What’s The Point of Watching Bodybuilding Videos?

asked for a bodybuilding DVD called Ronnie Coleman: On The Road for Christmas. The first thing my wife said was “What’s the point? You can’t workout while you’re watching it!” She has a point and misses the point all at the same time.

To her, fitness DVDs are something you watch while working out. She has the Jillian Michaels DVD (her favorite this month), as well as countless other workout videos from celebrities and celebrity trainers like Valerie Bertinelli, Bob Greene and Trudie Styler. She clears out a big area in the living room by pushing the coffee table out of the way and spends an hour taking orders from someone on the television.

OK fine. But that’s not why I like to watch bodybuilding videos. I don’t do a rep every time Ronnie Coleman says “YEA BUDDY!” while bench pressing. The point of bodybuilding videos is to provide motivation and to show us what is possible with hard work, dedication, nutrition and supplementation.

With that said, I like to share with you some of my favorite bodybuilding DVDs:

• Pumping Iron – Without a doubt, this is the best bodybuilding documentary of all time. Starring Arnold “The Oak” Schwarzenegger and Lou “The Hulk” Ferrigno, it features many of the world’s most well-known bodybuilders during the golden days of the sport.
• Ronnie Coleman: Invincible – Ronnie puts out the best DVDs, but this one is the best of the best.
• Branch Warren: Unchained – I’ve never been a big fan of Branch Warren, but this DVD inspired me to bring more intensity to my workouts for several months after watching it.
• Mark Dugdale: Driven – I like the documentary style of this one, as opposed to the usual training scenes shown in most DVDs by world-class bodybuilders.
• Dexter Jackson: The Blade 2k7/2k – This is an interesting look into what goes on behind the scenes of an international bodybuilding competition, with just enough of Dexter’s training regime thrown in to inspire you to try and look more like “The Blade” himself.

Don’t get me wrong; it’s never a good idea to sit around watching bodybuilding DVDs all day. Hit the gym and workout because that’s where you’ll gain your strength. But we can’t be in the gym all day every day without getting burnt out, and I’d much rather watch someone crank out reps with 300+lbs on the bench-press than whatever it is they do on reality television these days.

Mr. E blogs about his favorite bodybuilding videos on his website Pumped Video in his spare time. When he’s not writing, eating, sleeping or watching videos he’s in the gym.

Filed under: Bodybuilding

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