Glossary

The training terms and Badger's own words you meet on this site and in the app. New to structured training? Start here.

Fitness terms

1RM (one-rep max)

The most weight you can lift for one rep with good form. It's rarely tested directly; it's usually estimated from a set of several reps. Badger uses the Epley formula: weight × (1 + reps / 30). The estimate is most accurate between 2 and 10 reps.

Estimated 1RM is what Badger records as your best for most weight-and-reps exercises (assisted exercises, where lighter is better, are the exception). See personal records for the other exercise types.

Compound lift

An exercise that works several joints and large muscle groups: squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, row. The opposite is an isolation exercise (curls, extensions), which focuses on one muscle.

Drop set

A set where you lower the weight right after your last rep and keep going, once or several times, without resting. In Badger, choose Drop set from the Type chip and add each drop on its own line. See drop sets.

Failure

The point where you can't complete another rep with good form. Training to failure (RIR 0) is a strong stimulus but adds fatigue and injury risk, so most programs stop 1 to 3 reps short. In Badger, the To failure chip records it in one tap. See to failure.

Hypertrophy

Muscle growth. Usually trained in the 6 to 20 rep range at moderate intensity (RPE 7 to 9, RIR 1 to 3). Pure strength training tends toward lower reps at higher intensity.

MEV (minimum effective volume)

The fewest hard sets per week for a muscle group that still make it grow. Below it you are doing too little to drive progress. On the Progress tab the Volume card calls a group under its MEV Under target. See weekly volume.

MRV (maximum recoverable volume)

The most hard sets per week for a muscle group that you can recover from before the next session. Above it, extra sets cost you more than they give. The Volume card calls a group over its MRV Above range, and anything between MEV and MRV In range.

Myo-reps

One hard activation set near failure, then several short mini-sets of a few reps at the same weight, each after a pause of about 15 seconds. Badger starts the pause for you. See myo-reps.

PR (personal record)

Your best-ever performance on an exercise. Badger marks a new one as you log it, and what counts as a record depends on the exercise type. See personal records.

Rep (repetition)

One full movement of an exercise: a squat down and back up, a curl up and back down. A set is a group of reps done in a row. "8 reps" means you did the movement eight times without stopping to rest.

Rest-pause

A heavy first bout near failure, a short pause, then another bout or two at the same weight. Badger counts the bouts as one set. See rest-pause.

RIR (reps in reserve)

How many more reps you could have done before failure. RIR counts reps left, where RPE counts effort: RIR 2 is roughly RPE 8, and RIR 0 is RPE 10.

  • RIR 0 - You hit failure, or very close to it.
  • RIR 1 - One more rep possible.
  • RIR 2-3 - A common target for working sets in hypertrophy programs.
  • RIR 4-5 - Easy. Typical of early warmup sets or a deload.

Badger records RIR as an optional field on every set (0 to 5). See RPE and RIR.

RPE (rate of perceived exertion)

A 1 to 10 scale for how hard a set felt compared with your maximum effort.

  • 6 - Light. You could keep going for a long time.
  • 7 - Moderate. Challenging but comfortable.
  • 8 - Hard. A few reps left in the tank.
  • 9 - Very hard. One rep left.
  • 10 - Max effort. You could not do another rep with good form.

RPE is subjective and takes time to calibrate. It's useful for tracking fatigue over time and for adjusting how hard you train on the day. Badger records it as an optional field on every set (1 to 10).

Set

A group of reps done in a row, followed by a rest. "3 sets of 8" means eight reps, rest, eight reps, rest, eight reps. Badger logs one row per set, with its weight and reps. Sets are either warm-up or working sets.

Superset

Two or more exercises done back to back with little or no rest between them, resting after each full round. Common uses: opposing muscle groups (biceps curls with triceps pushdowns), circuits, or saving time.

In Badger, exercises in the same group move you to the next exercise without starting the rest timer. The rest timer starts after the last exercise in the group.

Tempo

How fast you move through each phase of a rep, written as four numbers: lowering-pause-lifting-pause, each in seconds.

  • 3-1-2-0 - 3 seconds lowering, a 1-second pause at the bottom, 2 seconds lifting, no pause at the top.
  • X - Explosive. Move as fast as you can. Badger offers it on the lift.
  • 3-2-1-0 - A paused rep: a 2-second pause at the bottom. Pause reps are written as a tempo.

You can set a tempo on an exercise or on an exercise in a routine, and it shows as a Tempo chip while you train. Set a tempo.

