Consider this a public service from us here at Muscle Girl Magazine to you and this is surely not anything that is available on one of those annoying Rosetta Stone commercials. Take it for what it’s worth – knowing what the hell people are talking about in the gym will avoid some uncomfortable moments when a meathead says something to you and a proper response would be needed.

First of all, ‘gym speak’ has different dialects, but most versions will carry over from one area to another, albeit with subtle differences. Not enough to confuse you for long, though. But what frequently is believed to be a correct term is actually not, but rather one that has become accepted after so long.

Here’s a perfect example: When someone tells you that you should do super sets with the 40-pound dumbbells for seated bicep curls and then grab the 25s, that is incorrect gym lingo. The correct term for that is drop down sets and a super set is actually doing two different consecutive exercises without a rest period, for either the same or a different body part.