The New Year is a time when many of us feel motivated to think more about our physical fitness. Lift heavier weights. Run longer distances. Shave a few seconds off that mile time. Whether you’re looking to hit a new PB or simply incorporate more movement into your daily routine, it’s easier to reach your goals if you surround yourself with positive affirmations about staying consistent and practicing discipline.

Lock in by watching these movies and shows that celebrate a good sweat session. You can stream these titles while climbing the Stairmaster, foam rolling after the gym, or enjoying a well-deserved rest day in a cozy, horizontal position. After all, visualization is one way to gear up to get moving — and it can be done from the comfort of your couch.

Final Draft

It’s never too late to restart a fitness journey. This Japanese series gathers together twenty-five former professional athletes — some of whom had no choice but to walk away from their respective sports, and others who retired on their own terms. They take part in a high-stakes survival competition, and the winner is awarded 30 million yen to kick-start their second-chance career. Among the participants: baseball legend Yoshio Itoi, soccer icon Yoshito Ōkubo, and three-division boxing world champion Hozumi Hasegawa.

Lorena, Light-Footed Woman

The sport of running is hard enough, but tackling a long-distance race without some good sneakers is a whole new kind of challenge. This short documentary introduces Lorena Ramírez, the member of Mexico’s Rarámuri community who earned the world’s attention in 2017 by competing in the Cerro Rojo UltraTrail, an ultramarathon of over 30 miles. She did so while wearing huaraches — traditional Mexican sandals — as well as her trademark long skirt and other customary indigenous garb.

The Other Shore: The Diana Nyad Story

Diana Nyad first gained acclaim in 1975 for swimming around Manhattan in record time. This documentary follows the long-distance swimmer as she pursues a perilous goal — swimming from Cuba to Florida without the use of a protective shark cage — a journey she attempts repeatedly, up until the age of 63. Afterward, queue up Nyad, the dramatic take starring Annette Bening as the athlete and Jodie Foster as her best friend and trainer, Bonnie Stoll.

Physical: 100

This search for the ultimate physique in Korea caught the attention of fitness lovers worldwide — for good reason. In this unique tournament, 100 athletes, bodybuilders, and military professionals take part in daunting challenges that test raw strength, speed, endurance, and technique. They face off in various trials until there’s only one competitor left standing. Want even more rivalry? Queue up Physical: Asia, the continent-wide spin-off in which athletes compete in teams representing their countries of origin.

SPRINT

This docuseries closely follows the world’s fastest athletes as they ready their bodies, minds, and spirits to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Created by the same team behind Formula 1: Drive to Survive, these episodes zoom in on American sprinters Gabby Thomas, Noah Lyles, Fred Kerley, Twanisha ‘TeeTee’ Terry, Kenny Bednarek, and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, as well as runners from the UK, Ivory Coast, Italy, Jamaica, and Kenya. Watching these elite runners prove what the human body is capable of is apt inspiration for athletes at any level. 

Tour de France: Unchained

Go behind the scenes of the world’s most thrilling race on two wheels: the Tour de France, the famed road cycling competition that spans approximately 2,200 miles over a period of three weeks. In each of its three seasons, the series embeds with multiple teams as they race while dealing with terrain, injury, and other setbacks. These episodes track the annual men’s competition in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Ultimate Beastmaster

After countless hours of training, contestants take on the supersized obstacle course called “The Beast.” Produced by and featuring Sylvester Stallone, the international competition made history when it debuted with six localized versions in various countries, all featuring different competitors, hosts, and languages of origin. (The U.S. edition is hosted by Terry Crews and Charissa Thompson.) Also available to stream: Ultimate Beastmaster Mexico, hosted by Inés Sainz and Luis Ernesto Franco.

 

If you’re looking for a way to move your body that builds strength, boosts your mobility and improves your mental agility, you need to try Brazilian jiu-jitsu (also known as BJJ).

Many people assume martial arts aren’t for them. I certainly never thought it was something I would enjoy. Working as a fitness writer, I’ve tried countless forms of exercise over the years, but grappling on the floor with a stranger had never appealed to me.

January is notoriously the busiest time of year at the gym. A survey from Ipsos reported that a third of Canadians made exercise-based resolutions for the new year, with many folks working out for the first time or returning to fitness after some time away. If you’re new to exercise, the gym can feel like an intimidating place. But it doesn’t need to be. Below we’ve put together a few suggestions to help you get started.

Have a plan going in

For success at the gym, it’s crucial to have a plan. Before you start, it’s important to identify your goals. Are you looking to get stronger? Training for a race or competition? Do you want to improve body composition? While almost any consistent exercise is going to improve your overall health, specific results require specific training.

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Those completely new to working out may want to invest in a few sessions with a personal trainer. A reputable trainer will be able to put together a plan based on your preferences and skill level, while walking you through the proper form for each exercise. If cost is an issue, many gyms offer a free intro training session as a sign-up perk. There are also hundreds of different workout programs you can find online and video tutorials outlining proper form.

If you’re intimidated to exercise on your own, a fitness class allows you to follow along with an instructor while getting some quick pointers on how to properly perform the workout. Many gyms offer discounted or free classes to first-time visitors.

Trying to do too much, too fast will burn you out, leave you injured or both

When you’re motivated by a new year’s resolution, it’s tempting to pencil in long gym sessions multiple times a week. But that kind of regime is rarely sustainable. If you’d like to make exercising a habit beyond January – and you’ll need to for any kind of lasting results – it’s best to think about what you can do in the long term.

“You can either do an hour of weightlifting a few days a week, and actually do it, or you have these imaginary 10-hour training sessions you’ll never actually have time for,” said Dan John, strength coach and author. “I try to focus on [programs that are] doable, repeatable and reasonable.”

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Similarly, trying to immediately push beyond your physical limitations is a great way to get injured. For weightlifting, it’s important to consider proper warm-ups, active mobility exercises and learning the right techniques before trying to lift anything too heavy. For cardio, Canada Running Series offers a Couch to 5K plan that eases newcomers into jogging by starting small and gradually increasing the length/difficulty of each run.

Follow basic gym etiquette

The gym is a shared public space. Everyone there is trying to get in a good workout. That’s harder to do when people are having phone conversations, listening to videos without using headphones and refusing to wipe down their equipment after use.

In March, fitness trainer Paul Landini wrote an article explaining some unofficial rules to follow when going to the gym, including being mindful of other people’s space and making sure you’re not monopolizing equipment during busy hours.

Try to find what you like about the gym

Changes in body composition, strength and overall health take time. They also need upkeep over the long term. Building a consistent fitness habit is something that will help with all those goals. One of the best ways to do that is finding something at the gym you genuinely enjoy doing. That can be working out with a friend to add a social aspect to exercise and accountability to show up. It can entail learning a new fitness-adjacent skill such as boxing or training for a competition like Hyrox. It can be rooted in the sense of accomplishment that comes with getting stronger. Whatever the reason, finding the joy in exercise is going to be key if you want to move beyond short-term motivation.