Learn Hardcore Croatian: Dok god se barem malo odmorimo poslije posla, imamo dovoljno energije za večernji trening. - As long as we rest at least a little after work, we have enough energy for evening training.

Dok se odmaramo, gledamo televiziju.
= While we rest, we watch TV. (two things happening at the same time)
Dok god se odmaramo, imat ćemo energije.
= As long as we rest, we’ll have energy. (conditional: if this holds, then that holds)

So in your sentence, Dok god se barem malo odmorimo… means something like:
As long as we rest at least a little…, with a clear “condition–result” relationship.

Why is the reflexive pronoun se used with odmorimo? Could we say dok god barem malo odmorimo without se?

The verb here is odmoriti se = to rest, to have a rest, to take a break (reflexive).

Without se, odmoriti is usually transitive: to give someone/something a rest, to let something rest.

Odmoriti se – to rest (yourself)
Odmoriti dijete – to let the child rest
Odmoriti noge – to rest one’s legs

So:

Dok god se barem malo odmorimo…
= As long as we (ourselves) rest at least a little…

If you drop se (dok god barem malo odmorimo), it sounds incomplete or wrong in this meaning, as if you’re going to rest something else (but you don’t say what). For “we rest”, you need se with this verb: odmoriti se.

Why is odmorimo perfective (odmoriti se) and not imperfective (odmarati se)?

Croatian uses aspect (perfective vs imperfective) to show whether an action is treated as completed or ongoing/habitual.

odmarati se – imperfective: to be resting, to rest (focus on the process)
odmoriti se – perfective: to (have) rest(ed), to get rested (focus on completion/result)

In dok god se barem malo odmorimo, the idea is:

As long as we manage to rest (at least a bit) and finish that rest, we end up with enough energy.

So the speaker is focusing on the result of having rested (being refreshed), not just the process of resting. That’s why odmoriti se (perfective) is used.

If you said:

Dok god se barem malo odmaramo…

it would sound more like “as long as we are in the process of resting”, which doesn’t fit as naturally with “we have enough energy for the evening workout” as a result.

Why is the present tense used in Croatian when in English we might say “we will have enough energy”?

In Croatian, the present tense is very often used in conditional or general statements that in English take the present + “will”:

Ako učimo svaki dan, znamo sve.
Literally: If we study every day, we know everything.
Natural English: If we study every day, we will know everything.

Similarly:

Dok god se barem malo odmorimo…, imamo dovoljno energije…
Literally: As long as we at least rest a bit, we have enough energy…
Natural English: As long as we at least rest a bit, we (will) have enough energy…

Croatian doesn’t need a separate future tense here; the present is enough to express a timeless/general rule or a predictable result.

What is the function of barem and how is it different from malo? Why are both used together?

malo = a little, a bit (it refers to quantity or degree)
barem = at least (it sets a minimum requirement or consolation)

Together barem malo means: at least a little bit.

Nuance:

malo odmorimo – we rest a little (fact about small amount)
barem se malo odmorimo / barem malo odmorimo – we at least rest a little (we don’t need much; even a small rest is enough / better than nothing)

In your sentence, barem malo underlines that a small amount of rest is sufficient for having enough energy.

Why is it poslije posla and not poslije posao? What case is posla?

poslije (“after”) takes the genitive case, so the noun following it must be in genitive.

posao (nominative, dictionary form) → posla (genitive singular)

So:

poslije posla = after work
(not poslije posao, which is ungrammatical)

This is the same pattern as:

poslije ručka – after lunch (ručka = genitive of ručak)
poslije škole – after school (škole = genitive of škola)

Could we say nakon posla instead of poslije posla? Is there any difference?

Yes, nakon posla is perfectly correct and very natural.

Both nakon and poslije take the genitive:

nakon posla – after work
poslije posla – after work

In everyday speech, poslije may sound a bit more casual/colloquial and nakon slightly more neutral or formal, but the difference is small and both are widely used. In this sentence, you can freely alternate them:

Dok god se barem malo odmorimo nakon posla, imamo…
Dok god se barem malo odmorimo poslije posla, imamo…

What does večernji mean exactly, and how is it formed from večer?

večer = evening (noun)
večernji = evening (as an adjective: related to the evening)

It’s formed by adding the adjectival suffix -nji to the root:

večer → večer-nji = večernji

Examples:

večernji trening – evening training/workout
večernje vijesti – evening news
večernja šetnja – evening walk

So večernji functions like “evening” in evening class, evening routine, evening show in English.

Is večernji trening the only natural way to say “evening workout”, or could we say trening navečer or trening uvečer?

All of these are possible; they just emphasize slightly different things:

večernji trening – “evening training”, using an adjective; very natural and compact.
trening navečer – “training in the evening”; navečer = in the evening (adverb).
trening uvečer – similar to navečer; a bit less common, more stylistic.

In practice:

Idem na večernji trening. – I’m going to the evening workout.
Idem na trening navečer. – I’m going to (my) workout in the evening.

Your original phrase za večernji trening is absolutely standard and maybe the most neutral way to say “for the evening workout” here.

Is the word order fixed? Could we say: Imamo dovoljno energije za večernji trening dok god se barem malo odmorimo poslije posla?

Croatian word order is fairly flexible, and your alternative is grammatically correct:

Imamo dovoljno energije za večernji trening, dok god se barem malo odmorimo poslije posla.

The original order:

Dok god se barem malo odmorimo poslije posla, imamo dovoljno energije za večernji trening.

puts the condition first, then the result. This is very natural and slightly emphasizes the condition.

If you put the main clause first, the logical relationship is the same, but the flow changes a bit. Both are fine; using dok god makes the connection clear regardless of word order.

Why is it dovoljno energije and not dovoljno energija? What case is used here?

dovoljno (“enough”) usually governs the genitive singular for mass/uncountable nouns:

dovoljno vode – enough water
dovoljno vremena – enough time
dovoljno novca – enough money
dovoljno energije – enough energy

So energije is genitive singular of energija.

You would not normally say dovoljno energija (genitive plural) unless you were talking about several distinct “energies” in a more abstract, scientific, or spiritual context. Here, we mean “enough energy” as a mass/uncountable concept, so dovoljno energije is correct and natural.