Episode 0130

We need to be healthy. We've gained weight over the winter, I think.

I think so, and being in an office, you know, it doesn't give you much opportunity to go and exercise and really get a lot of work.

Exactly. So that's why we're going to the gym on this occasion.

We're going to be pumping some iron, we're going to be working out. So, why don't we take a look at vocabulary preview and see what this means.

Vocabulary preview.

All right, so to pump iron, what does that mean?

All right. Well, to pumping iron means lifting weights.

Okay, so we're pumping iron, we're lifting weights.

Cuz you know, weights are made of iron. So that makes them so heavy.

All right, so we're pumping iron, good. And, well, we're going to be giving you guys some pointers.

Pointers. All right, so you might have heard the word point before. Well, pointers is another word for tips.

All right, so we're going to be giving you tips or advice.

Yeah. So you're going to get some help today from the trainer. All right, so we're going to jump right into this dialogue and we come back, we talk in more about what's going on.

Hey there. You look a little lost. Are you new here?

Yeah, how did you know?

You can always spot the newbies. I can give you a few pointers if you want. Were you trying to use this machine here?

Yeah, I just started my training today and I'm not sure where to begin.

It's okay. I know how it is. This machine here will work out your upper body, mainly your triceps and biceps. Are you looking to develop strength or muscle tone and definition?

Well, I don't want to be ripped like you. I just want a good physique with weights and cardio.

In that case, you want to work with less weight. You can start off by working 10 to 15 reps in four sets. 5-kilo weight should be enough.

Now, it's very important that you stretch before pumping iron. You might pull a muscle.

Got it.

I'm okay.

So this guy was a little bit arrogant. I think he was very, you know, very muscular, but I think he embarrassed himself in front of the lady.

The trainer, you mean, yeah.

Yeah, definitely. So he, he, we say he had a big ego. He thought a lot about himself. So, let's check out some of these phrases and words they were using because they're, they're all related to going to the gym and they can help you if you ever want to get some help when you're at the gym.

So this girl, she was new in the gym. She didn't really know what she was doing. And well, the guy said, well, do you want to develop strength or muscle tone?

All right, we know what strength is, but what is muscle tone?

Okay, so if you want to develop muscle tone or to have muscle tone, it means that you have healthy muscles, not like huge big muscles, right? But you have a nice body.

Right, so tone to tone is to maybe make give some shape to something. It's, you know, sometimes you have big arms and they're not really, you can't see the muscles. Well, muscle tone means that you can start to see the shape and they start to get stronger. All right. So if you think of Madonna, maybe five years ago, she had a lot of muscle tone. Now she's like big muscles. She's strong. But muscle tone means that you can see the muscles. They start to develop.

Okay. And this actually is very related to our next word because he said muscle tone and definition.

Right, so definition is another way for us to describe seeing those muscles because at first, you have a big tummy or you have big arms. And when you start to work out, every time you go, you can see more and more definition. That means more and more of the muscle becomes visible.

All right. So you have defined muscles. All right, good. Now, the girl was like, no, no, I don't want to be like super strong and huge, right?

She doesn't want to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Yeah, exactly. She said, I just want a good physique.

All right, this word maybe sounds strange for some of you because it's kind of sounds French to me. It's more like French than English. Yeah, well, it does come from French. And physique is a way to talk about the whole body, you know, the physique is the the state of your whole body. It's your physical appearance.

Okay, so I can say, uh, she has a nice physique.

Mhm. So that means she's probably works out a lot.

So, but basically, it's like her whole body, right? You can't just say like, she's, uh, she has good physique in her arms or something like that.

Nah, nah, your physique, physical, think of the word physical, it's your whole body.

Your whole body. All right. So good physique. And now the tips that he was giving her or the pointers, uh, he was talking about these two words, reps and sets.

Right. These are great words for the gym because they, uh, they allow us to count when we're working out. So the first one is reps or repetitions, that means doing something over and over again. So for example, if I want to lift a weight, I I sit down on the bench. I do one, uh, two, three. How many times I lift that weight is an a repetition or a rep.

All right. And well, and what about sets?

So I could say, I lift the weight 10 times, one, two, three, four, all the way to 10. And then I wait, and then I do it again. So the number of times I do it again is a set. So sets of 10 or sets of five.

