Shadowing Practice: HOW to actually LOCK IN this winter - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.

164 sentences

If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.

I think you can often approach life as a triangle.

You'll have sleep, success, and you'll have your social life.

And you can pick two out of three.

You go through different phases in life, and if you're serious about locking in with your health and your fitness journey,

then it is much more about what you will sacrifice for it

and the things that you will leave in order to achieve that, instead of the things that you need to be doing.

Sure.

Locking in is about following a workout program that you can be consistent with.

It's about starting small.

It's about building healthy habits.

It's about stacking habits.

It's about putting your clothes out the day before

so it's easy for you to go to the gym early in the morning.

But to me,

the actual locking in often means that you dedicate a phase of your life towards a goal that you want to achieve.

And oftentimes that goal is very large and therefore you need to sacrifice a lot.

You need to sacrifice maybe spending time with your friends, going out, being distracted, being on social a lot.

Sometimes it's about being or feeling lonely by yourself

and dedicating your energy towards something

that people in your environment might not understand

there might be no one in your corner rooting for you you might be fully dependent on your own

you have no idea if you're going to get out of it

that is truly what locking in is

and sure that's a bit of an exaggeration

when you think about you trying to achieve a health

or fitness goal when it comes to locking in but I think

that it is much more than just you consistently trying to go to the gym,

it is you trying to jump that next level in your life.

And while those chapters tend to be lonely and tough,

I do think that it is the most transformative periods that I ever had in my life.

So every single time that I had a phase like this, where I was just focused on doing my own thing, I was not looking up.

I was just dedicated and I sacrificed a lot for it.

I always came out better at the end.

So now that we got that out of the way, we made breakfast.

I'm going to do a quick tanning routine and then I'll be back.

We're going tanning.

You might be wondering, why are we tanning now?

Because you're about to train.

Very good question.

I asked myself the same thing.

It was the only time that made sense today.

So I want to be tanned for tomorrow

because then I want to film my follow -along workouts because I want to do an ab challenge then.

I can't train in my guide color.

That's the tan color before you wash it off

because I get sweaty during filming and then you'll see sweat stains in my tan on camera.

It's not a good look but that's out of the window.

I changed my bedding, so I don't want to sleep in my tan, because then my bed is all messed up.

And I couldn't tan this morning, because I was cleaning my apartment.

And so working with water and wearing a guide collar doesn't make sense either.

So this is the only time that really makes sense for me to tan.

But it is right before my actual workout.

Now I'm going to do a leg session.

I'm not going to run or anything.

So I don't foresee see any issues, but it's not ideal.

But I'm also not gonna lie and act as if I've never done it before.

This is the tan that I'm using.

I'm always using the Loving Tan in Dark.

I used to use

Ultra Dark before, but I feel like they changed the color payoffs.

So now I'm using

Dark, which is a very warm -based tan, which I feel looks best with my skin, because I'm quite yellow.

We are starting today's session obviously with a warm -up.

For the warm -up I'm mainly focusing on hip mobility.

I always focus on my hips.

Doing a leg day, glute focused, three exercises, two sets, two hard sets each exercise.

I'm doing a hinge variation, a deadlift.

I'm doing a squat variation.

I'm thinking doing a pause squat and then i'm doing a bridge variation

but then reversed which is the reverse frog pump also in the smith machine

so i probably do the entire session in the smith machine just

because it's a little bit easier to set up

i don't have to worry about moving equipment from side to side

and time is not my best friend today that's the game plan but first let's start with the warp up

The true reason why we want to lock in is because we want to see results.

The reason why seeing results is important is because longevity is a true reason why you are training.

The more muscle that you build, the stronger you become, the better your cardiovascular health is,

your mobility, your flexibility, the better your chances of growing old are in a healthier way.

However, we're all just human.

So to train for something that is intangible and very, very much long term, aka your health in 50 years,

that requires a lot of discipline.

And so getting results in the meantime can act as a sort of checkmark,

a bit of an in -between motivation to keep you going and to keep you occupied in the meantime.

And so not seeing results is kind of detrimental to most people's fitness journeys

and I'm not necessarily meaning results in you changing your physique, can also be in you just making progress,

you know, with your runs or with training in general.

And so most people, when they don't see results, they think the issue is their routine.

That's not really the case.

If you cannot stick to any plan consistently, it really doesn't matter how good the plan is.

