Matt: Hey Craig, do you want to come and do a workout with me? I’m just heading off to the gym now.

Craig: Yeah, sure! I have been really slack lately; I definitely need to get back into it.

Matt: Cool. Well just grab your things and we can be off.

Craig: Sure, I’ll be back in a tick.

(20 minutes later…at the gym)

Craig: How about you jump on the bench press first, and I’ll spot you.

Matt: Ok, sweet.

Craig: How much can you bench?

Matt: I can usually do 3 sets of 10 with 80kg.

Craig: Wow, that’s heaps! I can only bench 60 kg and that’s pushing it!

Matt: Yeah but I’m a much bigger guy than you. I think you would make a really good runner; whereas I would be terrible at running but I would be a make a good prop.

Craig: True, true. Maybe I should pick up running. (Pauses and thinks)

Craig: Well shall we get on with it?

Glossary:

Workout : This is when a person exercises with the purpose of getting fit, or building muscle. For example a person may go to the gym, or do exercises from an exercise video.

Heading off : This is used when a person is leaving. Matt is leaving to go to the gym.

Slack : This is when a person has not done something because they have been lazy or procrastinating. Example sentence: “I have not done my assignment yet, I have been really slack.”

Get Back Into It : This is to start something again that a person has done previously, but has recently stopped doing. Example sentence: “I haven’t been doing any knitting lately, I need to get back into it.”

Be Off : This means to leave. Example sentence: “I’m just going to get my bag and then I’ll be off.” If a person is leaving immediately they would leave out the ‘be’ and say, “ I’m off.”

Back In A Tick : This means that a person will be back shortly. It may mean that a person will come back in a few minutes, or it may mean that a person will be back in around half an hour.

Example sentences:

“I will just go and put my shoes on, I’ll be back in a tick.” The person is expecting their friend to wait exactly where they are for a few minutes for them to return.

“I am just going to go and pick up a DVD, I’ll be back in a tick.” The person is expecting their friend to stay in the same location waiting for them to return, but not to just stand and wait for them. They are expecting their friend to do something while they are away for about half an hour.

Another expression like this is “I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

Jump On: This is when a person is instructed to get onto something. A person may say, “ jump in” when asking a person to get into a car; or “ jump on” when a person is asking someone to get onto an object, such as a bench press. It is a casual and friendly request.

Spot You: This is when someone is lying down lifting weights on a bench press and someone else is standing directly behind them. The person who is standing is there in case the weights become too heavy, and the person lifting the weights needs some help to lift the weight. This is a safety precaution, because if a person cannot lift the weight and it falls on top of them it may crush them. The act of standing behind the bench press is to “ spot.”

Ok Sweet: This is to say that a person agrees with what another person is saying, and they are happy with it.

Bench: This is an abbreviation for bench press. The question “how much can you bench?” means, how much can you lift on a bench press?

3 Sets of 10: This is when a person lifts a certain amount of weight ten times and then has a short break for a few minutes - this is one set. Matt can do this set three times.

Pushing It: This means that a Craig can only just bench 60kg, it is the very maximum that he can do. In this case the expression is used as a pun. Craig is pushing weight, yet he is also pushing the limit of his ability.

Prop: A prop is a position in the game of rugby. Rugby is New Zealand’s most popular sports game. A prop is generally a person who is large and has a lot of muscle.

True, True: True is used when a person agrees with somebody else. When the word is repeated straight after itself, it is a thoughtful agreement. Craig is thinking about what Matt has said, and is agreeing with him.

Pick Up: This is used for when a person wants to start something that they have not done before. Example sentence: “I really like playing rugby, but maybe I should try something new and pick up soccer this winter.”

Get On With It: This means to hurry up and start doing what you had planned to do. Depending on the tone, if this is said as a question it is friendly and casual, however if it is said as a statement it can be taken as somebody telling somebody else off. For example,

“Should we get on with it?” (This is friendly and casual question, from one friend to another).

“Come on, get on with it!” (A teacher may be telling their student to hurry up and complete their work.)