pumping iron
Working with barbells
Pumping iron is lifting weights for exercise or bodybuilding.
The phrase emphasizes the heavy, repetitive nature of the activity—iron being the traditional material of barbells and dumbbells.
He spends two hours a day pumping iron at the gym.
The 1977 documentary *Pumping Iron* helped popularize both the term and bodybuilding culture.
- barbellWeighted exercise apparatus
- free weightsUntethered resistance training equipment
- bicepsUpper arm flexors
- gymExercise facility
- gym ratCompulsive exerciser, slangily
deadlift · bodybuilding · muscle · muscle mass · swole · bench press · weightlifting · weights · weight room · Arnold Schwarzenegger · squat · curl · flex · workout · personal trainer · clean and jerk · Arnold · dumbbells
pumping ironlounging
Reclining in idleness
sitting around · vegging out · resting · lazing about · couch potato
pumping ironslimming down
Reducing body weight
dieting · fasting · wasting away · atrophying
iron, pump, pumps, pumped, pumping, pumper, pumpers, pumphouse