Posted on April 20, 2018 by Jenny Cromack
Friday the 13th April was National Scrabble Day. In homage to that, this article looks at the highest scoring scrabble letters and links these to a common gym or fitness terms. We’re using the letters that are worth 4 or more points to un-scramble your fitness terms. These are: F (4), H (4), J (8), K (5), Q (10), V (4), W (4), X (8), Y (4), Z (10)
For 4 Points:
F – Fast Twitch – Fast twitch refer to muscle fibres that have a higher contraction velocity, but also a more rapid rate of fatigue meaning they tire much quicker. These fibres draw on anaerobic metabolism meaning they use carbohydrate as a fuel in the absence of sufficient oxygen.
H – Hypertrophy – The term hypertrophy is a scientific term used to describe an increase in muscle fibre size. In real terms it is used to refer to increases in muscle mass and muscular stature.
V – VO2 Max – This is a scientific measure of how much oxygen someone can utilise per 1 minute of work. The VO2 max is a reflection of somebody’s cardiovascular fitness and performance capabilities.
W – “Weekend Warrior” – A slang term used to describe the gym-users who neglect the gym throughout the week but then spend hours at the weekend putting themselves through gruelling, intense, and strenuous workouts made up a a variety of exercise modes (e.g., weights, running, bike…and anything they can get their hands on).
Y – Yoke Bar – The yoke bar is a piece of gym equipment that is often used from squat variations and carrying exercises. It has a similar purpose to a standard barbell but has handles to keep the load higher up on the trapezius and force the centre of mass in a forward direction.
For 5 Points:
K – Kinesiology – This s the study of body mechanics and anatomy in relation to human movements.
For 8 Points:
J – “Jacked” – The word “Jacked” is a slang term often used to compliment somebody’s levels of muscularity and can refer to a state of large muscle mass or leanness.
X – Xyphoid Process – This is the tip of the lower bone of the “breast bone”. The word xyphoid comes from the Latin for “sword shaped”.
For 10 Points:
Q – Quads – This is a generic term used to describe the muscles at the front of the thigh – the quadriceps. As the name suggests they are made up of 4 main muscles; rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, and vastus medialis.
Z – Zottman Curl – These are a bicep curl variation that involves a “normal” curl lifting the dumbbells up towards the shoulder with a supinated wrist (palm facing upwards), but then before lowering the weights back down you adopt a pronated wrist (palm facing down) and return to starting position.
Next time you dust off the scrabble boards with your gym buddies you can give it a fitness twist and wow them with your knowledge and vocabulary like a true training buff.
Happy National Scrabble day!