scale goes up, how to spot it in your trend and when it is too much.
E
- Energy balance Energy balance is the difference between the energy you take in and the energy you burn. Why it decides gain and loss, and where the scale fools you.
- Exponential moving average (EMA) What is an EMA? An average that weights new values more than old ones. The formula, a worked example and why Lean is law uses it to smooth your trend weight.
F
- Fat-free mass Fat-free mass is everything in your body except fat. The formula, a worked example and why it is not the same as muscle mass, explained briefly and clearly.
- FFMI FFMI relates your fat-free mass to your height. The formula, normalized FFMI, a worked example and what the often quoted limit of 25 really means.
G
- Glycogen Glycogen is how your body stores carbohydrates in muscle and liver. Why it binds water and can shift your weight by a kilogram within a few days.
- Gut content Gut content is the food still sitting in your digestive tract and weighed along with you. Why it shifts your daily weight and how long the effect lasts.
H
- Hard sets What are hard sets? Working sets that end with no more than about 3 reps in reserve. Why they are the standard way to measure volume and how to count them.
- Hypertrophy Hypertrophy is the growth of muscle through training. What happens in the process, which levers matter most and how fast muscle growth realistically is.
I
L
- Lean body mass Lean body mass is your body weight without fat: muscle, organs, bone and water. How to calculate it, with an example, and why it matters during a cut.
- Lean bulk What is a lean bulk? A muscle-building phase with a small calorie surplus so you add as little fat as possible. Target rate, surplus and an example.
M
- Macronutrients (macros) Macros are the energy-providing nutrients protein, carbohydrates and fat. How many calories each provides and how to split them, with a worked example.
- Maintenance calories Maintenance calories are the intake at which your weight stays stable. What the term means and how to calculate it from your intake and weight trend.
- Maintenance phase What is a maintenance phase? A period of eating at maintenance calories so your weight stays stable. When it makes sense and how to check it with your trend.
- Menstrual cycle weight gain Menstrual cycle weight gain: around your period, weight is often higher, mostly from water. What studies show and how to read your trend weight correctly.
- Metabolic adaptation What is metabolic adaptation? Your energy expenditure adjusts to a diet and drops over time. Where it comes from, what studies show and what you can do.
- Mifflin-St Jeor equation The Mifflin-St Jeor equation estimates BMR from weight, height, age and sex. The formula for men and women, how accurate it is, and a worked example.
- Mini cut What is a mini cut? A short, aggressive diet phase in the middle of a bulk, usually 3 to 6 weeks. When it makes sense, what rate fits and a worked example.
- Morning weigh-in A morning weigh-in under the same conditions makes your readings comparable. When, how often and how to weigh yourself, and why daily beats weekly.
- Moving average What is a moving average? The mean of your last 7 or 14 daily weigh-ins, which smooths out the noise. A worked example plus the pros and cons for body weight.
- Muscle loss What is muscle loss? The breakdown of muscle tissue, mainly in a calorie deficit. What raises the risk, how to prevent it and how to tell if it is happening.
N
- Navy method The Navy method estimates body fat percentage from neck, waist, hip and height. The formula, how to measure, a worked example and how accurate the result is.
- NEAT NEAT is the energy you burn through movement outside of training. Why it often drops during a cut and how that shows up in your weight trend.
- Newbie gains What are newbie gains? The fast muscle growth of your first year of training. Why beginners grow faster, how long it lasts and how to make the most of it.
O
- One-rep max (1RM) What is a one-rep max? The heaviest weight you can lift for exactly one clean rep. How to estimate it without a max attempt, with formulas and an example.
- One-rep max formulas (Epley, Brzycki) One-rep max formulas like Epley and Brzycki estimate your max from a set of several reps. Both formulas, a worked example and where they stop being reliable.
- Outlier An outlier is a reading that sits far off your trend. Where it comes from, how much it moves your trend weight and why you should still log it.
