[ti:Regimen]
[al:Ask a Teacher]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2025-02-15]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Marco in Italy. Here is Marco's question:
[00:13.05]Dear Teacher,
[00:14.29]I want to understand more when to use the word "regimen" for exercise or other actions.
[00:25.22]Thank you.
[00:26.78]I'm happy to answer this question, Marco.
[00:30.32]A regimen is usual and repeated action, especially in training. In health care, it is a systematic plan to improve a person's health.
[00:46.68]A training regimen, for example, can include exercises people can do to help them get the results they want. 
[00:58.38]For example, a long-distance runner's regimen might include runs of 10 or 20 kilometers every week.
[01:10.27]Note that we often put another noun before the word "regimen" to help identify it more clearly. 
[01:21.01]These are called attributive nouns.
[01:25.14]They act similarly to adjectives, as in the following examples:
[01:31.91]a weightlifting regimen, a workout regimen, a running regimen, a walking regimen, a stretching regimen
[01:46.76]In fact, you can more clearly identify any kind of regimen by placing an attributive noun before it.
[01:57.89]For example, musicians can have a "practice regimen," and students can have a "study regimen."
[02:08.02]To express what actions or steps are in a regimen, we can use the verb and preposition "consist of," as the following example shows:
[02:23.38]My exercise regimen consists of strength training two days a week and running or walking most other days.
[02:34.43]Note that native speakers might substitute the word "routine" for "regimen" in some situations. 
[02:43.76]Here are some examples:
[02:46.63]What practice routine do you follow?
[02:50.00]You can use this daily routine to improve your fitness.
[02:54.47]A medical regimen is a series of repeated treatments.
[03:01.09]For example, a doctor might tell a patient to take a certain medicine two times a day for two weeks.
[03:12.00]We often put adjectives, like medical, before the word "regimen," also. 
[03:19.67]"Daily," and "effective" are commonly used, as in:
[03:25.56]Try to include long walks in your daily regimen.
[03:30.95]You need an effective regimen for losing weight.
[03:35.75]And it is not unusual to use both an adjective and an attributive noun, like in this example:
[03:47.97]She swims two kilometers a day as part of a strict training regimen.
[03:54.57]For our readers and listeners, what are your questions about American English?
[04:02.37]Do you have a special study regimen? 
[04:06.40]We want to hear from you! 
[04:08.44]Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.
[04:14.97]And please let us know where you are from, too.
[04:19.64]And that's Ask a Teacher.
[04:23.85]I'm Andrew Smith.