Bruce Lee’s Resurfaced Bodybuilding Training Routine From 1965 Breaks Internet: “This Isn’t That Crazy…”

Bruce Lee, the iconic martial artist known for his lightning-fast reflexes and intense workouts, followed a strict training regime to keep his body and mind in peak condition. A popular icon, he starred in action films where he performed many of his own stunts, and his work helped change the perception of Asians in American cinema.

Recently, a famous Instagram page “sportscenter” posted a resurfaced image of the ionic martial artist’s workout routine he used to follow back in 1965. The workout regime gained fans’ attention very quickly and divided the fitness community into two groups, each with their own thoughts regarding the routine of the Hollywood Icon.

The most iconic martial artist’s intense workout

The image displayed an exercise list from the Hak Keung Gymnasium dated May 27, 1965, showcasing Lee’s training plan for the day. The chart provides an inner look at the workout mindset of the martial arts master. Bruce Lee would start his intense training session by doing three sets of 95-pound squats with ten reps per set. Then he would move on to the French press, doing six reps for four sets, weighing 64 pounds. 

The next exercise on the list was the incline press, which he would perform in four sets of six reps, each with a weight of 35 pounds. Then he would repeat the French press sets. Con Curls was the next to make it to the martial artist’s list, and he would do four sets of six reps, each with a weight of 35 pounds. Lee even did weighted pushups with weights between 70 and 80 pounds and did three sets of ten reps.

Then he would move on to the two-hand curls, following the same instructions as his pushups; the only difference was that he would do eight reps of this exercise. The next was to focus on his triceps and do three sets of tricep stretches, doing eight reps with three pounds. Lee would do four sets of dumbbell circles and reverse curls. The martial artist would do wrist curls twice for four sets. He would wrap up his workout with sit-ups and calf raises with his body weight, doing five sets of each.

This looks like an intense workout plan. However, some of Lee’s fans were not impressed by the legend’s workout plan. Why?

Fan compares Bruce Lee’s workout to that of a high school kid’s workout

A fan of martial arts highlighted that the workout plan is basic and commented, “This comment section just shows how out of shape people are… This isn’t that crazy of a workout guys…” An admirer of Lee shed light on the fact that Bruce Lee focused on building endurance rather than building muscles. They wrote, “He was definitely focused on muscle in endurance and flexibility anybody that says this is easy has never worked on that before.” A fitness enthusiast made a bold comment on the martial artist, writing, “Everyone on here glorifying a man they never saw in a real fight. Or a professional one at that…. Ill wait!“

Upon witnessing the workout plan, a fitness freak thought of it as more of a warm up than a real workout. They wrote, “Ngl this workout don’t look insane at all lol this dam near look like a warmup.” One more fan was not in favor of the workout and commented, “Whoever say this hard never worked out a day in they life.” A bodybuilding enthusiast compared Lee’s workout to an average high schooler’s workout and wrote, “Looks like a highschool kids workout.“

After witnessing the workout plan of the iconic martial artist, what do you think of Bruce Lee’s workout plan? Do you agree with most of the comments? Let us know below!