Body Builder
Share your split, talk nutrition and progress, and give honest gym advice — out loud.
The verb is entrenar (or hacer ejercicio) — ejercitar sounds stiff, and the literal trabajar afuera for "work out" gives you away instantly. Describe your split the way lifters do: estoy haciendo una rutina de push, pull y pierna, los lunes me toca pecho y tríceps, pesado — the English split names survive intact, though in Mexico you'll hear the calque empuje, jalón y pierna. Bulking and cutting are estoy en volumen and en definición bajo las calorías pero no toco la proteína.
Below: the phrases lesson by lesson, what lifters actually say between sets, the false friends that flag a beginner — and a way to rehearse the whole gym conversation out loud before you have it for real.
The warm-up pack
The phrases that actually get said between sets — split, macros, and the honest advice that keeps a training partner safe.
01 · How you describe your split
Estoy haciendo una rutina de push, pull y pierna.
I'm doing a push, pull, legs routine.
The English split names — push, pull, legs — survive intact in Spanish gym talk; you don't have to translate them, just drop them into the sentence.
02 · How often, honestly
Entreno cuatro o cinco días a la semana, según cómo me sienta.
I train four or five days a week, depending on how I feel.
Según cómo me sienta hedges the number without sounding flaky — it reads as self-aware, not vague.
03 · The form cue you give a partner
Controla la fase excéntrica, no dejes caer el peso.
Control the eccentric phase, don't just drop the weight.
This is the register a training partner actually uses to correct form — a specific instruction, not a vague 'be careful.'
04 · Talking bulking
Estoy en volumen y como unas 3.000 calorías al día.
I'm bulking and eating about 3,000 calories a day.
Estoy en volumen is the standard way to say 'bulking' — a literal translation would sound like you're talking about a volume dial.
05 · The protein target
Trato de llegar a dos gramos de proteína por kilo de peso corporal.
I try to hit two grams of protein per kilo of body weight.
Numbers plus por kilo de peso corporal is exactly how lifters talk macros in Spanish — precise, not padded with hedges.
06 · Talking cutting
En definición bajo las calorías pero no toco la proteína.
When cutting I drop calories but I don't touch protein.
En definición is 'cutting' — pero no toco la proteína is the concession structure that shows you know what you're doing, not just following a diet blindly.
07 · The progress hedge
La báscula es engañosa, lo importante es cómo me queda la ropa.
The scale is misleading, what matters is how my clothes fit.
Engañosa — misleading, not lying outright — is the softer word for calling something unreliable. It reads as measured, not dismissive.
08 · The supplement warning
No recomiendo meterse en esteroides sin supervisión médica, nunca.
I don't recommend getting into steroids without medical supervision, ever.
No recomiendo + infinitive is how you warn someone without sounding like you're lecturing them — advice framed as your own stance, not a rule.
09 · Calling out the hype
Si algo suena demasiado bueno para ser cierto, probablemente lo sea.
If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
The hedge lands in probablemente — confident enough to make the point, careful enough not to claim certainty you don't have.
10 · Narrating an injury
Me lesioné el hombro hace unos meses y tuve que frenar.
I injured my shoulder a few months ago and had to stop.
Tuve que frenar — I had to stop — is the natural way to narrate an injury without over-explaining; the preterite carries the story.
11 · The lesson learned
Me di cuenta de que descansar era tan importante como entrenar.
I realized that resting was as important as training.
Me di cuenta de que is the reflective register — the line that closes a conversation on a lesson learned, not just a fact stated.
FLUENT
Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish.
Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/body-builderRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
Watch out
The part no phrase list can do
Isabella
Your conversation teacher for this pack
In the Body Builder pack, the final lesson is a live conversation at the squat rack — and Isabella plays your training partner of two months: driven, slightly competitive, takes feedback well but tests it first, and always counts her reps under her breath in Spanish. It's a Tuesday-afternoon lull at a busy commercial gym. She wants your current split and goals, a safe handoff to spot her on bench, honest feedback on her squat — and your take on the "miracle" supplement a coach is selling. Out loud. And she talks back:
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Body Builder is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
Entrenar or hacer ejercicio. Never translate it literally as trabajar afuera, and skip ejercitar in conversation — it exists but sounds stiff. "A workout" is un entrenamiento.
Bulking: estoy en volumen y como unas 3.000 calorías al día. Cutting: en definición bajo las calorías pero no toco la proteína. The protein rule of thumb travels too: trato de llegar a dos gramos de proteína por kilo de peso corporal.
Estoy haciendo una rutina de push, pull y pierna — the English names are standard, though Mexicans also say empuje, jalón y pierna. Add frequency: entreno cuatro o cinco días a la semana, según cómo me sienta.
Me lesioné el hombro hace unos meses y tuve que frenar — I hurt my shoulder and had to stop. The physio is el fisioterapeuta: el fisioterapeuta me mandó ejercicios de movilidad todos los días. Coming back carefully: si vuelvo a cargar demasiado rápido, me va a pasar factura.
No — suceso means event. The word you want is éxito. It's one of the classic false friends that slips out exactly when you're telling someone about your progress.
