Learning Vocabulary: Health and Fitness (Lesson 3)
Learning Vocabulary: Health and Fitness (Lesson 3)
Welcome to Lesson 3 in Activity Week - Health and Fitness.
In this week's Premier Skills English Podcast, Jack and Rich talk about the language of health and fitness. They roleplay three different situations and introduce lots of different phrases about diet and fitness. We also ask you to discuss health: What is more important for a healthy lifestyle? Diet or exercise?
Transcript
Introduction
Jack: Hi Rich. You’re looking a bit out of breath. Where have you been?
Rich: Hi Jack. I’ve just got back from the gym.
Jack: Really Rich, the gym?? When did you start going there?
Rich: Last week. I really need to get into shape. You know, lose a few kilos, start building that six-pack up again.
Jack: Have you ever had a six-pack?
Rich: Haha! No, I don’t think so. But, it can’t be that hard, can it?
Jack: Are you alright? I think you should have a sit-down. What happened there?
Rich: I forgot to stretch when I was warming up. I’m just a bit stiff that’s all.
Jack: It looks like you’ve done your hamstring to me.
Rich: I’ve what?
Jack: It looks like you’ve pulled a muscle. Your hamstring. The muscles that are in the back of your leg. Behind the thigh. It’s one of the most common injuries in football.
Rich: Ah well, I’m sure it’ll be OK in the morning.
Jack: I’m not so sure, Rich. You might be out of action for a few weeks. You should probably get it checked out.
Jack: It’s Paul from the office downstairs. He wants to know if you want anything getting for lunch?
Rich: Great. Tell him to pick us up a kebab, a portion of chips and a large coke.
Jack: Really? What about getting fit?
Rich: Ah, I suppose that can wait until I can go to the gym again!
Welcome - Health and Fitness
Rich: Hello my name’s Rich
Jack: and I’m Jack
Rich: and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast
Jack: Where we talk about football and help you with your English.
Jack: What’s happening this week, Rich?
Rich: In this week’s podcast, we are going to talk about the language of health and fitness.
Jack: We’re going to look at some common phrases about diet and some common phrases about fitness.
Rich: When we’re introducing this week’s phrases we’re not only going to talk about individual words and what they mean but we really want you to feel confident using these phrases when you are speaking.
Jack: This means we sometimes need to look at the meaning of each phrase, the pronunciation of the phrase and how and when the phrase is used.
Rich: In this podcast, we have time to look at some important phrases but we want you to learn much, much more.
Jack: So, right now, we are producing another Premier Skills English Live Activity Week on the Premier Skills English website where you will see lots of extra pages and activities related to the language of health and fitness.
Rich: The activity week starts on Monday so come back to the Premier Skills English website and we will have lots more about health and fitness.
Jack: You can register for this activity week and our past activity weeks on the Premier Skills English website now. It’s free, it will help you with your English and if you complete it, you can download a certificate. Click the tab on the menu that says live!
Rich: Finally, don’t forget to listen to the end of this podcast because we have a new football phrase for you to guess.
Topic Focus
Rich: So, Jack and I are going to do two roleplays. We want you to answer three questions while you listen. 1. Is the roleplay about diet or fitness? 2. What do I need to do? 3. Do you think I will do it?
Roleplay 1
Jack: What’s that you’re eating there?
Rich: It’s my lunch. Fish and chips with peas.
Jack: I wouldn’t eat that if I were you. Aren’t you supposed to be on a diet?
Rich: Yeah. I don’t think it’s that bad. It’s got a bit of green in it.
Jack: Mushy peas. Disgusting. And they’re full of sugar and salt.
Rich: One of my five a day?
Jack: One of your five a day! No, I don’t think so. They were vegetables once but now they’re just processed rubbish.
Rich: So, what do you think I should be eating?
Jack: Fresh green, leafy vegetables are best. What about some steamed broccoli instead?
Rich: I could do that.
