Rocky IV-Inspired Gym Workout Brings Movie Training Moves Indoors

A movie training montage can make an exhausting workout look simple. Artem Puzin, a Russian boxer and content creator known as “Puzin the Motivator,” has translated several of Rocky Balboa’s training moves from Rocky IV into a gym routine. Sylvester Stallone liked Puzin’s Instagram Reel featuring the session, giving the creator a memorable nod from the actor who played Rocky.

The routine draws on the film’s contrast between improvised training outdoors and more familiar gym equipment. Puzin, whose combat-focused videos also take inspiration from UFC fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov and Greco-Roman wrestler Alexandr Karelin, keeps the workout’s boxing and conditioning flavor while adapting some of its props and movements for an indoor setting. It’s a recreation inspired by a film montage, rather than a tested training program or evidence that the routine prepares someone for boxing.

The workout

• Pullups: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Barbell walking lunges: 4 sets of 20 reps
• Jump rope: 3 sets of 3 minutes
• Rope rotations into triceps extensions: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Incline straight-leg hip raises: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Slip-rope drills: 3 sets of 3 minutes
• Barbell twists: 4 sets of 30 reps
• Overhead press: 4 sets of 10 reps

The listed work spans upper- and lower-body strength, trunk movement, coordination and conditioning. Its total workload is substantial: multiple exercises have four sets, while the two timed drills add six minutes of rope work before accounting for transitions or rest. The article does not describe rest periods, the loads used, how the movements are performed in the video, or whether Puzin completed every listed set in one session. Those details matter when judging how demanding the routine would be in practice.

How the movie ideas translate

Pullups open the session. The original montage shows Rocky changing his head position relative to the bar as he lifts. Puzin’s version draws on that visual, but the article doesn’t specify whether viewers should copy those variations or how to scale them. Pullups can be challenging, and changing head position may alter the movement; people unfamiliar with the exercise can ask a qualified trainer to demonstrate a suitable version.

Walking lunges with a barbell bring the work to the legs and hips. In the film, Rocky trains in snow; the gym adaptation makes the setting more accessible while keeping the recognizable loaded-lunge pattern. Jump rope then adds repeated footwork and cardiovascular effort, while the slip rope offers a boxing-inspired drill for practicing movement around an obstacle. These exercises require coordination and space, so their pace and duration can affect how strenuous the session feels.

For the film’s improvised hauling work, Puzin uses a cable station for rope rotations that finish with a triceps extension. That setup turns the reference into a controlled gym movement involving the trunk and arms. Incline straight-leg hip raises follow, using a bench for support. The article describes these as challenging the abdominal and hip-area muscles, though it doesn’t give technique cues or a progression for people who find them difficult.

Barbell twists echo the wooden yoke shown in the movie, and the overhead press stands in for another feat of strength from the montage. Together, they add more work after the lunges, rope drills and hip raises. The order and number of repetitions may look cinematic, but the article supplies no information about Puzin’s training history, the weights he used, or the recovery between exercises. That makes it hard to judge the routine’s intensity from the list alone.

What to take from it

Puzin said Stallone’s response encouraged him to make more than a simple copy of the workout and share his own work. The actor’s like is a social-media reaction; it doesn’t amount to an assessment of the program’s safety or effectiveness. The routine is best understood as a creative tribute that combines strength exercises with boxing-inspired conditioning.

The source article describes the session as intense and suggests adjusting sets and reps to match one’s ability. That is a general observation, not an individualized plan. Anyone considering a workout with unfamiliar movements, substantial volume or loaded exercises can discuss their circumstances with a doctor or pharmacist, or seek instruction from a qualified fitness professional—particularly if they have a health condition, are returning after a break, or are unsure how to perform an exercise safely. Puzin’s version captures the movie’s energetic spirit; adapting the workload to personal experience is what makes the idea more practical outside a montage.

View Puzin’s workout Reel on Instagram. Follow Artem Puzin on Instagram.