Fitness phrases

I was thinking about my Zumba fitness class, noticing that English has many fun phrasal verbs and expressions related to exercise. The next time you’re at the gym, try some of these good ones:

To work out - to exercise

- Summer is coming and Elisa needs “to work out” so she can wear her new bikini.
- Katie hates “to work out”; she prefers to dance for exercise.
- It’s important to stay hydrated when you “work out”.


To warm up - to prepare for physical activity or an athletic event by exercising, stretching, or practicing gently for a short time beforehand.

- Francesca “warms up” for ten minutes before going on her daily run.
- The fitness class includes a "warm up" with elements of yoga, stretching, aerobics, and circuit training. (Warm up is used as a noun here.)
- Walkers are greeted at the meeting point by the walk leaders and do some gentle “warm-up” exercises before starting. (Warm-up is used as an adjective here.)


Out of practice - If you haven’t played a sport in a while and you perform poorly due to a lack of practice, it means you are out of practice. (This can be about any activity when your skills are rusty).

- The soccer players lost the game because they were “out of practice”.
- I used to be able to play tennis extremely well, but now I'm ”out of practice”.
- Roberto was “out of practice” so his perfomance in the marathon was disappointing.


To pump Iron - to lift weights in a gym to build your muscles

- You can’t only “pump iron”; you need to do aerobic exercise too.
- I haven’t “pumped iron” in a long time and my muscles are getting weak.
- Marco regularly goes to the gym after work to “pump iron”


To be into (an activity) - taking a lively and active interest in (something). This applies to any activity.
- Megan is “into” yoga.
- Valentina has never been “into” skiing.
- Kevin got “into” surfing after moving to California.


Shape up / Get in shape - when you want to improve your body you say you want to get in shape, or shape up.

- Christine needs to “shape up” if she wants to wear that dress to the reunion.
- Steve ate too much during the holidays so he needs to go to the gym and “get in shape”.

Now it’s time to get your brain “in shape” and start using these new expressions.