Jack: The fish is OK, fish oils are good for your brain, but steamed or baked fish would be much better than the fried fish you’ve got. There are loads of calories in it when you fry it.
Rich: Mmm, OK. And the chips?
Jack: I think you know what I’m going to say. I’d go for a jacket potato maybe. That’ll fill you up.
Rich: The coke?
Jack: Get rid of it! Soft drinks are full of sugar. Those sugar-free ones are full of all kinds of stuff, too. Water is what you need. I have it when I go to the gym and with all meals. They say you should have at least two litres a day.
Rich: Steamed fish, jacket potato, broccoli and water. That should help me lose a bit of weight.
Jack: Roleplay 2. We want you to answer three questions while you listen. 1. Is the roleplay about diet or fitness? 2. What does Rich need to do? 3. Do you think he will do it?
Rich: Have you been out for a run?
Jack: Yeah. It was a good one but I’m knackered. Beep, beep
Rich: What’s that?
Jack: It’s my new fitness tracker. It’s really useful. Look, it tells me how far I ran.
Rich: Just over four kilometres. Pretty good.
Jack: And this tells me how many calories I’ve burned and the speed I was going. It even tells me my heart rate too.
Rich: Looks good. I think I should get one, it might encourage me to do a bit more exercise.
Jack: They’re great. If you start running, take it easy at first and don’t forget to stretch.
Rich: Stretch?
Jack: You need to warm up before you start running, like with any exercise. You should do warming up exercises before you run and you should cool down when you finish. You don’t want to pull a muscle.
Rich: Yeah, OK.
Jack: Are you serious?
Rich: About what?
Jack: About taking up running?
Rich: Yes, I think so.
Jack: Well, we can go for the first run together. I’ll make sure you don’t go too fast at first.
Rich: Great idea. But, I don’t think they’ll be too much of a problem of me going too fast!
Language Focus
Jack: We’ve just used lots of useful language for talking about diet and fitness.
Rich We’re going to look at some phrases about diet and some phrases about fitness.
Jack: If you have registered for our activity week, you will see that lesson two is all about sports injuries, lesson four is all about the language of diet and lesson five is all about the language of fitness.
Rich: If you want to learn more vocabulary related to these topics take a look at these lessons when you have finished this podcast or register for the activity week on the Premier Skills English homepage if you haven’t done that yet. Just click the live tab and you will find activity-week - health and fitness waiting for you.
Jack: But, for now, let’s look at some of the language from the two roleplays we’ve just done.
Rich: Roleplay one was all about diet so let’s look at three of the phrases we used in a bit more detail.
Jack: The first phrase is full of. In the roleplay, I told Rich that mushy peas are full of sugar and salt and that soft drinks are full of sugar too.
Rich: We hear this phrase a lot when talking about food. Chocolate is full of fat, crisps are full of salt, butter is full of calories.
Jack: It’s not only negative though. You also hear this phrase being used when we say fruit and vegetables are full of the vitamins and minerals our body needs.
Rich: So, full means to have as much as possible of something in something else. For example, when a football stadium is full it means that all the tickets have been sold and no one else can enter the stadium.
Jack: The stadium is full of fans. We often use the preposition ‘of’ with full. Something is full of something. A stadium is full of fans. An orange is full of vitamin C. Chocolate is full of calories.
Rich: We use ‘of’ but you might not hear it because we don’t say it strongly. Listen again. A stadium is full of fans. We often just use a schwa. An orange is full of vitamin c.
Jack: Here is an activity for you. We want you to complete some sentences using full of. What can you say about these foods?
Processed food …
Rich: Processed food is full of salt.
Jack: Very good Rich. Now let’s see if our listeners can complete some sentences.
Jack: Cake is ...
Rich: Cake is full of sugar. Is that what you said?
Jack: The next phrase we want you to look at is good for and bad for.