Volume

Total work done, usually sets × reps × weight. Badger shows volume in your chosen unit (kg or lbs) in the progress graphs, the activity heatmap and the weekly muscle balance.

Warm-up

A lighter set before your working sets, to prepare your joints and muscles for the heavier loads without tiring you. Badger leaves warm-up sets out of volume and PRs, and shows them with a W instead of a number. The Warm-up calc chip builds a ramp for you.

Working set

A set at or near your training weight: the sets you track for progress. Badger counts working sets in volume and uses them for PRs.

Program terms

AMRAP (as many reps as possible)

A set with a minimum and no upper limit: do at least the prescribed number, then keep going as far as you can that day. Written 8+. A set written 1+ means at least one rep, then as many as you can.

5/3/1-style programs put one on the last set of a lift, so a strong day counts in full. In Badger it's a routine set option; see open-topped targets.

Deload

A planned stretch, usually a week, of lighter training so built-up fatigue can clear while you keep your fitness. You still train, just with lighter weights or fewer sets. Common approaches:

  • Reduce weights by 40-50%
  • Keep the same weights but do fewer sets
  • Reduce both

In Badger, a deload week means one of two things:

  • A deload Badger schedules - An opt-in feature that watches for fatigue and schedules a lighter week. It pauses a progression rule's count without resetting it, and your next normal week starts from your real weights. See Deload.
  • A deload week written into a program - Such as 5/3/1's fourth week. It's an ordinary week of the plan and counts toward the cycle. See holds, misses and deload weeks.

Double progression

Working up a rep range before adding weight. Add reps until every set reaches the top of the range (10 in an 8 to 10 range), then add weight and drop back to the bottom. See double progression.

Progressive overload

Gradually asking more of your body over time, usually by adding weight, reps or sets. Without it, progress stalls. On an exercise without a progression rule, Badger suggests a weight increase once you've completed all your working sets in each of your last few sessions. See progressive overload suggestion.

Tiers (T1, T2, T3)

GZCLP splits each session into tiers: T1 is the heavy main lift, T2 a lighter second movement, and T3 accessory volume. T1 and T2 each have their own stage ladder.

Training max (TM)

A number set a little below your 1RM that percentage-based programs take their working weights from (5/3/1 uses 90% of your 1RM). The margin leaves room for off days and lowers injury risk.

Badger keeps one per lift and never loads it on the bar. See training max.

Badger terms

Driver set

The one set of an exercise whose reps a progression rule reads, usually an open-topped set like 5+. You mark it in the routine with Drives progression. See the driver set.

History scope

A routine setting for which past workouts count when Badger fills in weights: Any workout, or This routine (only workouts started from this routine). See history scope.

Percentage set

A planned set written as a percentage of the training max (85%) instead of a weight (100 kg). The routine log preview works out the weight and rounds it to something you can load. See percentage sets.

Per-machine records

Progress and PRs kept separately for each machine. If you do cable rows on two different machines, Badger tracks them independently. Selecting All in the machine filter shows them combined.

Predefined set

A set planned in a routine, with a target weight and reps. When you start the routine, these become the starting point for that session's sets. Where the starting weights come from is set by the routine's weight source.

Progresses together

Lifts on different days of a routine that share one number and one miss count. In Madcow, Friday's heavy triple sets the weight Monday ramps to. The built-in programs come set up this way. See lifts that progress together.

Progression rule

A sentence on an exercise in a routine that says what happens to its weight next session, based on how the last one went, for example "When all working sets hit the plan, add 2.5 kg." Badger proposes the weight when you start the session, and you can change it. See progression rules.

Routine

A saved program: a named set of training days, each with exercises and, optionally, predefined sets. Starting a workout from a routine fills in your exercises and weights.

Routine log preview

The screen between picking a routine day and starting it. It shows the day's exercises and the weights Badger proposes. You can leave out or swap an exercise, or change a weight, before you tap Start. See starting a routine.

Stage

One step of a program's stall ladder: the lighter set scheme you move to when you stall. StrongLifts goes 5×5, then 3×5, then 1×5. See stage ladders.

Waved day (cycle)

A training day that runs a different session each week of a cycle, like 5/3/1's four-week wave. Each set belongs to one week, or to every week. The routine moves to the next week once you've trained every day of the cycle. See waved days.

Weight source

A routine setting for where starting weights come from: Last time (your most recent workout of each exercise), Routine (the planned weights), or Both (planned weights first, then your last performance where none is set). See weight source.

Workout

A single training session: one day's exercises and sets.