What does workout mean?
Workout most often means a planned session of physical exercise intended to improve fitness, strength, endurance, or performance in a particular sport. The word is especially common in gym, fitness, and athletics contexts, where it can refer to a single visit or to an established series of exercises. Workout also has an extended informal meaning: a difficult or demanding task. In this sense, phrases such as “a real workout” describe an activity that demands effort, time, or careful problem-solving. Occasionally, the noun can refer more broadly to the process of working something out, especially when the result is calculated or negotiated. Although “workout” is firmly established in standard English in both British and American usage, its separate sense as a difficult undertaking is conversational and somewhat idiomatic. Its usefulness lies in this combination of physical and figurative meanings: the same word can describe both an exercise session and an effort that tests one’s stamina or ingenuity.
nounA workout is a planned session or program of physical exercises intended to improve fitness or train for a particular activity. By extension, it can mean a difficult task or the process of working something out.
- A planned session of physical exercise, especially one intended to improve fitness, strength, or performance.
- A series of exercises performed as a routine or program.
- A difficult, demanding, or complicated task.
- The process of working something out or finding a solution.
"She went for a workout at the gym before work."
"Her morning workout consists of strength training and cardiovascular exercise."
"The contract negotiations were a real workout, but both sides eventually reached an agreement."
The standard plural of the noun is “workouts.”
"She fits two workouts into her morning routine."
A workout can leave you physically tired—or leave you with a solution: the word moves neatly from bodily exertion to mental problem-solving.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does workout come from?
Workout is an English compound formed from work and out, developing alongside the phrasal verb work out. During the twentieth century, its early use was associated with exercise and physical training, and it later extended to mean a demanding task or process. Because both elements are English words, its related vocabulary comes from the wider family of work rather than from a separate loan language.
How workout is actually used
Generally neutral and informal in the sense “exercise session,” though it is especially common in gym, fitness, and sports contexts. “A real workout” is an idiomatic, informal label for a demanding task; in formal writing, “complex task” or “demanding process” may be preferable.
Easily confused with workout
Workout is one word and is normally a noun meaning an exercise session or a demanding task, while work out is two words and is usually a verb meaning to exercise or to solve something.