Plain-English definitions of the terms used across The Athlete Approach — strength and conditioning, applied sports science, performance testing, and longevity training. Written so you understand what each word means before any consultation.
Also known as: S&C, Strength and Conditioning Coaching.
A coaching discipline focused on developing the physical qualities — strength, power, endurance, mobility, and recovery — that support performance and long-term health. Differs from generic personal training in being assessment-led and structured around progressive periodised plans rather than session-by-session intuition.
Source: www.nsca.com
The combination of joint mobility, motor control, and stability that determines whether a movement is performed efficiently and safely. Poor movement quality limits the load and volume that can be applied without injury risk; the first programming priority for almost every client is to address it before chasing strength or conditioning gains.
The ability of the central nervous system to coordinate muscles into purposeful movement. Distinct from strength: a person can be very strong but have poor motor control, leading to compensations and injury. Motor control improves with deliberate practice of patterns under low load before load is added.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
The categorical movements that underpin all athletic activity: squat, hinge, push, pull, lunge, carry, and rotate. Programmes are built so each pattern is loaded across a phase rather than chasing a list of exercises; thinking in patterns rather than exercises is one of the markers of a coached programme.
The ability of muscles and the nervous system to generate force — measured most directly via 1RM strength tests, isometric mid-thigh pull, or jump performance. Force production underpins almost every performance metric (sprint speed, change of direction, change of velocity in any sport) and also acts as a longevity marker.
The ability to use the stretch-shortening cycle effectively — rapid eccentric loading followed by concentric output, as in jumping, hopping, sprinting, throwing. Trainable but underdeveloped in many strength-trained athletes; a deliberate plyometric block is often the missing piece between strong-in-the-gym and fast-on-the-track.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
The ability to control a load while the muscle is lengthening — for example, the descent of a squat or the deceleration phase of a sprint. Eccentric strength is consistently underdeveloped relative to concentric strength and is a major contributor to deceleration ability, change of direction, and tendon resilience.
Force produced when muscle length does not change — for example, holding a paused mid-position of a squat or push-up. Isometric work develops tendon stiffness, neural drive, and position-specific strength. Often used as a low-fatigue method to add training stimulus when concentric or eccentric loading would be too much.
Also known as: Conditioning, MetCon.
Training designed to improve the body's ability to produce energy for sustained effort — covering aerobic, anaerobic-alactic, and anaerobic-lactic systems. Conditioning prescriptions are tailored to sport demands or longevity goals; a sprinter needs different conditioning to a long-distance trail runner, even though both need it.
The capacity to move limbs independently while maintaining trunk position — for example, sprinting, throwing, or hitting. Limb-trunk disassociation is a learnable motor-control skill and is one of the elements of athletic movement that responds well to deliberate drilling rather than load-based training alone.
The ability to maintain neutral or task-appropriate spinal position under load and movement. Distinct from "core strength" — spinal control is a motor-skill problem first and a strength problem second. Many lower-back issues respond to control work before they respond to strengthening.
The deliberate sequencing of training phases — preparation, hypertrophy, strength, power, peaking, recovery — so that adaptations compound over time. Phase placement is one of the most consequential decisions in any programme; rushing into a peaking phase before the prep base is in place is the most common reason ambitious clients plateau.
Source: www.uksca.org.uk
Also known as: RIR, Reps in Reserve.
A subjective 1-to-10 scale of how hard a set or session felt. Modern RPE scales (RPE@RIR) link the rating to repetitions in reserve. RPE is used alongside objective metrics (bar speed, recovery scores) to load programmes — it is imperfect alone but powerful in combination with data.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
The set of processes — sleep, nutrition, hydration, low-intensity movement, parasympathetic time — that restore capacity after training stimulus. Recovery limits the volume of useful training that can be applied; for most adult clients, recovery is the limiting factor more often than session volume itself is.
In a training context, the goal of preserving and extending physical capability across decades — measured via strength markers, cardiovascular fitness (VO2 max), mobility, and resilience to injury. Longevity-aware programming optimises for compounding capacity over years rather than peaking output across weeks.
The use of sports-science research and tools — physiology, biomechanics, motor learning, performance analysis — to inform real-world coaching decisions. Distinct from sports science as an academic discipline; the applied version asks what the research means for the next session, not what the next paper should be.
The internal sense of body position and movement, mediated by receptors in muscle, tendon, joint capsules, and skin. Proprioception is trainable and is a key component of balance, change of direction, and post-injury return to sport. Often the first capacity to lose after an injury and the first to rebuild during return-to-play.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Also known as: Range of motion, Joint mobility.
The ability to move through a joint range of motion under control — combining flexibility (passive range) with motor control (active range). Mobility limits the positions a client can adopt safely under load; mobility deficits in the hips, ankles, or thoracic spine commonly limit squat, deadlift, and overhead pressing.