P
- Progressive overload Progressive overload means doing more over time: more reps or more weight. Why it drives muscle growth and how double progression works, plus an example.
- Protein Protein is the macronutrient that supplies the building blocks for muscle. How much you need in a lean bulk and in a cut, with ranges and a worked example.
- Protein per meal Protein per meal: how much to plan for each meal, what is behind the 30-gram myth and why your daily total matters more. With a worked example.
R
- Rate of weight gain What is the rate of weight gain? How fast your weight rises per week while bulking, as a percent of body weight. Targets by training years, with an example.
- Rate of weight loss What is the rate of weight loss? How fast your weight drops per week in a cut, as a percent of body weight. Targets for keeping muscle, with a worked example.
- Refeed What is a refeed? 1 to 2 days of higher calories, mostly from carbs, in the middle of a diet. What the studies show and why the scale jumps the next morning.
- Rep range A rep range sets how many reps per set you aim for, such as 8 to 12. What studies say about muscle growth and how to use a rep range to progress.
- Reverse diet What is a reverse diet? Raising calories step by step after a diet ends. The idea behind it, how thin the evidence is and a simpler way to find maintenance.
- RIR What is RIR? The number of reps you could still have done at the end of a set. How accurately lifters estimate it and which RIR works best for muscle growth.
- RPE What is RPE? The 1 to 10 scale for how hard a set was, defined in strength training by reps in reserve. With the scale explained, uses and a worked example.
S
- Scale weight Scale weight is a single day's reading, including water and gut content. Why you should look at it but not judge it, with an example and how to handle it.
- Skinny fat What does skinny fat mean? Little muscle and a soft midsection despite a normal weight. Why a hard cut rarely helps and which approach usually works better.
- Sodium Sodium from salt binds water in your body. Why your weight goes up after a salty meal, how long that lasts and what the research actually says about it.
T
- TDEE TDEE is your total daily energy expenditure: all the calories you burn on a typical day. What it is made of, how calculators estimate it, with an example.
- Thermic effect of food (TEF) The thermic effect of food is the energy your body spends digesting what you eat. What role it plays in your total energy expenditure and what it does not.
- Training age What is training age? The years you have spent doing regular, serious strength training. Why it sets your bulking rate and surplus, with practical targets.
- Training frequency Training frequency is how often you train a muscle per week. What studies say about once versus twice a week and how to spread your sets sensibly.
- Training split A training split decides which muscles you train on which day. Full body, upper/lower or push, pull, legs: which split fits you and what matters more.
- Training to failure Muscular failure is the point in a set where no further clean rep is possible. Whether you need it to build muscle and how close you should get.
- Training volume What is training volume? The amount of training, usually counted as hard sets per muscle per week for muscle growth. What studies show, with a worked example.
- Trend lag Trend lag means your trend weight trails real changes by about a week. Why that happens, a worked example and what it means for judging your bulk or cut.
- Trend weight What is trend weight? A smoothed line through your daily weigh-ins that filters out water and salt. How it is calculated, why it lags and a worked example.
V
W
- Warm-up sets Warm-up sets are light sets with increasing weight before your working sets. How many you need, an example and why they do not count as hard sets.
- Water retention Water retention means your body temporarily holds more water. Causes like glycogen, salt and training, and how to recognize retention in your weight trend.
- Water weight Water weight is the part of your body weight that comes and goes with glycogen or creatine. How large it can be, a worked example and tips for your trend.
- Weekly rate of change The 7-day change is your trend weight today minus seven days ago. How to calculate it, convert it to percent and read it correctly when bulking or cutting.
- Weight fluctuation Daily weight fluctuations of one to two kilograms are normal and almost always water. What causes them, why it is not fat and how to deal with them.
- Weight loss plateau What is a weight loss plateau? A stretch where your weight stops falling despite dieting. How to tell a real plateau from water and when to adjust calories.
The entries explain terms in general and are not a substitute for medical or dietary advice.