The Fitness Zone: The Eye Of The Tiger

Thursday, May 14, 2009

The Eye Of The Tiger

Remember in Rocky III when Rocky lost his title to Mr. T (a.k.a. Clubber Lang)? Rocky was the champ and he defended his title 10 or so times before that, but against tomato cans (weak opponents). He was living the good life, big house, nice cars, and even holding his training camp in a fancy auditorium with a live band to prepare for his fight with Clubber!! Meanwhile, Clubber was by himself, training in a dingy, grimy gym sweating and working out hard. Rocky gets knocked out in the second round by the more aggressive, determined, Lang. After his defeat, Rocky is seen moping around at his old gym, when an old nemesis, Apollo Creed comes in and offers to train him to beat Lang. Apollo then takes Rocky back to his gym, back to the basics, a hardcore, dirty, sweaty gym with mean looking fighters. He tells Rocky to look into their eyes, they all have IT, that look, that edge, the fighting spirit, that, "Eye of the Tiger" and Rocky needs to get that look back.

I really feel that "eye of the tiger" mentality is so important when trying to achieve a goal, whether it be in the ring, on the court, or with yourself trying to lose that extra weight. There's no need for fancy workout programs and a cushy gym with shiny dumbbells and those "hollywood" trainers. To get to your goal, all you need is a willingness to work hard, put forth an effort, basically bust your ass. For me, it's getting back to the basics, old school workouts which means outdoors, running hills til your lungs are about to pop, lifting, carrying sandbags, dragging a weighted sled, bodyweight push ups, squats....etc.....I still go into the gym a couple days just to throw some dumbbells and barbells around, but since doing these outdoor, old school, outside the box workouts, I'm in better cardio condition, have gotten stronger in the gym, and it's given me (as well as my clients) a mental edge, just knowing not many people put in that kind of work.