If you are looking for a bit of motivation to start a new fitness regime or even some inspiration to help keep you going on your current workout plan, then you can draw plenty of inspiration and motivation from watching documentaries on TV.
Streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, YouTube and more offer many fitness documentaries that you can get stuck into. Many of these films offer real-life stories of people who have overcome significant obstacles to go on and achieve their dreams. What could be more motivational than that?
Unstoppable (2018)
For example, take a look at the documentary that features Bethany Hamilton. The film is called Unstoppable and was released in 2018. This is the real-life story of how Bethany astounded the world by becoming a professional surfer despite losing an arm in a shark attack when she was 13 years old.
Unstoppable was recorded over a four-year period where we follow Bethany’s story as she pursued her dream and goes on to raise a family and manages to fit in hitting the waves when she gets the time.
We can guarantee that watching this documentary will shake you out of your doldrums and give you the motivation you need to hit the gym.
The Game Changers (2019)
If you are thinking about adopting a plant-based diet, you may be inspired by The Game Changers, a diet and fitness documentary released in 2019.
The film was backed by some big hitters with deep pockets, so it certainly made waves in the diet and fitness industry. The documentary features cameo’s from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, and others and was backed by Hollywood film producer James Cameron, who also eats a plant-based diet.
The film looks at how athletes perform in a range of competitive sports while eating a plant-based or vegan diet. It is hosted by former UFC fighter James Wilks, and you follow him and other athletes from a wide range of sports as they see if eating a plant-based diet would help improve their performance.
Fat: A Documentary (2019)
If you sit in the opposite camp to films such as Game Changers and Forks over Knives, then it is well worth checking out Fat: A Documentary by Vinnie Tortorich.
Vinnie Tortorich is a celebrity fitness trainer, speaker, podcast host and best-selling author of Fitness Confidential: Adventures in the Weight-Loss Game. In this documentary, he sets out to debunk the anti-fat bias inherent in many fitness and nutrition documentaries today.
If you want to learn about the mistaken war on fat that health organisations have been promoting for decades and how eating low fat, high carb foods have contributed to the global epidemics of diabetes and obesity; then this is the health documentary for you!
This is an excellent documentary for those looking to lose weight and improve their health with exercise and eating a real-food diet that includes natural fats and avoids consuming added sugar and toxic industrial seed oils such as rapeseed, sunflower etc.
Tortorich has used his healthy diet and exercise approach with numerous successful Hollywood stars and helps them get in shape for top film roles. His dietary advice is simple: cut sugar, limit grain and increase natural fat intake to manage weight easier and achieve additional health benefits, such as reversing or avoiding metabolic disease.
Limitless (2017)
Are you thinking about taking up running to improve your health and fitness? Then you are not alone. Running can help reduce stress, anxiety, depression and improve mood, which is excellent for our mental health!
This is what is at the heart of the 2017 Limitless documentary. The film features a group of women in India who take up running and use it to improve their health and fitness and allow them to escape from their oppressive lives and process the challenges of the world around them.
Limitless is just under an hour-long, but it seems to pass by in an instant as you become so engrossed in the story. What rings true about this heartwarming documentary is that even something as simple and low-cost as taking up running can be a mental escape and an act of defiance for those that live a very controlled life.
All eight of the women depicted in the film show a high level of personal grit and self-determination that will make them look and feel like inspiring heroes in your mind. After watching this documentary, you will feel compelled to don your running shoes and to hit the pavement in honour of these amazing women!
Bigger, Stronger, Faster (2008)
This documentary looks at the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs in the sports world in the United States. Filmmaker Chris Bell looks at how the desire to win at any cost has cost a lot of sportspeople their health, especially those in the competitive bodybuilding world.
It examines how kids have grown up idolising excessively muscular celebrities and sports stars in American culture, such as Arnold Swatzennegar, Sylvester Stallone and Hulk Hogan.
The film goes into detail about how Chris Bell and his two brothers got into competitive bodybuilding and followed in the path of those celebrities that they idolised. The documentary also features information from medical experts, fitness professionals and professional athletes, and a politician who discusses the issues surrounding the use of steroids in society.
It is an eye-opening look at how competitiveness and a driving obsession to become the best can lead people to drug use and cheating their way to the top and how far people are prepared to go to reach their goals.
You should watch this documentary and use it as a cautionary tale of how dangerous it can be to set unrealistic fitness goals or build the muscle mass you want by taking risks with your health.
Get Fit At The Cut Gym
So, hopefully, there is something on our list that has whetted your appetite and can give you all the inspiration and motivation you need to start a new health and fitness routine – or to get back into the one that you already have with a new level of commitment.
If you have got the itch to get working out, then get in touch with the team of expert personal trainers at The Cut Gym, who can create tailor made fitness plans for you.