After a couple of months of hardly any exercise, I finally went back to the gym. I decided to try the “Body Combat” class, and oh my! What an experience! I had heard this class was hard, but no one prepared me for the agony my body would go through afterwards. Although I am having a hard time moving around because all the muscles around my arms and back are very sore, I am glad I went to the class. I really enjoyed it (who doesn’t enjoy pretend-punching to relieve stress), and I am happy to realize I have more muscles than I thought!

Aside of feeling new muscles in my body, I am also learning the names of these muscles as well as vocabulary related to working out. So… in honor of the agonizing pain I feel and for all of us to learn new vocabulary, here is a list of some words related to working out:

de spier of spieren- muscle or muscles
de borstspieren of pectoralis- chest muscles
de triceps- triceps
de biceps- biceps
de gluten- buttocks
de buikspieren- abdominal muscles

LET OP! Remember that although some of these words come from Latin or Greek, the pronunciation varies. In English, biceps would be pronounced with the English “i” while in Dutch with the Dutch “i.”

sporten of fitnessen- working out
gewichten- weights
cardio- cardio just like in English
rekken– stretch
buikspieroefening– crunches
lopen of hardlopen– walking or running (although I’ve heard people use lopen for both)
fietsen– favorite Dutch sport…cycling
boksen- boxing

inademen– inhale
uitademen– exhale
onstpannen– relax (very popular word in yoga)
omhoog- up
omlaag- down
conditie- Stamina
lenig- agile

I found the following video and I found it very interesting. It explains how our muscles work in very concise (and usually clearly pronounced) Dutch.

What type of workout do you prefer? What has been your experience working out in a foreign country?