Learn Mandarin Chinese, how to say – Sit-up, push-up, squat and lunge are four common boring workouts. What is dun ma bu? Ed Sheeran – The A Team Lyrics

Today, let’s talk about how to say some common physical exercises in Chinese. I thought of writing this post while I was in gym working on an Elliptical machine. I had 3 hours of sweating time that afternoon, too much for my own good, but the time was well spent.

Last week I was doing lunge, and I hurt one of my knees. A long while ago I did abdominal crunch with too much weight and I hurt my spine. I am still hurting here and there, but it is OK. No pains, no gains? Yes, gain a lot of salty water from eyebrows and nose tip, and maybe some ugly muscles too. I should write more about exercise later on, maybe about how to cope with exercise induced pains.

Learn Chinese, how to say ” Sit-up, push-up, squat and lunge are four common boring workouts.”
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仰卧起坐，伏地挺身，蹲马步和箭步是四种常见的,无聊乏味的锻炼。
yǎngwòqǐzuò , fúdìtǐngshēn , dūn mǎbù hé jiànbù shì sì zhǒng cháng jiàn de, wúliáo fáwèi de duànliàn .
yǎngwòqǐzuò (仰卧起坐 exercise term – sit-up, 仰卧 yǎngwò means lying down on your back with face look up, 起坐 qǐzuò means raising your upper body up and getting into sitting position), fúdìtǐngshēn (伏地挺身 push-up, 伏地fúdìtǐ means crouching on the ground, 挺身 tǐngshēn means strengthening body), dūn mǎbù ( 蹲 dūn means squat, 马 mǎ means horse, 步 bù means step, together these three words 蹲马步 means squatting) hé (和 conjunction, and) jiànbù ( 箭步 jiàn means arrow, bù means step, the shape of doing lunge with one leg outstretched like an arrow, so it is called arrow step) shì (是 verb, is) sì (四 number, 4) zhǒng ( 种 noun, kind) cháng jiàn (常 cháng, adverb, often; 见 jiàn, verb, see; together they mean common) de (的 particle to connect attributive and the noun it modifies) wúliáo (无聊 adjective, boring) fáwèi (乏味 adjective, without taste, or tastless) de (的 connecting particle) duànliàn (锻炼 noun, workout).

Here is some information about the term 马步 Mǎ bù. Literally it means horse step. If you would like to learn some advanced Chinese, you are welcome to study it. Audio recording, pinyin and translation are as followed.

马步是练习武术最基本的训练。蹲马步时双脚分开略宽于肩，采半蹲姿态，因姿势有如骑马一般，因而得名。马步蹲得好，可壮肾腰，调节精神，平衡能力好，不易被人打倒，还能提升身体的反应能力。马步是练武前的基本功之一。

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Mǎ bù shì liànxí wǔshù zuì jīběn de xùnliàn . dún Mǎ bù shí shuāng jiǎo fēnkāi lǜe kuān Yú Jiān , cǎi bàn cún zītài , yīn zīshì yǒu rú qí mǎ yībān , yīnér dé míng. Mǎ bù dún děi hǎo, kě zhuàng shèn yāo , tiáojié jīngshen , pínghéng nénglì hǎo , bù yì bèi rén dǎ dǎo , hái néng tíshēng shēntǐ de fǎnyìng nénglì . Mǎ bù shì liàn wǔ qián de jīběn gōng zhī yī .

Squatting is the most basic training for practicing martial arts. When one does squatting, the distance between two feet needs to be slightly wider than shoulder and use half squatting posture. For this posture is like horseback riding, hence it got the name. If squatting well, the trainee’s kidney and waist can be strengthened, spirit will be harmonized, and balance ability will be good. Thus, he or she will not easily be struck down, but also will enhance the body’s ability to respond. Squatting is one of the basic skills before practicing martial arts.

Do you like doing squat? I rarely do it. It is not my sport at all, but I do hope you did learn some Chinese phrases, grammar, and sentence structure from the above passage. Also, in China, there is one kind of toilet called squat toilets （ 蹲式马桶，dún shì mǎtǒng ）. So, if you plan to go to China soon, maybe you need to practice squat often, just in case that You won’t fall on floor or toilet later on during your China trip. If you have interest in learning various kinds of Chinese toilets, then there is a link:
The Art of Mastering the Chinese Toilet

Here is a beautiful sad song I listen to lately, hope you will like it too.

Ed Sheeran – The A Team Lyrics

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