Okay. So if you are lifting this weight 10 times, uh, and you have five sets, you will do a total of

50 pushes or lifts or, yeah, repetitions.

Okay. So reps and sets are probably the most, uh, important or common words you'll hear in the gym, especially if you're lifting weights, right?

Definitely. And sometimes your trainer will count with you. So that he'll he'll keep account while you're working out.

All right. Cool. So, um, those are the words that we have for you on language takeaway. I think in order to better understand these words, we should listen to our dialogue again, but we're going to slow it down just a little bit.

Hey there. You look a little lost. Are you new here?

Yeah, how did you know?

You can always spot the newbies. I can give you a few pointers if you want. Were you trying to use this machine here?

Yeah, I just started my training today and I'm not really sure where to begin.

It's okay. I know how it is. This machine here will work out your upper body, mainly your triceps and biceps. Are you looking to develop strength or muscle tone and definition?

Well, I don't want to be ripped like you. I just want a good physique with weights and cardio.

In that case, you want to work with less weight. You can start off by working 10 to 15 reps in four sets. 5-kilo weight should be enough.

Now it's very important that you stretch before pumping iron or you might pull a muscle.

Got it.

I'm okay.

All right, so you might have heard some other phrases in there that sound interesting or new to you and that's why we're going to go into the fluency builder part of the lesson where we can talk about sounding more fluent in English.

Fluency builder.

All right, so, um, the girl, she was a little bit lost, right? So this guy was trying to help her out. I think it was her first time in the gym.

It was. And, uh, and she doesn't really know where to start, which is a common problem for people who go to the gym for the first time.

So the guy said, well, um, yeah, I know how it is.

How what is?

It's a very strange phrase because it's vague, it's not clear.

So what is he referring to?

This is something very common that we say in English to mean, I understand your situation.

I know how you feel.

I know how you feel. So, uh, she says, this is my first time. I don't know what to do and he says, I know how it is. I understand your situation.

Right. Because I imagine the first time he went to the gym, he felt the same way.

Exactly. I could say, I'm so lost. I'm new at this school. I don't even know anyone.

Yeah, I know how it is. I, I was new here last year, so trust me. I know how it is.

Oh, okay. So, Marco and I have similar situations, although he has already experienced it. So he can help me out.

This is a good phrase. It's actually, um, I think it's very common for somebody to kind of sympathize with you, huh?

Absolutely. And it's a really good phrase if you want to help someone who looks lost or confused. So, if someone joins your your work, a new, if you have a new, uh, colleague and they say, oh, I don't know where anything is. I don't know how this, how to do anything at my job. You say, oh, I know how it is. I was new here last month.

Mhm. Great. And, well, now they were talking about, you know, lifting weights and the physique. And she said this interesting word, she says, I don't want to be ripped like you.

Okay. So many of you have probably heard the other meaning of the word to rip or ripped. So this is to rip. Yeah, to tear. But in this case, it's an adjective. It's a way to describe someone's physique, their body. And, uh, we're talking about people who are very, very muscular.

Okay. So basically bodybuilders.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is ripped. He has huge muscles. Madonna is ripped. She has huge muscles.

Okay. So it's a very informal way, but it's a very informal way of saying very muscular.

Yeah, it's someone who works out a lot.

All right, you're ripped.

And after this, we've got one more phrase. It's actually very important because when we talk about going to the gym, working out, we have to talk about safety and your health as well. It's very easy to hurt yourself.

Right. And that's why we want to avoid. You don't want to pull a muscle.

All right, pull a muscle. This is a key phrase here because we have a special combination of verb and noun. The thing that we pull is our muscle. And what we do to it is we pull it. That means we hurt it.

Mhm. So if you don't stretch and you're lifting weights, maybe your muscle will start to hurt and you can't lift anymore.

Yeah, you you hurt it. You pulled your muscle.

Or often runners have this problem. They don't stretch before they run or they run too much and they have a lot of pain in their muscles. You say, I pulled a muscle.

Mhm. Now, I think there's another way of saying it also is to to tear a muscle, right?

Tear is more serious.

More serious. A tear is like a little rip in your muscle and you should really see a doctor about that.

Okay. So we don't want you to pull a muscle or to tear a muscle. So be sure to stretch.

But, uh, we have some more examples with this phrase, to pull a muscle. So let's listen.

Example one.

Muscle strains, also called pulled muscles, are common sports injuries.

Example two.

