Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Depois do aquecimento, nós alongamos a perna devagar. - After the warm-up, we stretch the leg slowly.

So "depois do aquecimento" literally = "after the warm‑up". In Portuguese, when de comes before a masculine singular noun with o, they usually contract to do.

Why is it "do aquecimento" and not just "de aquecimento"?

Because you’re talking about a specific, known warm‑up, not warm‑up in general.

Depois do aquecimento = After the (already mentioned / expected) warm‑up
Depois de aquecimento – sounds wrong/unnatural here. You’d need either “do aquecimento” or “de um aquecimento” (after a warm‑up).

Portuguese normally uses a definite article (o/a/os/as) before a concrete noun like aquecimento in this kind of phrase.

Could I say "Depois de aquecer" instead of "Depois do aquecimento"?

Yes, but the structure changes slightly.

Depois do aquecimento – uses the noun aquecimento (the warm‑up).
Depois de aquecer – uses the verb aquecer (to warm up).

Both are correct and natural. "Depois de aquecer, nós alongamos a perna devagar." means essentially the same thing, just phrased more like “After warming up, we stretch the leg slowly.”

Is "nós" necessary here, or can I drop it?

You can drop it.

Depois do aquecimento, nós alongamos a perna devagar.
Depois do aquecimento, alongamos a perna devagar.

Both are correct. In European Portuguese, the verb ending -amos already shows the subject is “we”, so "nós" is often omitted unless you want to emphasize we as opposed to someone else.

What is the infinitive of "alongamos", and what does it mean?

The infinitive is alongar.

alongar = to lengthen / to stretch (esp. in the sense of stretching muscles)
nós alongamos = we stretch

In sports/fitness contexts, alongar is the standard verb for stretching muscles.

Why is it "alongamos a perna" and not "alongamo‑nos" (reflexive)?

Both patterns exist in Portuguese:

Alongar + body part
- Alongamos a perna. = We stretch the leg.
  Here the body part is the direct object.
Reflexive verb (+ body part, optionally)
- Alongamo‑nos. = We stretch (ourselves).
- Alongamo‑nos as pernas. = We stretch our legs.

In everyday speech about exercise, it’s very common (and perfectly natural) to say “alongamos a perna / as pernas” without a reflexive pronoun. The reflexive form is more formal or precise, but not required.

Why is it "a perna" (singular) instead of "as pernas" (plural)?

Portuguese can use the singular to talk about an action that usually involves both legs/arms, especially in general descriptions of movements.

alongar a perna – can mean “stretch the leg” as a generic exercise movement
alongar as pernas – explicitly “stretch the legs” (both legs)

Both are grammatically correct.
In a real workout instruction, you might hear either; “as pernas” is very common because we normally stretch both legs.

Why is it "a perna" and not "nossa perna" (our leg)?

With body parts, Portuguese usually uses a definite article instead of a possessive:

Alongamos a perna. = We stretch the leg (understood as our leg).
Lava as mãos. = Wash the hands (your hands).

The possessive (nossa perna) is used only when you need to emphasize whose body part it is or to contrast different owners. In a neutral sentence like this, "a perna" is the natural choice.

Why doesn’t it say "à perna" instead of "a perna"?

Because "a perna" here is a direct object of the verb alongar, not an indirect object.

alongar algo = to stretch something
alongamos a perna – we stretch the leg (direct object, so just a = the, not à).

"À" is the contraction a + a (to + the), used mostly for indirect objects or destinations, not for direct objects.

What does "devagar" mean, and is there a difference from "lentamente"?

Both mean slowly, but they differ in tone and frequency:

devagar – the most common, neutral everyday word for slowly.
lentamente – more formal/literary or used for emphasis; you will hear it, but in casual speech devagar is more natural.

So “alongamos a perna devagar” is exactly “we stretch the leg slowly.”

Can "devagar" go in a different position in the sentence?

Yes. These are all possible, with small differences in emphasis:

Depois do aquecimento, nós alongamos a perna devagar.
Depois do aquecimento, nós alongamos devagar a perna.
Nós alongamos a perna devagar depois do aquecimento.

Most commonly, adverbs like devagar appear at the end of the clause, as in the original. Moving it around can sound slightly more formal or give it a different rhythm, but it’s still correct.

How would Brazilians say this? Is the sentence also OK in Brazilian Portuguese?

The sentence is perfectly understandable in Brazilian Portuguese, but you might more often hear:

Depois do aquecimento, a gente alonga a perna devagar.

In Brazil:

a gente is very common in speech instead of nós.
Verb form changes: a gente alonga (3rd person singular) vs nós alongamos (1st person plural).

Otherwise, vocabulary (aquecimento, alongar, devagar) is the same.

What tense is "alongamos"? Could it also be past tense?

In this sentence it’s present tense, 1st person plural:

(nós) alongamos = we stretch

For regular ‑ar verbs, the present and simple past (preterite) of nós are spelled the same after the spelling reform:

Presente: (Hoje) nós alongamos a perna. = Today we stretch the leg.
Pretérito: (Ontem) nós alongamos a perna. = Yesterday we stretched the leg.

You tell the difference from context or from a time expression like hoje / ontem / depois / ontem à noite, etc.

Why is there a comma after "Depois do aquecimento"?

Because "Depois do aquecimento" is an introductory time phrase.

In Portuguese, it’s standard to put a comma after an initial adverbial expression like:

Depois do aquecimento, nós alongamos a perna…
De manhã, tomo café.
No fim da aula, fazemos um teste.

You can sometimes omit the comma in short phrases, but here it’s clearer and more natural with the comma.

How do you pronounce "aquecimento" and where is the stress?

In European Portuguese, aquecimento is stressed on "men":

a‑que‑ci‑MEN‑to

Approximate pronunciation: [ɐ-ke-si-MEN-tu]

a‑que = “ah‑keh” (the qu here sounds like k)
ci = like “see” but shorter
MEN – stressed syllable, nasal en sound
to – like “too” but shorter and more closed

So: aquecimento.