There is a couch potato in all of us. I was born with a particularly large potato specimen attached to my inner motivational system. If it's not the TV, then it's the internet, the phone -- anything that can keep me from getting a life and actually living it does the trick.

But lately I decided to work out a little. So I went swimming for a few days... and then took a 2 week long 'break'...

Anyway, I decided I should stay on track and try to exercise as much as possible. For those of you who would really like to work out also but just couldn't find the words for it, this is what today's lesson will be about.

So let's start from our inner place of laziness and build things up towards getting a move on.

最近だるくてやる気が出ない。
さいきん　だるくて　やるき　が　でない。
Lately (I) feel sluggish and can't get myself motivated.
Literally: 'Lately + sluggish + motivation + が + not come out.'

Note 1: だるい is a word that is used fairly often. Anyone 'zombified' by the Japanese summer heat and humidity will speak this word from time to time in a toneless voice that seems to have lost all hope.

Note 2: やる気 is another excellent example of a combo word. You just put the word 'やる/to do' and '気/き/motivation, intention, disposition' together and you get 'disposition for doing (something),' or 'やる気.'

Note 3: Here you get a set expression that would be really good to remember:

やる気が出る/出ない
やるき　が　でる/でない
Get oneself motivated / be unable to do so.
Literally: 'motivation (disposition for doing things) + が + comes out / does not come out.'

Now you know how to get your engine going!

やる気出して！
やるき　だして！
Get motivated!
Literally: 'Motivation + take out'!

まずはウォーミングアップしましょう！
まず　は　うぉーみんぐあっぷ　しましょう！
First let's warm-up!
Literally: 'First + は + warming-up + let's do!

The politically correct version of 'warming up' would be '準備体操/じゅんびたいそう’ or 'preparatory exercises,' but as the number of search results on everybody's favorite search engine will also tell you, the Japanese most often just say 'ウォーミングアップ.'

Now how about we do some push-ups?

腕立て伏せ（うでたてふせ）is another wonderful combo-word.
Comprised of 腕 /うで/arms' + '立て/たて/stand (ing) up + 伏せ/ふせ/bending down.

So you stand-and-bend-down-on-your-arms.

Easy peasy.

Speaking of push-ups, I'm quite sure our favorite bald hero included them in his training menu, so it surely wouldn't hurt to try some.

腕立て伏せ百回。
うでたてふせひゃっかい。
One hundred push-ups.
Literally: 'Arms + stand + bend down + 100 + times.'

上体起こし百回。
じょうたいおこし　ひゃっかい。
One hundred sit-ups.
Literally: 'Upper-body-rise-up + one hundred + times'

There we go, another combo word: 上/じょう/upper + 体/たい/body + 起こし/おこし/ rising up.

スクワット百回。
すくわっと　ひゃっかい。
One hundred squats.
Literally: 'Squat + hundred times'

そしてランニング10キロ。
そして　らんにんぐ　じゅっ　きろ。
And running 10 km.
Literally: 'And + running + 10 + kilometers'

And of course, most important part of the deal is:

それを毎日やる。
それ　を　まいにち　やる。
You do it every day.
Literally: 'that + を + every day + do.'

Note: You probably know by now but 'やる' is man-talk for 'する'

最後はストレッチしましょう。
さいご　は　すとれっち　しましょう。
In the end, let's stretch.
Literally: 'end + は + stretching + let's do.'

Mmmm, feels good doesn't it?

If you worked out without being too careful about your limits, you might have some muscle trouble the next day.

昨日の運動で筋肉痛になりました。
きのう　の　うんどう　で　きんにくつう　に　なりました。
(I) got muscle pain from yesterday's workout.
Literally: 'Yesterday + の + workout + で + muscle pain + に + has become.'

So remember not to overdo it:

やりすぎないで下さい。
やりすぎないで　ください。
Please do not overdo it.
Literally: 'Overdo-not + please'

...which, if you're anything like me, is probably not the case.
So thank you for joining today's workout and I'll see you next time!

This lesson was written by Adriana, a guest contributor.