Exercise & Physical Health ESL Lesson Plan – Boost Language and Wellbeing

Why Movement and Language Go Hand in Hand

Teaching can be a fairly still job – lots of sitting, planning, talking, and more sitting. But our students often want to talk about health, fitness and energy. That’s where the Exercise and Physical Health ESL lesson plan comes in.

This lesson is packed with idioms like break a sweat, pump iron and throw in the towel – phrases native speakers use all the time when talking about fitness or pushing through tough situations. It helps learners express effort, motivation and determination – in both the gym and in life.

It’s a fantastic way to bring energy into your lessons while giving students something real to talk about.

Alongside this, we’ve created a whole set of fitness-themed lessons — from Walking for Health and Fitness Routines for a Healthy Life to practical language boosters like Exercise Phrasal Verbs and Exercise Collocations. These lessons keep the theme fresh while helping students expand their vocabulary step by step.

What’s in the Exercise and Physical Health ESL Lesson Plan?

This intermediate (B1–B2) lesson is all about helping students understand and use everyday idioms linked to movement and health. Here's what’s inside:

• Warm-up questions that get students sharing stories and personal experiences

• A short reading passage featuring all six target idioms in context

• Comprehension questions to check understanding

• A definition-matching task and sentence rewrites to build clarity

• A gap-fill and usage matching section to reinforce collocations

• Speaking prompts to get students using the idioms naturally
  

By the end, learners will feel more confident talking about getting in shape, staying motivated, and dealing with physical challenges – all while expanding their real-world vocabulary. If your learners want even more practice, the At the Gym lesson is a great companion. It covers the everyday words and phrases they’ll actually hear when working out, making classroom English instantly applicable.

Why Teach Idioms Through Exercise Topics?

Idioms make English more colourful, expressive and memorable. When you teach them through relatable themes like exercise, they stick even better.

The Exercise and Physical Health ESL lesson plan helps students:

• Understand natural expressions used in fitness and life situations

• Speak more fluently about goals, setbacks and motivation

• Build confidence with real English that native speakers use every day
  

Whether your students are gym regulars or sofa surfers, everyone can relate to the feeling of hitting the wall or keeping going when it gets tough.

Pairing idioms with other fitness vocabulary — like in our Exercise Collocations and Exercise Phrasal Verbs lessons — helps students connect expressions, collocations, and real-world contexts in a memorable way.

Quick Tips to Keep Teachers Active During the Day

We spend a lot of time encouraging our students to live well – but how often do we follow our own advice? Here are a few quick ways to stay active when your teaching day is packed:

• Stretch between lessons – even 2 minutes makes a difference

• Stand up during planning or admin

• Do a few squats or shoulder rolls between Zoom calls

• Try a short walk while listening to lesson prep or a podcast

• Breathe deeply and shake out tension between classes
  

It doesn’t have to be a full workout – just little movements to keep your body feeling good.

Try the Lesson & Share Your Favourite Fitness Idiom

💪 Ready to bring energy into your classroom? Download the full Exercise and Physical Health Idioms ESL lesson plan today — and don’t miss our related lessons on Walking for Health, Fitness Routines for a Healthy Life, Exercise Phrasal Verbs, Exercise Collocations & At the Gym.

Together, they form a complete toolkit for teaching English through movement, fitness, and wellbeing.

And while you’re here – what’s your favourite fitness or health-related idiom? Ever hit the wall during a tough class or decided not to throw in the towel? Drop it in the comments – we’d love to hear how English and wellbeing go hand in hand in your teaching world.