Build up
Today’s English expression is “build up.” There are two ways to use “build up,” but we’ll talk about just one of them today. When you build something up, you make yourself stronger.
In today’s lesson, you heard that diseases like COVID-19 move from being epidemic to being endemic as the population builds up immunity. That immunity can come from vaccination or from a prior infection.
When should you exercise after getting COVID-19? First, if you exercise around other people, you should wait until after you test negative. But setting aside those considerations, is it healthy to jump right back into your exercise routine?
Many doctors say that you should be careful about resuming an exercise routine right away. If you’ve gotten COVID-19, your body has been hard at work fighting a disease, even if you don’t feel it in your muscles. For that reason, doctors say you should build up your strength for a few weeks. You should start with some light exercise like walking to get your lungs in good shape. Then do a lighter version of your routine. Then finally you can resume your normal routine. You need to build up your strength when rebounding from disease.
Have you ever run a long race? I’ve run three marathons—all years ago. That phase is behind me, thank you. A marathon is 26.2 miles of running; it took me over four hours! I didn’t just wake up one morning and run the race. I built up the stamina to run those races. That means, for months beforehand, I was out doing training runs, gradually extending the number of miles I ran in a day and in a week. I had to build up my stamina.
The same works for bike rides. I used to go on long bike rides too, sometimes 75 or 100 miles at a time. The first ride of the season was not a 75-mile ride for me. I’d start with something like 25 or 40 miles, and the gradually build up the strength in the season to do the longer rides.
Athletes that get injured need to go to rehab. Let’s say an athlete needs to get knee surgery. First, the injury has to heal. Then, the athlete has to build up strength in that knee. Imagine a basketball player misses months for knee surgery. His knee might be better in the sense that it works properly, but he also needs to build the strength back up before going into a game.
A few weeks back, I told you about the SAT, the standardized test we all take to get into college. That’s a three hour exam. A lot of people just wake up on the morning of the test, walk into the testing room, and take it. But this is not the recommended strategy. It’s a three hour test, timed, and it’s hard. You really should build up to it by taking some practice tests beforehand so that you’re used to the difficulty level you’re able to concentrate for such a long time.
I’ve told you before that I’ve gone to India a few times for work. And everyone was very protective of me there; they didn’t want me eating food that might make me sick. And I asked someone one time, why do you think I’ll get sick by eating something if you don’t get sick? Here’s the answer I got: Indian people all do get sick from that stuff; they just get sick at a young age, and they build up immunity over the years. That way, an Indian person might be able to eat something somewhat questionable and be fine, whereas I’d get sick from it.
JR’s song of the week
Time for JR’s song of the week. This is another case where I said, “Oh yeah, I remember that song,” and then JR reminded me that he picked the new version, which of course I hadn’t heard. Well here it is, “Tom’s Diner” by AnnenMayKantreit. I, of course, remembered the version by Susanne Vega from the late 80s. I almost didn’t recognize the new version, but sure enough it is the same song. “Tom’s Diner” by AnnenMayKantreit is JR’s song of the week.
See you next time!
And that’s all for Plain English today. Remember, you can find the full lesson online at PlainEnglish.com/453. That’s where you’ll find the fast version, the translations, video lesson, practice exercises, and much more.
We’ll be back on Monday with a brand-new topic for you. See you then.
Use realistic expressions like a native speaker
