Lian4(练) means “to practice, to exercise, to train”. In our lessons, we learned it in the words duan4lian4(锻练)-exercise－see lessons 22, 53, and lian4xi2(练习)-practice-see lesson 65.

The verb lian4(练) is different from it’s English counterpart.

It can accept as a subject not only the “body related nouns”, e.g. to exercise body－lian4 shen1ti(练身体) or lian4 ji1rou4(练肌肉)-to train muscles, etc.

It can also accept nouns that indicate the way of exercising or tools used for exercising (锻练的方式或者工具)

E.g. lian4 jian4shen1 qi4xie4(练健身器械)-to practice the body building equipment ( “to practice” or “to exercise using……”)

lian4 yu2jia1(练愈加)-practice yoga.

lian4 kong1shou3dao4(练空手道)-to practice karate-do.

If this usage still confuses you, you better use the full expressions: duan4lian4(锻练)-for “to exercise”(body, muscles, etc) and lian4xi2(练习) for “to practice” (equipment, yoga, etc.)

A useful combination is: lian4 yi2 lian4(练一练). E.g.Wo3 xiang3 lian4 yi2 lian4 jian4shen1 qi4xie4(我想练一练健身器械)-I’d like to practice the body-building equipment.

Wo3 xiang3 lian4 yi2 lian4 pao3bu4ji1(我想练一练跑步机)－I’d like to exercise on the treadmill.

Hope my answer shed some light on this topic.

I have a confusion about the usage of lian4 in “Ni xuyao lian jianshen qixie” – You need to exercise using the body building equipment. So, does lian include within itself the preposition “using” or “with”. I see that you do not use “yong” before “jianshen qixie”. Can you please clarify this?

Thanks a lot. By the way, this lesson is great! Especially ’cause I am a bodybuilder myself and have always been interested in learning gym terminology.

Steven