Rich: When we are talking about food this is easy. We can say sugar is bad for you and fruit is good for you.
Jack: Too much sugar.
Rich: Yes, OK. A little sugar is OK, too much sugar is bad for you. In the roleplay, Jack said fish oils are good for your brain.
Jack: We use the phrase good for or bad for a lot when speaking about diet. We can say sugar is bad for your teeth and milk is good for your bones.
Rich: We’re going to give you three more items of food. Can you tell us what they are good for or bad for?
Jack: Number one: green, leafy vegetables; number two: fizzy drinks; number three; wholemeal bread.
Rich: Right, the third phrase we want to look at about diet is it’ll fill you up.
Jack: To fill someone up is a phrasal verb that describes food that you have eaten that has made you feel full; that makes you feel that you don’t want to eat any more.
Rich: In the roleplay, Jack said that I should eat a jacket potato because it would fill me up.
Jack: Can you tell us a dish or food from your country that would fill me up?
Rich: Write your answers in the comments section at the bottom of the page. Now, let’s look at three phrases from the second roleplay that was all about fitness.
Jack: The first phrase is don’t forget to stretch.
Rich: I’ve always hated doing this. I remember my teachers and coaches at school saying it’s time to stretch.
Jack: But it’s important to warm up your muscles.
Rich: Yes, I know. But nowadays it’s my wife who tells me. Whenever I go and do some exercise. She often shouts don’t forget to stretch!
Jack: It is important to stretch especially for … older people.
Rich: Thanks! This phrase don’t forget to is often used to remind people to do things. Don’t forget to lock the door, don’t forget to turn off the lights, don’t forget to bring your homework.
Jack: Yes, it’s a useful phrase. The second phrase is I really need to get into shape. This is an idiom or informal expression that means to do some exercise and become physically fit.
Rich: Other similar phrases that you might hear are: I need to get fit, I need to stay fit and trim, I’m as fit as a fiddle or I really need to lose a few kilos.
Jack: The third useful phrase from the second roleplay is to warm up. This is another phrasal verb. To warm up means to do some easy exercises before you do the sport or activity you plan to do.
Rich: In the second roleplay, Jack told me that it was important to warm up before going for a run and then after going for a run that it was important to cool down.
Jack: Cool down is another phrasal verb and it means the same as warm up but you do the easy exercise after you’ve finished your activity rather than before.
Rich: Tatkanatka from Russia was asking about this on the website last week so we hope we’ve answered your question there.
Jack: If you want to learn more language about either diet or fitness you can register for our activity week on health and fitness which starts on Monday.
Rich: If you are already on the activity week then you will find the next lesson focuses on the language of diet and lesson five will be the language of fitness.
Football Phrase
Rich: Have you got a football phrase for us this week?
Jack: Yes, I have, but first, last week’s football phrase. The phrase was to put the ball out of play. It means to accidentally, or on purpose, if another player is injured, kick the ball off the pitch.
Rich: Quite a few of you got it right and we had some people guessing the football phrase for the first time. Well done to Liubomyr and Violinka from Ukraine, Kwesimanifest from Ghana, Nikotin from Bulgaria, Lynnhtetmyo from Myanmar, Lakerwang from China, Toha_23 from Ukraine and Milos from Serbia. What’s this week’s phrase, Jack?
Jack: This week’s football phrase is to **** * ******. This is a phrase that can happen to anybody doing sport or exercise, not just footballers. This is the general phrase we use when someone hurts or strains some part of your body. It’s very common for footballers to **** ******** in their legs for example.
Rich: Right, that’s all we have time for this week! Don’t forget to write your answers to our questions and make a guess at our football phrase in the comments below.
Jack: Don’t forget to sign up for our Premier Skills English Live Lessons on the Premier Skills English homepage. Just hit the live tab .
Rich: If you have enjoyed this podcast or found it useful, leave us a rating or review and that will help other people find us. Bye for now and enjoy your football!
