What does Stallone look like now? Training program. Rambo: Last Blood

Sylvester Stallone's training program

Sylvester Stallone's training program has changed over the years and with new roles. For Rocky and Rambo, Sly trained in heavy bodybuilding programs. Stallone works out at a high pace, eats a high protein diet and uses testosterone/growth hormone to stay in top shape.

The physique and image of Rocky arose back in 1976, at the same time Sly received an Oscar in the “Best Picture” category. Since then, Stallone has been in excellent shape.

Stallone's biceps on the set of Rocky II

The second film was released in 1979, and the actor’s form was already at a different level: his weight was 90 kg. But fat was already 5.3%, but still much lower than normal, so such volumes are a “pure” indicator of high-quality muscle.

The actor prepared for the second Rocchio in just a month and a half; they say that during this time he performed:

• up to fifty repetitions in exercises for the abdominal muscles;
• The bench press weight was 180 kg;
• In squats, the maximum result was with a barbell weight of 220 kg.

At that time, the size of the biceps was 44 cm, which is quite a lot given the general dryness of the body.

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Time to try to get back into action movie shape! Even though it's almost an impossible dream you just got to keep going forward. You're only as old as you feel. The brain is a muscle that should never ever stop being worked out!

Posted by Sly Stallone (@officialslystallone) Jan 2, 2022 at 6:44 am PST

Rocky's training program

Rocky's training program varied throughout the film. When he looked drier, like in Rocky III, metabolic circuits were used. When the need to look more massive, like in Rocky Balboa, traditional bodybuilding training was used 6 days a week.

Sly was once asked in an interview where he gets his workouts from and how he learned to get good form:

“I wanted to look like Tarzan - dry, dense, with cat-like grace. I wanted to forget about mass for the sake of well-developed muscles. I started training in a hardcore weightlifting program twice a day. When I did Rocky, I increased the number of exercises.”

Stallone's biceps on the set of Rocky 4

In 1985, during the filming of the fourth film, the actor’s form, in his opinion, was the standard for him. During the filming, the actor suffered a contusion of the heart muscle, which knocked him out of action for ten days. And although the actor gained weight up to 78.4 kg, his biceps remained in place and amounted to 43 cm.

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Another incredibly rare shot. Slowly fading away. From ROCKY 4 … I remember this day when Drago akaDolph Lundgren Was pounding away at my body. Very strong individual. This was definitely one of the toughest physical experiences of my life, especially when you're Directing at the same time. But the end result was worth it and I love and thank everyone involved in making this amazing experience possible …Now go out and see Creed 2 this Thanksgiving for another amazing experience!Keep punching, my friends. @mgm_studios # #creed2 @dolphlundgren #rockybalboa1976

Posted by Sly Stallone (@officialslystallone) Oct 16, 2022 at 6:44 am PDT

Whether it is a lot or a little is difficult to say right away. For an actor playing a heavyweight in a film, that's not enough. For life and creating aesthetics, which Stallone did quite well, this is probably an excellent indicator.

Rocky 2 training program

In preparation for filming the second part of “Rocky,” Sylvester Stallone trained with two-time Mr. Olympia Franco Colombo as a coach. Sly knew that Columbo was a friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger and helped him in training. Stallone wanted Columbo to be his coach in preparation for Rocky and Rambo. Franco Colombo says:

“I had to charge quite a bit of tuition because Sly wanted to train as hard as he could for Mr. Olympia. This meant two workouts a day, six days a week. I had to give up almost everything else I was doing to help him get into the best shape of his life.”

Columbo forced Stallone to train the same way he trained for the Olympia. Sly worked with the same weights. Stallone likely wasn't able to do as many reps, but the goal was to do the best he could.

Colombo describes the program this way:

“I developed a personal program for him, and then we started training together, and I constantly increased the weights and the number of repetitions. I knew that this would motivate him and force him to “keep up” with me. When I did 12 reps with a weight, Sly tried to do at least 7. After all, I might be stronger than him, but not by that much. The next set I did 15 reps, and Sly tried to do at least 10. By the end of our workouts, he was doing bicep curls with 32-pound dumbbells!”

