Fitness Words and Phrases

So there are a couple of really useful phrases that we can use to talk about fitness.

We’re going to talk about fitness because in a moment I’m going to give you an example of how we can ask for advice about losing weight right.

We don’t want to be so fat.

How one friend might ask another friend and then how we can give advice about that before we do we have to go over a couple of useful words and phrases.

OK.

So get in shape is when we’re not in shape.

So being in shape means maybe you are fit which means maybe you have some muscle.

Maybe you don’t have so much fat.

Maybe you can run without getting out of breath.

Maybe your heart is in a good condition right.

Maybe you can exercise without getting tired.

You are fit.

You are fit.

You are in shape.

It’s not only about being thin.

It’s not only about being fat it’s more than that.

You can be very very thin and very very out of shape.

So I want to make it clear that thinness being slender is not the same as being in shape being in shape includes strength includes some muscle.

OK.

Same with same with fitness.

Getting fit.

Same thing.

These are the same.

OK.

Now lose weight.

What we really mean here is lose fat.

That’s what it means.

We often say lose weight.

I want to lose weight.

It’s just a convenient way to say lose fat.

We don’t say lose fat.

Usually this is a little different than these two because you could lose weight because maybe you got really really ill or he’s lost so much weight because of maybe the illness that would be a terrible thing.

But are you fit.

Probably not.

Probably not.

No you’re not fat but you’re also not fit.

OK.

So losing weight is more general and this one is just about fat basically.

OK.

Put on weight or put on a few.

And sometimes we can say a few pounds a few pounds put on a few pounds over Christmas.

I really put on a few pounds over Christmas.

I really put on some weight.

Maybe you can see from the previous courses I’ve done that now I’ve I’ve put on a few I’ve put on a few.

Maybe you can tell from my my face compared to the previous courses the English brain ones and the pronunciation ones that I did before.

OK.

So these are very common ways to talk about our condition and we have a few other specific words as well.

So let’s look at those really quickly in America being very direct about somebody whose weight is not always a good thing and someone might be a little offended if you say she’s fat he’s fat.

Even if they are what you might describe as fat there’s just something about the culture and it’s good to know because if you say it too much people might feel a little offended.

So we can say some other words a little bit is chubby someone is chubby they have some fat not so much.

Not very very fat but we can describe them as chubby or a bit chubby.

We can also describe someone as overweight you’re overweight you’re a bit overweight I think you need to go on a diet.

OK so overweight means there they have too much fat they’re too heavy they’re more heavy than they should be they’re heavier than they should be overweight.

This one’s pretty common but this is more than this one.

This one is usually fatter than this one.

Now someone might describe someone who is fat as heavy.

It’s actually a more polite way to say it.

So if you said Oh yeah you’re your uncle’s he’s a bit heavy.

Right.

He’s a bit heavy isn’t he.

Yeah he’s he’s a bit heavy.

Sometimes we say heavy set heavy set.

She’s she’s quite a lot heavier than she used to be.

Wow.

She’s much heavier than she used to be.

It’s more polite than saying She’s fatter than she used to be.

Your uncle is very fat right.

So saying fat is kind of like hitting somebody in the head with maybe truth maybe real information but in a way that makes them feel maybe not so good so often use heavy sometimes overweight sometimes chubby.

And it’s interesting how in different cultures what is fat is described differently.

I’ve noticed for example that someone who might be considered normal in America in a lot of Asian countries like China for example that person might be considered fat and even if you’ve got a little fat someone in China might say oh you’re fat it’s a different culture.

That’s quite interesting.