ESL Podcast 673 - Walking or Running as Exercise

fitness - one's level of physical health and strength; one's ability to complete physical activities without great difficulty

Vadim spends hours at the gym each week, because fitness is really important to him.

to exercise - to do physical activities in order to make one's body stronger and healthier

If we want to lose weight, we need to start eating better and exercising more.

psyched - an informal term meaning very excited, enthusiastic, and eager to do something

Marleah is psyched about starting her new job at the hospital.

tennis shoes - comfortable shoes used to participate in sports and other physical activities, closed with shoelaces

Lauren wears high-heeled shoes at work, but she carries tennis shoes in her bag so that she can wear more comfortable shoes while walking to the subway after work.

brand new - recently bought and never before used

Why would you wear a brand new shirt to paint the house? It's just going to get ruined.

to break (something) in - to wear something, especially shoes, for short periods of time so that it adapts to one's body and become more comfortable; to use something for short periods of time so that one becomes used to it

Be sure to break your hiking boots in on some short walks before you go on any long-distance hikes.

blister - a small, painful, raised area of skin that is filled with a clear liquid, usually caused by having something rub against that area repeatedly

After raking all the leaves, Mariah realized that she had blisters on her hands.

to work up a sweat - to do a difficult physical activity that results in a small amount of water on one's skin, caused by the body's efforts to stay cool

It's so hot outside today that we could work up a sweat just by walking around the block!

to stretch - to move one's body parts in unusual ways, pushing them as far as they will go in a certain direction to make the muscles work and to become more flexible

If you stretch every morning, eventually you'll be able to touch your toes without bending your knees.

to warm up - to do a physical activity gently or slowly for a few minutes, gradually increasing one's heart rate and breathing before beginning more difficult physical activity

If we don't warm up before playing basketball, we're more likely to get injured.

heart rate - the speed at which one's heart beats (contracts to move blood through one's body).

His resting heart rate is 65 beats per minute.

to pick up the pace - to begin to do something more quickly; to hurry; to move more quickly

Let's pick up the pace, or else we won't get home before dark.

shin splints - a condition where one experiences pain on the front of one's leg between one's knee and foot, often caused by running on hard surfaces and/or wearing shoes that do not have enough padding

Shayna's shin splints became so painful that she had to stop running competitively.

low-impact - exercise that does not require hitting one's body parts against hard surfaces; exercise that is not very strenuous or difficult

The doctor recommended low-impact exercise instead of running.

workout - a session or short period of physical exercise, especially when it is something that one does regularly

This morning Grant did a 30-minute aerobic workout at the gym, followed by 20 minutes of lifting weights.

to race - to compete to see who can do something fastest, especially to see who can run to a particular place most quickly

Let's race to see who can finish the test first.

ready, set, go - a phrase used to start a race, so that people prepare to do something when they hear "ready, set," and then begin to do it when they hear "go"

When I say, "go," run to the fence. Ready, set, go!