Workout Fanservice

""Such shamelessness at slaving openly for one's own beauty had to suggest possibilities for herself.""

- Norman Mailer, Marilyn, a biography

Where a athletic character, often a man, is shown working out or practicing a new hobby, this opportunity is excellent for Fanservice and eating the Eating the Eye Candy as well.

This is a common method to introduce very stealth fanservice, especially in action movies or Shonen works, plus it's easier for the guy to convince his significant other to join. This does not always require shirtlessness.

Not counting the shirtlessness, this is equal-opportunity fanservice - males and females are both the subjects of this trope.

When working out, this can be also justified as training for a fight. Needing to for their bodies to be in tip top shapes and to learn the new weapon, honing superhuman abilities (especially newer emerging ones), so to handle the fight's intensity.

All of this boils down to one thing only, the idea of a hot, sweaty, muscly guy or girl sculpting their abs in front of us.

Though having them being nude is optional.

Compare Macho Camp and Training Montage.

Advertising

 * The early 2010 has Lucozade's YouTube series called "Sweat Session," which is aimed at the British audience. It shows famous sportspeople at a gym and working out. The vids are not examples of this trope, but the street poster advertisements that are promoting the videos and featuring Jessica Ennis are.

Anime and Manga

 * In Bleach, Ichigo Kurosaki has a brief scene in the anime, that scene shows him doing pushups shirtless. That was in the Soul Society arc, the training was to obtain a Bankai.
 * In Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid, Victoria Dahlgrün was shown exercising wearing a sports bra and very short shorts. Whereas the other characters wears more modest outfits.
 * An entire OVA episode of Monster Musume no Ichijirou No was dedicated to this.
 * Training with Hinako - at least the first of the three OAV episodes - is all about the fanservice workout.
 * Psycho-Pass's third episode shows Kogami's well-trained body and abs, where we can see that he was working out, since there's a layer of sweat on him.
 * How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? is practically Workout Fanservice: The Series. Ostensibly a Diet Episode that spans the whole series with a Single Woman Seeks Good Man plot added (think Cathy but Japanese), the true point is showing off Fanservice-y characters of both genders.
 * Fire in His Fingertips often have scenes in both the manga and anime where the firefighters work out shirtless. Souma once even started working out shortly after his girlfriend passed out from having sex with him all day though he was in chibi form.

Comic Books

 * In the Uncanny X-Men issue 466, the titular heroine, Psylocke, helps some friends out, by doing her usual exercise routine (and showing some legs in the process) to distract some nearby Sentinels.

Fan Works

 * Fuchsia Gym's Pokémon Reset Bloodlines has Iris deciding that their group needs to workout to become stronger and sharper. This annoys Misty, but there's a benefit to the latter by seeing Ash working out.

Film

 * In Captain America: Civil War, during the beginning Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson are jogging around Washington. Up close we can see Steve's abs and biceps, even though he's wearing a shirt.
 * In I Am Legend, Neville usually starts the day with a shirtless workout and the dog joins.
 * The early 1980s workout show Aerobicise; it also counts as Poor Man's Porn. In a White Void Room, Two to four hot women "demonstrating" workout techniques and it doesn't help that there's some pretty interesting angles.
 * The Avengers has Captain America has tons of lovely shots of his body and butt, while working his frustrations on numerous punching bags.
 * In Anchorman, Ron Burgundy attempts to invoke this, merely by inviting Veronica in his office while he's "sculpting [his] guns." It didn't work, since his body betrays the fact that he's out of shape and he usually refers to his arms as "guns."
 * Gentlemen Prefer Blondes has a number called "Ain't Anyone Here for Love?" where Jane Russell wanders through a team's workout room.
 * In Terminator 2, when we first see Sarah Connor, she's doing some chin-ups off an overturned bed.
 * The Afterschool Special episode "Stoned" has a shirtless Mike pushing iron.
 * Happened quite often in the Police Academy movies when Officer Callahan was working out. A gym can be dangerous for men when she's there.

Literature

 * In Marilyn: A Biography, Norman Mailer tells how Marilyn Monroe liked to go to the muscle beach in Santa Monica on "oppressively hot days" to watch the speedo-clad muscle boys lift weights and look at their muscles and sweat under the blazing sun.

Live-Action TV

 * In the CSI: NY's "My Name Is Mac Taylor" episode, in a gym we find Mac doing his lap swim workout.
 * In Supernatural, the episode "The Third Man," Sam begins the day with some push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups, merely to keep fit for all the demon, monster, and spirit slaying. The focus is on his back, upper chest, and biceps during this, though we get some shots of his abs above the low-cut jeans in post workout.
 * In Being Human's Hal likes to do his exercise routine which involves press-ups on time...And shirtlessly.
 * Highlander has Duncan doing a sweaty, extremely sexy kata.
 * Both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel has Angel doing a lot of shirtless exercising Tai Chi in an episode called "Revelations," this trope is acknowledged by Word of God.
 * The X-Files's early seasons has Agent Fox Mulder jogging, running in the stadium, or swimming. The Estrogen Brigade love his red speedo.
 * Star Trek: The Next Generation, "The Price". Dr. Crusher and Counselor Troi. Doing yoga. Wearing spandex. In front of a mirror. 'Nuff said.

Music

 * Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" music video begins with and ends with multiple handsome, muscular men working out, being loaded with Fanservice shots. Immediately subverted when the initial shots of fit guys are replaced with several sweaty, fat guys -- who it is implied work their way to fitness by the end.  One should also note that Newton-John in her leotard and headband is not exactly hard on the eyes herself.
 * Tanya Tucker's "Hangin' In" takes place in a beach, where multiple muscular men pushing iron and wearing square cut swimming trunks.
 * Eric Prydz's music video remix of "Call on Me" depicts a man who finds himself in an all-female exercise class, who is enjoying the suggestive thrusting and griding of the routine exercise.

Pinball

 * The Future Spa game has a bevy of flawlessly sculpted men and women working out and honing their perfect bodies.

Pornography

 * In many gay porn videos, the guys lift weights in the nude.

Tabletop Games

 * GURPS IOU has an In-Universe example. The classes for the Department of Zen Aerobics mainly consists of Lotus Position and watching aerobics on television. Despite the lack of practical uses for these classes, they're popular.

Video Games

 * Mass Effect 3's James Vega does a load of pull-ups. It's even part of a Ho Yay joke with Steve Cortez, who is openly gay, and who Vega slyly comments "You know you love the show."
 * There's Jacob Taylor, who does crunches. Kasumi loves pointing out "Mmmm, crrrunches. Lots of crrunches."
 * In StarTropics, the SheCola female guards are seen using weights when they exercise, doing pushups, and complaining about how intensive their training routines are.
 * In Stardew Valley, you can walk in on Alex. He apologizes for being shirtless, though no one's complaining.

Web Comics

 * Ménage à 3's DiDi is sometimes seen doing her intensive exercise regime. But the reactions/effects of the other characters and passer-byers shows some comedy.

Other Media

 * Despite that Kathy Smith really is a fitness trainer, her workout videos from late '80s and early '90s became this trope, due to her figure and wearing a leotard.
 * Chrissy's Cardio Blast In this video(NSFW) the eponymous character in the video, works out on a treadmill in the nude.

Real Life

 * Many major beach cities have areas called "muscle beaches", which are outdoor recreation areas (and main one of their main attractions) noted for their association with bodybuilders and athletes and especially, muscular men lifting weights in speedos.