Vocabulary
How much did you understand?
In the podcast, Rich and Jack used some words and phrases that might be new for you. Do you know the words in bold?
I forgot to stretch when I was warming up. I'm just a bit stiff that's all.
You might be out of action for a few weeks. You should get it checked out.
There were a few more tricky words in the podcast. Do you know what they all mean? Try the activity below, then, listen to the podcast again to hear how we used the words.
Activity 1
Topic
Diet
In this week's podcast, Jack and Rich spoke about health and fitness. In the first roleplay they spoke about diet. Jack thought that Rich's lunch was a bit unhealthy and gave him a bit of advice on healthy eating. They focussed on three useful phrases we hear a lot when talking about diet.
Mushy peas? Disgusting! They're full of sugar and salt.
Full of is a useful phrase and phrase you often hear when talking about diet. The phrase means that to have a lot or as much as possible of something in something else. Cola is full of sugar, chocolate is full of fat, oranges are full of vitamin C are common phrases about diet and the stadium is full of fans is a phrase you might hear about football.
Fish oils are good for your brain.
Too much sugar is bad for your teeth.
Good/bad for is another phrase we hear a lot when talking about diet. We use these phrases to say something is good or bad for something else. You often hear milk is good for your bones or smoking is bad for your health.
I'd go for a jacket potato. That'll fill you up.
To fill someone up is a phrasal verb that describes a food that makes you feel full; it makes you feel like you don't want to eat anything else. It's also a common phrasal verb to use at the petrol station. You might need to say: Can you fill it up, please? when asking for petrol for your car.
Task
In the podcast, Jack and Rich gave you three tasks connected to this vocabulary.
1. Can you complete the sentences using the phrase full of?
- Cake is ...
- Processed food is ...
2. What are these three items good or bad for?
- green, leafy vegetables
- fizzy drinks
- wholemeal bread
3. Can you tell us a dish or food from your country that would fill you up?
Write your answers in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
Topic
Fitness
In the second roleplay, Rich and Jack spoke about fitness. Jack had just been for a run an Rich is thinking about joining taking up running for the first time. They focussed on three useful phrases we hear a lot when talking about fitness.
If you start running, take it easy at first and don't forget to stretch.
The phrase don't forget to is very useful when you want to remind someone to do something. Other common uses include: don't forget to do your homework, don't forget to lock the door and don't forget to turn off the lights.
I started going to the gym last week. I really need to get onto shape. You know, I need to lose a few kilos.
The phrase to get into shape is an idiom that means to do more exercise and become physically fit. Other phrases with a similar meaning that you might hear include: I need to get fit and trim, I need to lose a few kilos/pounds or I really need to slim down.
You need to warm up before you start running and you need to cool down when you finish.
Warm up and cool down are both phrasal verbs and are both connected to fitness and exercise. These are the easy exercises that you do before an activity (warm up) and after an activity (cool down).
If you want to learn more about how to speak about diet and fitness, you will find lots of activities in lessons four and five of our activity week.
Vocabulary
Football Phrase
Every week in the podcast, we have a new football phrase for you to guess. Last week's football phrase was to put the ball out of play. This phrase means:
To accidentally, or on purpose if a player is injured, kick the ball of the pitch.
Many of our listeners made a guess and well done to those of you who got it right! Congratulations to the following listeners:
- Liubomyr from Ukraine
- Kwesimanifest from Ghana
- Violonka from Ukraine
- Nikotin from Bulgaria
- Lynnhtetmyo from Myanmar
- Lakerwang from China
- Toha_23 from Ukraine
- Milos from Serbia
Try to guess this week's football phrase and we will mention you on this page next week! You can find the football phrase near the end of the podcast.
Quiz
Please login to take this quiz.
Comment
What do you think?
In this week’s podcast, Jack and Rich spoke about health and fitness.
What do you to keep fit? Do you have a healthy diet?