Consistency is just a very boring tip

and sometimes dedicating yourself to a locking in journey helps a lot with consistency

because it's this challenge that has an end date let's say 75 hard

and then you know okay I'm going to lock in for 75 days I'm going to do this

and then I'll have a result and

that makes locking in have a bit of an end date and therefore it's just easier to stay consistent in the meantime.

I think that often people have micro inconsistency, meaning that you don't quit completely,

but it's just that you keep pausing your progress every few weeks or so.

So, you know, you had a great week, you trained very hard, you feel proud.

And then the next week work gets busy and you feel tired,

100

you lose motivation and you skip a few sessions and then suddenly you are starting over again.

101

And so your body just never gets enough stimulus consistently to change.

102

And so these are some of the culprits that I found that make locking in harder for me personally.

103

First one is the all or nothing mindset.

104

If I cannot do my 60 minute workout, there's no point.

105

And so you skip.

106

If you can get rid of that, consistency becomes so much easier.

107

The same holds with perfection.

108

So for example, if you set yourself out on a diet and then something happens, you deviate from your diet and then you're like,

109

well, you know what, screw this diet.

110

I'm giving up for the rest of the week.

111

This was all for nothing.

112

Kind of similar as the all or nothing mindset, but it's more of a perfection spiral.

113

Third one is eco lifting and burnout, meaning that you go 125%, you know, the first week that you get back on track.

114

It's very hard to keep up your body is fatigued, you're not letting yourself ease into things and therefore it's so hard to stay consistent.

115

And then the fourth one, we all know it, it's relying on short -term motivation.

116

You know, motivation might get you somewhere but it just doesn't do the trick long term.

117

And so for me there are three things that changed my own consistency.

118

First one is to lower the barrier of entry.

119

So as I said, it's not that having a perfect workout is the only way to do it.

120

If I have five minutes for a run, I'll go on a five minute run.

121

The second one is to anchor your workouts to a daily habit.

122

So it's not about, you know, trying to find time, but more so it is something that you do,

123

I don't know, right after your morning coffee kind of becomes automatic and you don't have any decisions to make.

124

You just go.

125

And then the third one is to track your consistency

126

and not your performance because your performance will fluctuate

127

and your consistency you showing up is

128

if you can tie your mental reward to the consistency staying consistent obviously is

129

so much easier how you can lock in successfully you pick a program

130

that fits your schedule and then it is a commitment to yourself that you stick to.

131

We work on the daily consistency so

132

if you can show up for five minutes you're showing up for five minutes

133

and if you can show up for the full hour that's amazing you're showing up for the full hour

134

but even more so than the things that you technically should be doing.

135

this season is for the things that you shouldn't be doing.

136

And what you shouldn't be doing is anything that distracts you from you changing your life or going from A to B.

137

It is about you staying focused on your goal and realizing that if you want to take this locking in phase seriously,

138

it probably requires you to make some sacrifices or some changes to your habits.

139

And that in the end is a phase of growth

140

which is exciting and a challenge and that's how you learn

141

and in the end in life that is what it's all about.

142

I did a little bit of Black Friday shopping

143

so I have this rule when it comes to hair care

144

and skincare and makeup and that is that I only buy something when I run out.

145

Luckily for me, this morning I ran out of serum for my face and I ran out of a leaving cream,

146

exciting cream for my hair.

147

So I got the Olaplex number seven and then I just got a serum from The Ordinary.

148

I have no idea if it works, but my skin feels so dry that I just picked up a hydrating serum.

149

And what else did I get?

150

I got a bra from Skims.

151

Very exciting.

152

Bras are so expensive.

153

And I got a Ninja Crispy because the air fryer broke down.

154

So that was also perfect timing because I got quite a bit of a discount on the Crispy air fryer.

155

And I really wanted to try it because it's glass.

156

So I like the idea of having like a glass air fryer instead of the plastic one.

157

I always feel like I am waiting to buy things because I know that

158

Black Friday is coming, but then by the time that it's actually

159

Black Friday, I always forget what I wanted to get.

160

I'm just using an oil cleanser to get my makeup off

161

and then I'm going in with a second cleanser

162

and then I'm going to take a shower brush my teeth

163

and then I'm going to go to bed so

164

that being said I'll see you tomorrow for another day which will start pretty early because it will be Monday.