For Rocky 2, Stallone had to lift heavy weights to develop his physique. Not only because he worked under Colombo's program, but also because he trained with him. The following is the training program for Rocky 2 (source: Franco Colombo Training Program):

Training like Rocky Balboa: how does Sylvester Stallone keep fit?

Sylvester Stallone is not just one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood, he is a symbol of action films of the 90s. Millions of viewers around the world remembered him as boxer Rocky Balboa. A little later, he was joined by Vietnam War veteran John Rambo, rock climber Gabe Walker, and Judge Dredd. Each of these roles required ideal physical condition.

It's no surprise that Sly's training program changed depending on the upcoming movie. At the very beginning of his career, Sly trained according to strength programs that were practiced by professional bodybuilders in those years.

The actor always maintained his shape and worked out at an intense pace. In order to be fully prepared if any interesting offer arrives. According to Sly, he began training intensively back in 1975 during preparation for filming Rocky. At seventy-four years old, he is still in excellent shape. So, what is Stallone's secret?

Sly's training program varied significantly between different parts of the film franchise. When it was necessary to be leaner, the actor resorted to metabolic tricks; when it was necessary to build muscle mass, he lifted iron on a par with bodybuilders. In one of his interviews, Sly admitted that he initially wanted to look like Tarzan. Just as dry, pumped up, but at the same time very flexible. Sylvester wanted to forget about weight for a while and effectively work out all muscle groups. Twice a day he worked out according to the hardcore training system used by weightlifters, powerlifters and wrestlers with some adjustments.

After the result was achieved, Sly could no longer stop, and each time he continued to increase the load, the pace of training and the number of approaches. During preparation for the second part of “Rocky,” two-time Mr. Olympia and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s main competitor in the fight for this title, Franco Colombo, became Sly’s personal trainer. However, they were opponents only in competitions. In real life, Franco and Arnold were friends and trained together.

Knowing about Columbo's amazing success, Sly invited him to be his mentor. It was Columbo who prepared Stallone for filming the sequel to Rocky. With him, he began preparing for filming in the cult film franchise “Rambo”. According to Sylvester, he had to pay a tidy sum in order for Franco to agree to train him. He had never acted as a coach before, but the result of their joint efforts was amazing.

Columbo admitted that Sly trained as hard as if he were preparing for the Mr. Olympia competition. The actor had two high-intensity workouts a day, six times a week. Franco had to give up many of his projects in order to help Sylvester get into the best shape of his life. Sly tried to work with the same weights as professional bodybuilders. True, he did fewer repetitions. In any case, the goal was achieved. Franco developed a unique program for his ward based on the individual physiological characteristics of his body, level of training and goals. Colombo constantly increased the load and increased the pace of training. It was necessary to avoid inhibition of muscle growth. The fact that Franco was doing the same exercises as Sly was a great motivation for him. The actor reached out to his mentor and tried to keep up with him. When Columbo did fifteen reps, Sly did ten. Gradually he reached twelve.

By the end of the training, Sylvester could easily train his biceps by lifting a 32-pound dumbbell. Such training suited him completely. During his training, he tried to improve his physical performance as much as possible. At the same time, Sly trained for many years according to the program invented by Columbo. It has repeatedly proven its effectiveness. Franco Colombo's training complex lasts fourteen days. On the first day, the chest and shoulders are trained in the morning. In the evening – arms and abs. The following exercises are used to pump up the arms: pullover with dumbbells, lying dumbbell flyes, bench press, parallel bars and crossover on the block. These exercises are performed using the superset principle. This means that the load increases in proportion to the amount of training. At the same time, the working weight increases and the number of repetitions decreases.

You can practice on the uneven bars until failure. Shoulders are worked without a superset. Exercises with a barbell in this case should be performed exclusively under the supervision of a spotter. Pumping up your shoulders alone is dangerous. You shouldn't put yourself at risk. In the morning of the second day, Sly trains his back, and in the evening his legs. Back training includes sets of ten repetitions. On the third day, in the morning, Stallone trains his chest and shoulders, and in the evening he pumps up his abdominal muscles. On the fourth day, the emphasis is on training the arms and abs. On the fifth, the legs and back are worked out. In the morning of the sixth day, exercises are performed on the chest and shoulders, and in the evening the abs are pumped. The seventh day is a day off. The next week the complex is repeated.

