Iba a ir al gimnasio, pero hice ejercicio en casa con videos.

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Breakdown of Iba a ir al gimnasio, pero hice ejercicio en casa con videos.

• con: with
• a: to
• ir: to go

Questions & Answers about Iba a ir al gimnasio, pero hice ejercicio en casa con videos.

Why is it iba and not fui at the beginning?

Iba is the imperfect form of ir and is used here to express an intention or plan that didn’t end up happening:

• Iba a ir… ≈ I was going to go… (but in the end, I didn’t).

If you said Fui al gimnasio, that would mean I went to the gym (and I actually did it).

So:

• Iba a ir al gimnasio, pero hice ejercicio en casa…
  = I was going to go to the gym, but (instead) I exercised at home…

The imperfect (iba) highlights that it was just a plan/ongoing intention that got interrupted or changed.

Isn’t iba a ir strange or repetitive, since it’s like “was going to go”?

It might sound repetitive in English, but in Spanish this structure is completely normal and very common.

Pattern: imperfect of ir + a + infinitive

• iba a ir = was going to go
• iba a comer = was going to eat
• íbamos a salir = we were going to go out

This is how Spanish often talks about past intentions or near future in the past. The repetition of ir (one conjugated, one infinitive) is just how the grammar works, and it doesn’t sound weird to native speakers.

Could I just say Iba al gimnasio, pero hice ejercicio en casa instead of iba a ir al gimnasio?