Download App

Everything you need to speak fluently

AI PronunciationScore every sentence

IPA PracticeMaster every sound

VocabularyBuild your word bank

Vocab GameLearn while playing

Scan QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

Same Channel

The 6AM Morning Routine That Changed My Life Immediately

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

Victoria's Secret Model Diet + Workout Routine

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

FOR YOU

Recommend Video

176 sentences

THE GREAT LOCK IN: getting your life back together, becoming ambitious again & being seen trying

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

46 sentences

you only need 1 month.

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

159 sentences

9 DAILY HEALTHY HABITS that Changed My Life

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

365 sentences

BECOME INSANELY DISCIPLINED IN 40 DAYS | BE UNRECOGNIZABLE

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

53 sentences

YOU JUST NEED 2 MINUTES TO CHANGE | David Goggins motivational speech

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “HOW to *actually* LOCK IN this winter”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: locking, consistency, tan. This video has 164 sentences and 1989 words to shadow. The speech runs for 12:24. The speaker talks at a natural 161 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
consistency noun	/kənˈsɪs.tən.si/	Local coherence.
workout noun	/ˈwɝk.aʊ̯t/	An exercise session; a period of physical exercise.
sacrifice noun	/ˈsæk.ɹɪ.faɪs/	Originally, the killing (and often burning) of a human being or an animal as an offering to a deity; later, also the offering of an object to a deity.
consistent adjective	/kənˈsɪs.tənt/	Of a regularly occurring, dependable nature.
habit noun	/ˈhæb.ɪt/	An action performed on a regular basis.
motivation noun	/ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/	Willingness of action especially in behavior.
tan verb	/tæn/	To change to a tan colour due to exposure to the sun.
dedicate verb	/ˈdɛdɪˌkeɪt/	To set apart for a deity or for religious purposes; consecrate.
fitness noun	/ˈfɪt.nəs/	The condition of being fit, suitable or appropriate.
consistently adverb	/kənˈsɪstəntli/	In a consistent manner.
variation noun	/ˌvɛəɹiˈeɪʃn̩/	The act of varying; a partial change in the form, position, state, or qualities of a thing.
meantime noun	/ˈmiːntaɪm/	The time spent waiting for another event; time in between.
serum noun	/ˈsɪɹəm/	Blood serum used as a blood product, in the practice of medicine: blood serum from the tissues of immunized animals (human or nonhuman), containing antibodies…
reverse noun	/ɹɪˈvɝs/	The opposite of something.
routine noun	/ɹuˈtin/	A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
warm up verb	/ˌwɔː(ɹ)m ˈʌp/	To become warmer.
break down verb		To stop functioning.
come out verb	/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/	To be discovered; to be revealed.
follow along verb		To continue behind or beside an animal, person, vehicle or other object, especially as a companion.
get out of verb		To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of.
go in with verb		To commit to something with; to partner with.
go out verb		To leave, especially a building.
go through verb		To travel from one end of something to the other.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

You might be wondering, why are we tanning now?
Because you're about to train.
I can't train in my guide color.
I'm not going to run or anything.
This is the tan that I'm using.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	being distracted · be tanned · is fatigued
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	Dark, which is · reversed which is · day which will

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 53 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, variation /ˌvɛəɹiˈeɪʃn̩/, perfection /pɚˈfɛk.ʃən/, brush /bɹʌʃ/, exaggeration /ɪɡˌzæd͡ʒəˈɹeɪʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: consistency /kənˈsɪs.tən.si/, motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, consistently /kənˈsɪstəntli/, mobility /mə(ʊ)ˈbɪlɪti/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like consistency, workout, sacrifice.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: HOW to *actually* LOCK IN this winter - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Download App

The 6AM Morning Routine That Changed My Life Immediately

Victoria's Secret Model Diet + Workout Routine

The Psychology of a Winter Arc That Actually Works!

How to lock in (for real)

Gym Motivation Quotes - Greg Plitt Quotes

How I Built My Dream Life (in 5 min)

Why Almost Everyone Is Wasting Their Time In The Gym

You can achieve anything you want

Be more private.

THE GREAT LOCK IN: getting your life back together, becoming ambitious again & being seen trying

you only need 1 month.

9 DAILY HEALTHY HABITS that Changed My Life

BECOME INSANELY DISCIPLINED IN 40 DAYS | BE UNRECOGNIZABLE

YOU JUST NEED 2 MINUTES TO CHANGE | David Goggins motivational speech

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing Practice: HOW to actually LOCK IN this winter - Learn English Speaking with Video