When pumping up his legs, Sly preferred the classic Romanian deadlift, which has proven its effectiveness. If, due to a number of contraindications, you cannot perform this exercise, it is better to switch your attention to lunges with a barbell. The steel press became the hallmark of Sly's on-screen heroes. It is not surprising that during his training, the actor paid special attention to the abdominal muscles. During preparation for the third part of Rocky, the same set of exercises was used. True, this time Sly had to make a number of changes to his usual diet. According to Stallone himself, in the third part Rocky should be somewhat drier. In this regard, he decided to resort to functional metabolic schemes.

In addition, Sly worked out eighteen rounds in the boxing ring with his sparring partner, and jumped rope to failure. At the end of each day, Sylvester swam in the pool. This made it possible to relax the muscles that had been strained during the day of intense training. According to the actor, his standard weight is 78 kilograms. It allows you to show muscle definition without looking over-pumped.

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Rocky 2. Training program, 14-day split

Chest Workout

Supersets 1 and 2 are performed in a pyramid: the weights increase, the repetitions decrease. With each set, weight is added and the number of repetitions is decreased. Superset 3 is called the “Dagger Set”, you superset all 4 exercises, then repeat the circuit twice. This puts a lot of stress on the muscles (to the point of pain), hence the name.

Shoulder workout

Shoulders were trained without supersets. Just one exercise after another. For the head press you need to use a Smith machine or a spotter. Doing it alone is dangerous. We also recommend watching a video of the exercise.

Arm training

The arm workout is different from what Franco Colombo did in preparation for Mr. Olympia. The producers wanted Stallone's arms to look more sculpted rather than bulky, so Columbo developed the following program.

For muscle definition, Colombo said to do all exercises in supersets. This means you do one exercise after another without rest. Do a superset of 2 exercises, 3 sets. Then move on to the next superset.

In an interview with Franco, Colombo talks about the importance of turning your arms inward while performing biceps curls to avoid injury.
The workout ends with a forearm exercise. Also, Stallone was allowed to stretch as much as needed after training. Colombo says: “The forearm is very important for a balanced appearance and a strong grip. Curling your arms after a workout stimulates growth and also burns calories.”

Back workout

The back workout begins with standard sets/repetitions and ends with a superset of dumbbell rows and parallel grip pull-ups (the technique is shown in the video). As an alternative, pulley pulleys with parallel handles can be used.

Leg workout

For leg training, you can choose between Romanian deadlifts and barbell lunges. If you don't want to get injured, or you already have an injury, switch to lunges with a barbell.

Abs workout

Abdominal training was an integral part of creating Stallone's on-screen image.

Sly also did bar spins, situps, leg raises, lateral leg raises, and lateral abdominal stretches. You can include these exercises as desired.

Leg workout

1. Hyperextension (3 sets of 20 repetitions). Stallone always performs hyperextensions as the first exercise in leg training to maximally warm up the lower back and hamstrings before heavy work.
2. Front squats (3-4 sets of 15-20 reps). After many years of training, Stallone learned that his legs respond better to high-repetition loads. This exercise, according to him, brutally loads the quadriceps, excluding the gluteal muscles and the back of the thigh from the work as much as possible.
3. Hack squats in the machine (3-4 sets of 15-20 repetitions). Although the exercise is not as traumatic as classic squats with a barbell, you should still follow the correct technique and not lift your back from the moving platform.
4. Leg press (3 sets of 20-30 reps). In this exercise, Stallone uses a fairly narrow stance with his toes pointing straight out. The emphasis is on the lower quadriceps. Sly is confident that thanks to this particular execution, he built his notorious “drops”, which literally “hang” over the kneecap, stand out when walking, favorably emphasizing the muscularity of the legs.
5. Deadlift on straight legs (3 sets of 15 reps). Stallone advises keeping your knees slightly bent to avoid unwanted rounding of your back.
6. Lying leg curls (3 sets of 20 reps). Sly always tries not to lift his pelvis off the machine bench in order to more locally load the hamstrings, without involving the long back muscles in the work.
7. Calf raises in the Smith machine (3 sets of 20-30 repetitions). Thanks to the simulator, it is easier to maintain balance in this exercise, focusing all attention on working the calves. Stallone stands on a wooden block, which lengthens the range of motion, allowing him to better stretch the calf muscles at the bottom.
8. Seated calf raise (3 sets of 10-12 reps). Despite the generally accepted opinion that this exercise mainly works the soleus muscle, Stallone is confident that it was with its help that he was able to build the bulk of large, sculpted calves. Sly performs it emphatically slowly, lingering at the top point until the maximum peak contraction. The rep range is not random. Stallone is confident that the shin, accustomed to long, monotonous work, should be “surprised” by using heavy weights in a relatively short repetition range.

