Workout lingua has got it all wrong

I joined the gym a couple of months ago. It’s the first time in my life that I am doing strength training with weights in a gym.

The more I think about the exercise names, the more I feel they have got it all wrong. They either lack any creativity or they are so negative. Let me explain.

The names of exercises in yoga are so creative. Bhujangasana (Cobra pose), Veerabadrasana (warrior pose) etc. It is to say that when you do the pose your body looks like a cobra or a warrior and so on. Frankly, to even compare and see that you look like a cobra when you do Bhujangasana, you need to have a large cup of imagination. All said, notice the creativity in the names of exercises.

On the contrary, the names of exercises in the gym are so damn flat and bland. They are just exactly what you do in the exercise. Absolutely no creativity.

Dumbbell curls – You curl your hand holding the dumbbell.

Cable pull-down – You are pulling down the cable.

Cable rope face pull – You pull a rope connected to a cable to your face.

Dumbbell seated overhead press – I am not going to explain as the exercise name is the explanation.

It is almost like naming an Idly – Soak Grind Rice Dal Ferment Steam.

Frankly, I feel even the way we use the words pull-ups and push-ups in a sentence is grammatically wrong.

“Did you do pull-ups” is what we say. Ideally it should be “Did you pull yourself up”.

After a while, people got bored of this blandish long workout names. So they said let’s add some creativity and make some cool names. Unfortunately all those names are so negative.

Dead lift – What does it mean? Lift the dead? Lift until dead? Lift like you are dead?

Skull crushers – This means only one thing. Crush the damn skull. But no. It’s a triceps exercise.

Battle rope– It’s not to battle with a rope but to move some heavy ropes vigorously.

Even the terms used around the workout are negative.

“Do it till failure”. We usually tell people do things to succeed. Here these guys tell that there is no success after you do it. Only failure.

“Your muscles should burnout” – I hope I am not welcomed with a flamethrower in the gym.

People say they feel so fresh and positive after a good workout. But the workout is filled with negative words. Does it mean that words don’t matter and what they really imply is what really matters?

GenZs are coming up with new and creative terms for normal day to day stuff that don’t need any upgrade. I think they should take up the task of making gym workout names sound more creative and positive. That will do some good for mankind.