Vocabulary [HOME]: Home Workout: Energizing Verbs for Indoor Fitness

Teaching Material

Exercising at home offers convenience and flexibility, allowing you to tailor each session to your own pace. Before you begin, remember to stretch your muscles gently, which helps prevent injury and gets you ready for movement. Start your routine with a simple warm up, like marching in place or doing arm circles, to increase blood flow. You can then strengthen your body by doing basic exercises such as push-ups or squats. If you want an extra boost of energy, play upbeat music and let it motivate you through each set. For best results, maintain good posture and focus on each repetition to ensure proper form. Feel free to challenge yourself by gradually adding more reps or trying new exercises. Engaging your core during these moves improves balance and stability, while remembering to breathe deeply helps you stay relaxed. As you progress, track your improvements in a notebook or app, so you can see how far you’ve come. Finally, make sure to schedule rest days, giving your body the time it needs to recover. Consistency and a positive attitude will lead to steady progress and a healthy lifestyle.

Alternatives

Let's take a look at the vocabularies for each of the sentences above:

1. Before you begin, remember to stretch your muscles gently, which helps prevent injury and gets you ready for movement.
• stretch (verb) - to extend or lengthen muscles before or after exercise
• extend - Use 'extend' in more formal or general contexts to describe making something longer or reaching out. It can apply to body parts or other objects.
• loosen up - Choose 'loosen up' in casual settings to emphasize relaxing tight muscles or tension. Common in friendly conversation before physical activity.
2. Start your routine with a simple warm up, like marching in place or doing arm circles, to increase blood flow.
• warm up (phrasal verb) - to perform light exercises that prepare the body for a more intense workout
• prepare - Use 'prepare' when you want a more general term for getting ready. It fits a variety of contexts, from exercise to cooking or studying.
• get ready - Choose 'get ready' in informal contexts to indicate the act of becoming fully set for an upcoming task or event.
3. You can then strengthen your body by doing basic exercises such as push-ups or squats.
• strengthen (verb) - to make something stronger or more capable
• build up - Use 'build up' in casual conversation to suggest gradually increasing strength or capacity over time. Commonly used in fitness contexts.
• fortify - Choose 'fortify' in more formal or written contexts to emphasize the idea of reinforcing or protecting, often used metaphorically.
4. If you want an extra boost of energy, play upbeat music and let it motivate you through each set.
• boost (verb) - to increase or improve something, often energy or motivation
• enhance - Use 'enhance' in both formal and semi-formal contexts to describe improving quality or effectiveness. Suitable for academic writing as well.
• raise - Choose 'raise' in everyday language to express lifting or increasing a level, amount, or intensity of something, like energy or spirits.
5. For best results, maintain good posture and focus on each repetition to ensure proper form.
• maintain (verb) - to keep something in good condition or at the same level
• keep up - Use 'keep up' in casual conversation to mean preserving or continuing an effort or condition, like a habit or standard.
• preserve - Choose 'preserve' in formal contexts to convey safeguarding something from decline or damage, emphasizing protection over time.
6. Feel free to challenge yourself by gradually adding more reps or trying new exercises.
• challenge (verb) - to invite someone (or yourself) to do something difficult but rewarding
• test - Use 'test' when focusing on evaluating one’s abilities or performance. Suitable in both casual and professional discussions.
• push - Choose 'push' in informal contexts to highlight urging yourself or others to go beyond their comfort zone or usual limits.
7. Engaging your core during these moves improves balance and stability, while remembering to breathe deeply helps you stay relaxed.
• engaging (verb) - actively involving or using something, especially muscles or attention
• activating - Use 'activating' in semi-formal or fitness contexts to imply switching on or initiating certain muscles or processes for better performance.
• using - Choose 'using' for a straightforward, everyday term when explaining the need to employ specific muscles or resources.
8. Engaging your core during these moves improves balance and stability, while remembering to breathe deeply helps you stay relaxed.
• breathe (verb) - to take air into and expel it from the lungs
• inhale and exhale - Use 'inhale and exhale' in more formal or precise instructions, emphasizing the process of taking in and pushing out air methodically.
• take a breath - Choose 'take a breath' in casual conversation to remind someone to pause and calm down, focusing on the act of breathing.
9. Engaging your core during these moves improves balance and stability, while remembering to breathe deeply helps you stay relaxed.
• relaxed (adjective) - free from tension or anxiety
• calm - Use 'calm' in both casual and formal contexts when emphasizing peace or tranquility. It can describe mood, environment, or demeanor.
• at ease - Choose 'at ease' informally to suggest feeling comfortable and untroubled in a particular situation, often relating to social settings.
10. As you progress, track your improvements in a notebook or app, so you can see how far you’ve come.
• track (verb) - to follow or record progress or development
• monitor - Use 'monitor' in semi-formal or professional contexts to indicate observing or checking data over time, such as workout results.
• keep tabs on - Choose 'keep tabs on' in casual conversations to stress ongoing awareness of progress or changes in a friendly, everyday style.
11. As you progress, track your improvements in a notebook or app, so you can see how far you’ve come.
• improvements (noun) - positive changes or progress made over time
• advancements - Use 'advancements' in formal or academic contexts to emphasize progress, especially in science, technology, or skill development.
• gains - Choose 'gains' in fitness or casual contexts to stress visible or measurable increases in ability, strength, or knowledge.