Achilles tendon Quick reference
Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise (2 ed.)
A large tendon at the back of the ankle which connects the calf muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus) to the heel
adductor muscles Quick reference
Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise (2 ed.)
A muscle that moves a body part (e.g. an arm or leg) towards the midline of the body. A strain
agility Quick reference
Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise (2 ed.)
Agility is the ability to change body position rapidly and accurately without losing balance. It is important in sports and
alcohol Quick reference
Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise (2 ed.)
Alcohol (or more precisely ethanol) is a colourless, tasteless, flammable liquid, formed during the fermentation of yeasts. In medicine, it
alimentary canal Quick reference
Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise (2 ed.)
A tubular passage extending from the mouth to the anus (see figure). It has regions specialized for ingestion (the mouth
amino acids Quick reference
A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition (4 ed.)
The basic units from which proteins are made. Chemically compounds with an amino group (−NH2) and a carboxyl
arm curl Quick reference
Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise (2 ed.)
An exercise (see figure) performed with free-weights to improve arm muscles (biceps and brachialis) and shoulder muscles (deltoids).
▪ Stand
arm sprints Quick reference
Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise (2 ed.)
Arm sprints are similar to bench stepping, but the hands are used rather than the feet. They are used for
ascorbic acid Quick reference
A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition (4 ed.)
Vitamin C,
ATP Quick reference
A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition (4 ed.)
Adenosine triphosphate, the coenzyme that acts as an intermediate between energy-yielding (catabolic) metabolism (the oxidation of metabolic fuels) and energy
backache Quick reference
Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise (2 ed.)
Backache is second only to the common cold as a reason for absence from work in the United Kingdom and
back extension Quick reference
Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise (2 ed.)
A back strengthening exercise, usually performed on an extension bench specially designed to support the hips and which fixes the
beef Quick reference
A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition (4 ed.)
Flesh of the ox (Bos taurus); flesh from young calves is veal. Depending on the joint or
bench press Quick reference
Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise (2 ed.)
A relatively simple weightlifting exercise for toning up arm muscles (particularly the triceps brachii), the anterior deltoids in the shoulder,
bent arm hang Quick reference
Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise (2 ed.)
The ability to maintain a bent arm position while hanging from a bar. It is used to test the muscular
bent arm pullover Quick reference
Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise (2 ed.)
A weight training exercise for the chest, shoulder and arm extensors (see figure).
▪ Lie on a bench so that
bent-over row Quick reference
Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise (2 ed.)
This weight-training exercise simulates a rowing action and strengthens the shoulder muscles and biceps in the arm. It can be
bile salts Quick reference
A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition (4 ed.)
Salts of cholic and deoxycholic acid and their glycine and taurine conjugates, secreted in the bile.
Billig's exercise Quick reference
Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise (2 ed.)
An exercise which stretches the connective tissue around the pelvis, the hip flexors, and the muscles on the inside of
biotin Quick reference
A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition (4 ed.)
A vitamin, sometimes known as vitamin H, required for the synthesis of fatty acids and glucose, among other reactions,
