Exercise Gym - Lifting Weights
Popular types of exercising are conducted in the gym or health club. When I refer to a gym, I am
implying a health club. Two common types of exercising in the gym are working out / lifting
weights, or using machines such as treadmills, bicycle machines, step machines, etc. It's common
for guys to get together and talk about lifting weights. Likewise, girls get together and discuss
the best methods to lose weight. In this lesson, we are going to lay the ground work on talking
about exercising in the gym.
Lifting weights
Professional weight lifters are called body builders. But since the number of body builders are
not significant, we are going to concentrate more on regular weight lifting.
I don't lift weights, but when I see a friend who is noticeably bigger due to lifting weights, these
are the types of things I say.
"Have you been lifting?"
You do not need to say lifting weights. When you say lifting, it's understood that you are talking
about weights.
"You got big man."
"How long have you been lifting?"
Other terminologies for lifting weights are:
Pumping Iron
Pressing Iron
Pressing Weights
Working Out
Weight Training
Hitting the Gym
Exercise Gym - Questions and Answers
Here are some questions you can ask.
"Where do you work out?"
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"What club do you work out at?"
"When do you usually work out?"
"How often do you work out?"
"How many hours do you work out in a day?"
To ask how they work out or what their routine is, you can ask:
"When you bench, how many reps and sets do you do?"
Reps are repetition. In weight lifting terminology, this means how many times they lift in one
set.
"Do you do low reps with heavy weights, or many reps with light weight."
"How many sets do you do when you work out your arms?"
If you are the person being asked these questions, here are ways you can answer:
"I work out at 24 Hour Fitness"
"I work out at Bally's"
"I work out at Samsung Health Club"
"I started lifting weights about 2 years ago."
"I have been lifting weights for about 2 years now."
"I just started 9 months ago."
"I usually work out 2 hours a day 4 times a week."
"I work out everyday for an hour."
"I go to the gym 3 times a week."
"I go in every other day."
"I can bench press 220 pounds."
"I squat 400 pounds."
"I curl 90 pounds."
"I'm trying to gain bulk so I'm doing low reps with heavy weights."
"I'm trying to get ripped, so I'm doing a lot of repetitions."
Ripped means to get lines to show up in the muscles. It's called ripped because when you rip a
piece of paper, you see a line in the paper where the tear is. So a person is ripped when you can
see lines on his body due to muscles.
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Exercise Gym - Other Methods
Other ways to work out in a health club
Many people lift weights in the health club, but many people also go to lose weight using
machines such as the treadmill and bicycle machines.
Here are some things you can say in a conversation if you fall into this category.
"When I go to the health club, I usually spend 30 minutes on the treadmill, 20 minutes on the
bicycle, and finally 10 minutes on the step master."
"There is no place to run in the city, so I have to do my running on the treadmill."
"It always rains around here so I like to exercise in the gym."
"I usually use the treadmill, but I try to work on the nautilus machines at least twice a week."
"My wife exercises four times a week."
"My husband can't last 10 minutes on the step machine."
Exercise Gym - Interactive Practice
Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation,
become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the
audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for
Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause
between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to
speak as fast as a native.
A: "What do you do besides work and watching TV?"
B: "When I have some time, I like to exercise."
A: "Do you go jogging or do you go to a health club?"
B: "I joined Samsung Health Club a couple of months ago."
A: "How do you exercise?"
B: "I usually spend 30 minutes on the bicycle for the cardio, and then I lift weights for about 45
minutes."
A: "How often do you go?"
B: "I want to go four times a week, but I'm too lazy. Last week, I only went to workout once."
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A: "Hey Jimmy. Let's go workout later today."
B: "Sure. What time do you want to go?"
A: "How about at 3:30."
B: "That sounds good. Today we work on Legs and forearm."
A: "Hey. I just played basketball earlier, so my legs are a little sore. Let's work out on arms and
stomach today."
B: "I'm on a weekly schedule. You're messing everything up."
A: "C'mon. We're only switching two days. You can do legs on Friday."
B: "Aright. I'll meet you at the gym at 3:30 then."
A: "Damn Scott. You got big."
B: "Yeah, I've been working out a lot."
A: "How long have you been lifting weights?"
B: "For a year and a half."
A: "Yeah. Last time I saw you, it was like 2 years ago."
B: "Has it been that long?"
A: "How often do you go to the gym?"
B: "I usually go every other day for about 3 hours."
A: "That's a lot."
B: "Yeah, I used to work out for an hour a day 4 times a week, and I saw no results. This is what
you have to do to get noticeable results."
A: "I don't think I have the discipline for that."
B: "Just think of it as a hobby. Then it's actually fun."
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