Kyle Schwarber is basically Rocky Balboa now.
The Cubs outfielder isn't hoisting logs on his shoulder as he runs through snow or battering a frozen hunk of meat with his bare hands.
But Schwarber got his own Rocky-esque workout montage Thursday as the Cubs showed behind the scenes of his physical transformation into The Best Shape of His Life.
All that's missing is some Survivor or Europe as the background music.
"It's a lifestyle change," Schwarber said in the video. "This isn't just a short fix. You want this to carry on down the road."
Schwarber hasn't said exactly how much weight he's lost (somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 pounds, he said at the Winter Meetings in December) and is probably waiting until he shows up to spring training to give an exact figure, since that leaves another month of working out and eating right.
The dude looks absolutely shredded. He's come a long way in the last few months:
We've already discussed Schwarber's weight plenty this offseason and simply adding muscle and shedding fat does not immediately make a player a superstar.
Schwarber may not be any more primed to hit 50 homers in a season than he was a year ago at this same time. But it certainly doesn't ever hurt to be in better shape, a fact he pointed out in the Cubs video.
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At the very least, Schwarber should be a bit more spry in the outfield tracking down fly balls and maybe less overall weight will help him avoid minor aches and pains, particularly on his surgically-repaired knee.
It's also been a mind-numbingly slow winter in the baseball world, so gimme more Schwarber workout videos. It's a great distraction.