A2-44 / CEFR A2 / EPISODE 44

Workout Buddy

Comparing progress in exercise

SceneAt a café. Tina reports on competition with a gym friend.

Tina flexes her arm in workout clothes while talking with Frank at a cafe. — Select the illustration to view it at full size in a new tab.

Narrator

Tina has a workout buddy at the gym. Tina is improving fast and starting to compete with her. Frank is curious.

ティナにはジムのトレーニング仲間がいる。ティナは急速に上達し、彼女と競い始めている。フランクは興味津々だ。

Tina01

Hey, the girl who trains with me can do twelve push-ups now!

ねえ、私と一緒にトレーニングしてる女の子、腕立て伏せを12回できるようになったの！

Frank02

Has she been going to the gym longer than you?

彼女は君より長く通ってるの？

Tina03

Yes, but I'm catching up. I can do ten now.

ええ、でも追いついてきたわ。私は今10回できるの。

Frank04

So it's a push-up competition?

つまり、腕立て伏せの回数を競ってるの？

Tina05

A bit. She's more consistent than me, though. She never skips a workout.

少しね。でも彼女のほうがコツコツ続けてるの。予定したトレーニングは欠かさないのよ。

Frank06

Consistency makes you stronger over time. That's how it works.

継続が時間をかけて人を強くするんだ。そういうものだよ。

Tina07

Fine. I'll be consistent until I beat her.

わかった。彼女に勝つまではコツコツ続けるわ。

Frank08

Are you eating better than before, too?

食事も前より良くしてるの？

Tina09

Definitely — more protein, less junk food now.

もちろん。今はタンパク質多め、ジャンクフード少なめよ。

Frank10

So thirteen push-ups is your goal.

じゃあ、目標は腕立て伏せ13回だね。

Tina11

Good. Then I can stop going to the gym as soon as I beat her.

よかった。じゃあ、彼女に勝ったらすぐジムに通うのをやめられるわね。

Frank12

And after you win? No more training?

勝ったあとは？もうトレーニングしないの？

Tina13

Until I beat her. I was very specific.

彼女に勝つまでって言ったの。ちゃんとそう言ったわよ。

WORDS & CONTEXT

Words & context

“She's more consistent than me”

Dictionaries give consistent as "unchanging," but here it means steadily keeping something up without gaps. Tina admits that compared with her friend, who never misses a planned workout, she is weaker at sticking with it. It does not mean the friend goes every day or never takes rest days.

“She never skips a workout.”

Skip means to miss or leave out something on purpose. Here it means leaving out a planned workout. It is also used in phrases like skip class.

“I'm catching up.” / “thirteen push-ups is your goal”

Catch up means to reach the same level as someone ahead, a push-up is an exercise where you push your body up from the floor with your arms, and a goal is a target. The friend can do twelve and Tina can do ten, so Tina is aiming for thirteen. Frank is confirming a concrete goal; he does not claim that eating better will soon make her stronger than her friend.

“I was very specific.”

Specific means clear and precisely limited. I was very specific. means "I stated my condition clearly." When Frank asks whether she will keep training after she wins, Tina points back to until I beat her in line 7, insisting that she always meant to train only until then.

Browse all 60 A2 episodes