If you do not warm up before a physical activity, you can easily pull a muscle.

Example three.

Anyone can pull a muscle because of overuse, muscle fatigue, or through a fall.

All right. So now that that's clear, I think we can listen to our gym dialogue one more time and see what happens to this arrogant bodybuilder.

Absolutely.

Hey there. You look a little lost. Are you new here?

Yeah, how did you know?

You can always spot the newbies. I can give you a few pointers if you want. Were you trying to use this machine here?

Yeah, I just started my training today and I'm not sure where to begin.

It's okay. I know how it is. This machine here will work out your upper body, mainly your triceps and biceps. Are you looking to develop strength or muscle tone and definition?

Well, I don't want to be ripped like you. I just want a good physique with weights and cardio.

In that case, you want to work with less weight. You can start off by working 10 to 15 reps in four sets. 5-kilo weight should be enough.

Now, it's very important that you stretch before pumping iron. You might pull a muscle.

Got it.

I'm okay.

All right, Catherine, so we know that you are a very healthy person. You often go to the gym.

So, uh, any any gym stories?

Oh, gosh, I have lots of gym stories. Uh, I like to run and I often use the treadmill.

And, uh, and I've never really understood the people who don't run on the treadmill, people who stand or who walk slowly.

Stand, or who walk on the treadmill.

And I remember my gym's usually very crowded. I remember one time, I was at my gym and I wanted to run on the treadmill. I had a long day at work and I had to go out afterwards. So I didn't have much time. I only had an hour. And I really wanted to run, but there's a line for the treadmill. There were too many people.

And this particular day, I was waiting and waiting and waiting. And finally it was my turn and I stepped and a woman cut in front of me.

No.

Heels?

Oh my God.

But she was wearing heels at the gym?

Apparently, apparently.

All right. So that's all the time we have for today, but we would like to hear if you have any questions, any doubts, or comments. So come to our site englishpod.com.

The EnglishPod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

To lift weights in order to make your muscles strong.

Pump iron.

A long metal rod to which heavy discs are attached at each end for weight lifting.

Barbell.

To hurt a muscle, tendon or ligament by stretch.

Pull a muscle.

An exercise machine that consists of a continuous moving belt on which to walk or jog.

Treadmill.

Suggestions, help.

Pointer.

An aerobic exercise that takes place on a specially designed stationary bicycle.

Spinning.

The size and shape of a person's body.

Physique.

An instrument or machine for weighing.

Scale.

Having a strong and muscular body or shape.

Ripped.

An exercise performed to work out the abdominal muscles.

Sit-up.

Let's try that faster.

An exercise machine that consists of a continuous moving belt on which to walk or jog.

Treadmill.

Suggestions, help.

Pointer.

To hurt a muscle, tendon or ligament by stretch.

Pull a muscle.

An exercise performed to work out the abdominal muscles.

Sit-up.

An aerobic exercise that takes place on a specially designed stationary bicycle.

Spinning.

Having a strong and muscular body or shape.

Ripped.

A long metal rod to which heavy discs are attached at each end for weight lifting.

Barbell.

To lift weights in order to make your muscles strong.

Pump iron.

The size and shape of a person's body.

Physique.

An instrument or machine for weighing.

Scale.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Pointer.

I'm going to give a presentation tomorrow. Do you think you can give me a few pointers?

Pointer.

Here, let me give you a few pointers about learning English.

Pointer.

Ripped.

For most guys in the gym, figuring out how to get ripped is a priority.

Ripped.

What do you think of guys that are ripped? In my opinion, they aren't attractive.

Ripped.

Pump iron.

I always listen to the soundtrack from Rocky when I'm at the gym pumping iron.

Pump iron.

It's a good idea to pump iron regularly to maintain a healthy body.

Pump iron.

Carl joined a gym recently. He says he wants to pump iron and become ripped.

Pull a muscle.

Muscle strains, also called pulled muscles, are common sports injuries.

Pull a muscle.

If you do not warm up before a physical activity, you can easily pull a muscle.

Pull a muscle.

Anyone can pull a muscle because of overuse, muscle fatigue or through a fall.

Physique.

Research has found that male physiques with slim waists are rated as being attractive.

Physique.

Many people believe Bruce Lee had one of the greatest physiques in modern history.

Physique.

It's a good idea to take vitamin supplements to maintain a healthy physique.