Is exercise or diet the most important thing to stay fit?
Look back at the three tasks that we asked you to do in the podcast. Write your answers below.
Remember to write your guess for this week's football phrase, too!
Leave a comment
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Comments
28/02/2018
points
TOPIC DIET Task
1. Cake is FULL OF SUGAR
2. Processed food is FULL OF SALT
3. Green & leafy vegetables are GOOD FOR YOU
4. Fizzy drinks are BAD FOR YOU
5. Wholemeal bread is GOOD FOR YOU
FOOTBALL PHRASE - Guess
to hit below the belt
COMMENT "health and fitness"
I don't usually do any special sport because I don't have time during the week, but I always try to follow a healthy diet: 2 litres of water a day, so much fruit as I can & fresh vegetables. I love my mum's homemade food, too. It is full of proteins and vitamins.
I consider that Both exercise and diet are the best ways to be healthy (keeping in mind the future!)
28/02/2018 22:57
Brighton and Hove Albion
183
TOPIC DIET Task
1. Cake is FULL OF SUGAR
2. Processed food is FULL OF SALT
3. Green & leafy vegetables are GOOD FOR YOU
4. Fizzy drinks are BAD FOR YOU
5. Wholemeal bread is GOOD FOR YOU
FOOTBALL PHRASE - Guess
to hit below the belt
COMMENT "health and fitness"
I don't usually do any special sport because I don't have time during the week, but I always try to follow a healthy diet: 2 litres of water a day, so much fruit as I can & fresh vegetables. I love my mum's homemade food, too. It is full of proteins and vitamins.
I consider that Both exercise and diet are the best ways to be healthy (keeping in mind the future!)
01/03/2018
points
Hi Laurita,
All your answers are correct apart from the football phrase. Do you want to have another guess? If you look at the other comments, you will see that when someone gets the right answer we replace it with asterisks (*). This will help you think about the correct number of letters and the right number of words in the phrase.
Homemade food is always the best! Well, nearly always - my mum is an awful cook!!
Rich - The Premier Skills English Team
01/03/2018 08:16
Liverpool
594
Hi Laurita,
All your answers are correct apart from the football phrase. Do you want to have another guess? If you look at the other comments, you will see that when someone gets the right answer we replace it with asterisks (*). This will help you think about the correct number of letters and the right number of words in the phrase.
Homemade food is always the best! Well, nearly always - my mum is an awful cook!!
Rich - The Premier Skills English Team
28/02/2018
points
To maintain my physical form, I go to work and work. This is about 8000 steps a day. While walking, this allows you to prepare a work plan for the day :)
I think it's a **** * *******.
28/02/2018 16:57
Chelsea
382
To maintain my physical form, I go to work and work. This is about 8000 steps a day. While walking, this allows you to prepare a work plan for the day :)
I think it's a **** * *******.
28/02/2018
points
actually i doing a 5 minutes workout at my room. sometimes i have a diet menu to keep my calories in.
Is exercise or diet the most important thing to stay fit? absolutely YES.
28/02/2018 16:11
Manchester United
249
actually i doing a 5 minutes workout at my room. sometimes i have a diet menu to keep my calories in.
Is exercise or diet the most important thing to stay fit? absolutely YES.
27/02/2018
points
Both exercise and diet are the most important things to stay fit because if you exercise with a correct diet, your health would improve. For example, runners should try to consume some carbohydrate within an hour of finishing the marathon in either food or drink form. This could include carbohydrate sports drinks, cereal bars, bananas or bread-based products.
27/02/2018 20:32
Leicester City
99
Both exercise and diet are the most important things to stay fit because if you exercise with a correct diet, your health would improve. For example, runners should try to consume some carbohydrate within an hour of finishing the marathon in either food or drink form. This could include carbohydrate sports drinks, cereal bars, bananas or bread-based products.
27/02/2018
points
yes
27/02/2018 10:58
Arsenal
323
yes