4 Fitness Lessons You Can Learn from The Rocky Films

Cheesy, over-the-top, and not always worth a four-star review…

Admit it, you love the Rocky movies anyways.

These films are enshrined in the Guy Movie Hall of Fame and communicate a lot of fundamental truths about what it means to be a man. Sure, we’re not exactly talking about Citizen Kane here, but I’m willing to bet you’ve spent more than one lazy Sunday glued to the couch watching them anyways.

You certainly don’t need to be an athlete like Rocky Balboa in order to meet your goals of becoming stronger, more attractive, and more energetic, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn something profound from these films.

The lessons you can get from the Rocky movies aren’t just for professional boxers, or even athletes in general. If it’s your goal to lose weight and build muscle, these principles will help get you there. Or, if you already have excellent physical health, these insights will help you take advantage of that physical leverage and allow you to contribute more and get more enjoyment out of life.

1. Simplicity is Better Than Complexity

One of the highlights of the films is always the training montage. Everyone has their favorite. The first movie is the classic one, with Rocky pummeling meat and running up the steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The montage from Rocky II has every kid in the city running along with Rocky. And the training scene from III is… kinda hilarious.

But for my money, the best montage comes from Rocky IV. Where Balboa’s opponent Drago works out in a state-of-the art exercise facility (that looks so much like modern day “Globo Gyms” it’s not even funny), Rocky is out in the wilderness hauling logs around, doing bodyweight exercises, and running up mountains. It’s the perfect metaphor for the way we do fitness around these parts – forget the so-called “high-tech” stuff and stick to the basics, you’ll get much better results that way.

2. You Gotta Face Your Fears

No matter what your goals are, no matter how passionate you are about them, you are always going to feel fear at one point or another on the way there. Are you trying to double your deadlift weight? You’re gonna have self-doubts one day racking up all that weight. Are you trying to learn how to cook healthy meals? You’re gonna be terrified the first time you have people over for dinner. Here’s a great scene where Adrian confronts Rocky and assures him there’s nothing wrong with fear, as long as you can confront it and still do the right thing.

3. It Ain’t All Sunshine and Rainbows

It can be easy to play the victim in certain situations instead of taking responsibility and going after what you want in life. Follow your passions, but get ready for obstacles and don’t expect your goals to come easily. Everyone gets frustrated eventually when they are on the path to health and fitness. But that doesn’t mean you should start looking for someone or something to blame. This may be my favorite scene of all the Rocky films.

4. Go After What You Want… No Matter What

You may not realize this, but Sylvester Stallone wrote these films as a kind of allegory for his own life. He’s had a career with a lot of ups and downs, and he generally portrayed where he was at in his life at the time he made all of them. The first Rocky is a classic underdog story, and that’s exactly what Stallone was when trying to make that film.

Stallone hustled his ass off to get that movie made. He struggled to make ends meet, worked hard on the script, and got rejected by every moviemaker in Hollywood before he was able to convince someone to buy the script and let him star in it. Similarly, if you’re looking to lose your beer belly or build more muscle, this attitude is essential to succeed. Here’s Tony Robbins telling the inspiring story of how Stallone made the first movie.

What are your favorite scenes from the series?

Tagged as: movies, rocky