Native speakers use phrasal verbs to describe their daily physical activities because formal verbs often sound out of place in a casual setting. If you tell a friend you will perform exercise, your speech sounds stiff and academic. If you say you plan to work out, your English sounds natural to anyone listening. These phrases help you communicate your goals and your progress while fitting into the culture of a local fitness center.
Phases of a Workout
Your fitness routine follows a specific order, and each step has a common phrase that describes the movement of your body.
Warm up
You must warm up before you start heavy lifting or running on a treadmill. This means you move your body slowly to prepare your muscles for the stress of a full session.
- Example: I always warm up for ten minutes on the treadmill before I start lifting heavy weights.
Work out
This is the main part of your session where you put in the most effort. To work out means you do physical exercises to make your body stronger or to improve your stamina.
- Example: My brother and I work out together every Monday morning at the park near our house.
Cool down
After your session, you need to cool down to help your body recover. You walk slowly or do static stretches to let your heart rate return to its normal resting state.
- Example: You should cool down with some slow stretches so your muscles do not feel tight tomorrow.
Managing Your Diet
Fitness involves more than lifting weights or running long distances. Let’s have a look at these related phrasal verbs for talking about diet.
Give up
If you want to be healthy, you must give up junk food and sugary drinks. To give up means you stop a habit completely to reach a specific goal.
- Example: Sarah decided to give up drinking soda because she wanted to improve her dental health.
Cut back
You do not always need to stop a habit completely to see an improvement. You can choose to cut back on snacks or fried foods. This means you eat them less often than you did before.
- Example: We are trying to cut back on eating out at restaurants to save money and eat healthier meals.
Listening to Your Body
Safety is the most important factor when you move your body and push your limits. Below are related phrasal verbs you may find useful.
Pass out
This means you lose consciousness.
- Example: The runner almost passed out because the weather was too hot and he forgot to drink water.
Burn out
If you train too hard every day without taking a rest, you will burn out. This means you feel exhausted and lose your motivation to continue your fitness journey.
- Example: If you go to the gym seven days a week without a break, you will burn out very quickly.
Seeing Your Results
Consistency leads to physical changes that you can see in the mirror. These phrases describe your progress as you reach your health targets.
Slim down
When you lose weight and your body fat decreases, you slim down.
- Example: Since he started his new swimming routine, he has managed to slim down and lose ten pounds.
Tone up
You tone up when your muscles become firm and your body looks more defined.
- Example: She wants to tone up her arms before her wedding, so she is doing more strength training.
