ejercitarse
verbCEFR B1
What does “ejercitarse” mean in English?
to exercise
to exercise (do physical activity deliberately, reflexive) — ejercitarse cada día, ejercitarse en el parque
Example sentences
El médico le recomendó que se ejercitara todos los días aunque solo fueran veinte minutos, porque la constancia es más importante que la intensidad.
The doctor recommended that he exercise every day even if it was only twenty minutes, because consistency is more important than intensity.
Muchas personas no se ejercitan lo suficiente durante la semana laboral porque pasan demasiadas horas sentadas frente a una pantalla.
Many people do not exercise enough during the working week because they spend too many hours sitting in front of a screen.
How to use it
Ejercitarse is a purely reflexive verb meaning to exercise (physically). It is more formal and deliberate than simply hacer ejercicio, often appearing in health-advice discourse and articles. The reflexive pronoun is obligatory and agrees with the subject: me ejercito, te ejercitas, se ejercita.
Common mistake
Unlike English 'exercise', ejercitarse must always carry the reflexive pronoun — *ejercita without pronoun in this sense is wrong. For informal speech, hacer ejercicio is equally natural and avoids the reflexive construction. Ejercitarse reads as somewhat formal or written register.