Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Es importante masajear la espalda después del ejercicio. - It is important to massage the back after exercise.

In Spanish, impersonal expressions of necessity or importance are often formed with es + adjective + infinitive. Here, es importante masajear means “it is important to massage”. The infinitive functions like a noun, indicating the action that has importance.

Why is there no subject before masajear?

Because the construction es importante + infinitive is impersonal. There’s no explicit “you” or “we.” It’s a general recommendation. In English we’d say “It’s important to massage…”—just like in Spanish.

Why do we say la espalda instead of “espalda” or una espalda?

Spanish normally uses the definite article with body parts when the possessor is clear. Saying masajear la espalda implies “massage one’s back.” You don’t need una because you’re not introducing “a back”; you’re referring to the back you (or someone) already have.

Why is it después del ejercicio and not después de ejercicio?

Two reasons:

ejercicio is a masculine singular noun, so de + el ejercicio contracts to del ejercicio.
You need the article before a countable noun here. Omitting el would be ungrammatical in Spanish.

Could we use luego de instead of después de?

Yes, luego de also means “after,” especially in Latin America. However, después de is more common in everyday speech. Both are correct: • Después del ejercicio
• Luego del ejercicio

Can we make the verb reflexive—masajearse la espalda?

Absolutely. Masajearse la espalda emphasizes that you’re massaging your own back. Both are fine: • Es importante masajear la espalda (general)
• Es importante masajearse la espalda (self-massaging)

Why not use the noun masaje instead of the verb masajear?

You can! You’d then say dar un masaje a la espalda: • Es importante dar un masaje a la espalda después del ejercicio.
It’s a stylistic choice: verb form vs. noun with dar.

Is a comma needed before después del ejercicio?

No. In Spanish, adverbial phrases of time at the end of a sentence usually don’t require a comma. You can insert one for a pause or emphasis, but it’s optional: • Es importante masajear la espalda después del ejercicio.
• Es importante masajear la espalda, después del ejercicio. (more emphatic)

Could we rearrange the sentence order?

Yes. You can place the time phrase first: • Después del ejercicio es importante masajear la espalda.
Both orders are correct; placement only shifts emphasis slightly.