Help me get my brain pumped up.

October 3, 2007 12:32 PM

I watched "Pumping Iron" again a couple of months ago. I was surprised at how inspiring some the training scenes still were to watch. (Yes, I'm aware it was a docu-drama, not a documentary.) Any recommendations of other good dvds that might be a source of training inspiration?

It doesn't have to be bodybuilding training necessarily - just something that will make me want to go to the gym and grunt.

posted by Tbola to health (8 comments total)

Rocky.

I also liked GI Jane for her kickass tough girl stuff ('specially the scene where she's doing inverted sit-ups)
posted by Sassyfras at 12:34 PM on October 3, 2007

"Fight Club" always does the trick for me. Brad Pitt in "Snatch" as well.
posted by backwards guitar at 1:12 PM on October 3, 2007

Not a DVD, but you could try watching crossfit videos on youtube.
posted by ArcAm at 1:44 PM on October 3, 2007

I've always found The 36th Chamber of Shaolin to be one of the great training films in all of cinema. Half the running time of the film consists of Gordon Liu training in the various "chambers." The newly released DVD from Dragon Dynasty (aka the Weinsteins) is the way to see the film properly (in other words: in Cantonese!)

The sort-of-sequel Return to the 36th Chamber also features a lot of training, but the training is hidden in manual labor and it is only near the end of the film that Gordon Liu realizes that he has been learning kung-fu--and yes THE KARATE KID ripped off a lot from this film...

Of course, I think that the training sequences in ROCKY had a lot of influence on 36th Chamber - so it goes both ways.
posted by cinemafiend at 1:47 PM on October 3, 2007

Gymkata
posted by euphorb at 3:22 PM on October 3, 2007

Prefontaine
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 4:17 PM on October 3, 2007

Drunken Master
posted by Tixylix at 5:47 PM on October 3, 2007

Why not try the original 'Rocky' flick? Actually, any one in the series has music and a workout attitude that can fire you up.
posted by hardbodymaker at 3:38 AM on March 31