So, you have read the training scheme of the legendary man, Sylvester Stallone. And we hope you take into account all the subtleties that Sly focuses on. Thanks to his vast experience, Stallone can teach anyone how to build their training schedule for a lifetime!

Training program for Rocky 3

The training program to prepare for Rocky 3 was the same as in the second part. But Stallone had to lose weight to fit the David and Goliath-style poster for the film (he was preparing for a fight with Mr. T). According to the trainer, all the same exercises were used with some variations.

The key difference was the inclusion of more functional training in the program. Stallone also radically changed his diet. For Rocky 3, Sly used metabolic functional circuits, including 18 rounds of sparring and jumping rope.

So, the training program for Rocky 3 included:

• 18 rounds of sparring in the ring
• 2 hours of work with iron (training program for Rocky 2)
• 2 km run
• a lot of jumping rope
• swimming at the end of the day

Sylvester Stallone's weight

Sylvester Stallone's body weight varied from film to film, depending on the specifics of the script and Sly's wishes. He could change the program or diet to achieve the ideal shape. Here's how much he weighed in different parts of Rocky:

• Rocky - 81 kg (178 lbs)
• Rocky 2 – 91 kg (200 lbs)
• Rocky 3 – 74 kg (163 lb)
• Rocky 4 – 78.5 kg (173 lb)

Stallone on Rocky 4 (weight 78.5 kg):

“I like this weight, the muscles are full, defined, more consistent with the appearance of ancient athletes. I'm not as skinny as I was in Rocky III and I feel stronger."

“I woke up already in the hospital”

In 1997, Stallone put his reputation on the line, went for broke and convincingly played the dramatic role of a beaten cop in James Mangold's excellent thriller Cops, not at all lost against the authoritative acting background of De Niro, Harvey Keitel and Ray Liotta. Critics and the public reacted favorably to Sly’s fearlessness, however, Stallone did not dare to ride the wave of new respect for himself. Instead, he took time out for a couple of years, and returned with sad creations like the remake of “Get Carter” - so disastrous that by the mid-2000s, Sly’s film career actually came to naught.

Television came to the rescue. In 2005, Sly produced the reality show “The Contender,” in which he mentored young boxers on the true path. Then, hot on the heels, he published the fitness guide Sly Moves (“Tricky Moves”) with the subtitle “My proven program for losing weight, building strength, strengthening willpower and realizing dreams.” Indeed, who else but Stallone can talk about how to restore the body after injuries? Sly's injury history is practically the same as his life history.

“At school alone I had 14 fractures. When I was eleven, I jumped off the roof of our three-story house with an umbrella in my hands - I thought I would fly up like Mary Poppins. He fell straight into a tub of liquid cement: his father was building something in the yard. My father came out of the house, saw me lying in the gray slurry with an umbrella on my head and said to my mother: “Jacqueline, this guy should not be president, you gave birth to an idiot.” To which I replied: “Dad, they said the same thing about Thomas Edison.” On the set of the second “Rocky,” I had 160 stitches on my right arm: I completely tore the muscle and had to sew it back on. In the film I fight with my left hand, I just couldn’t lift my right hand. On the set of Rocky IV, I told Lundgren: hit me right in the chest as hard as you can. Dolph hit, and I woke up in a hospital in Los Angeles, where I was flown from Canada. The impact caused the pericardial sac to swell, and the doctors spent a week knocking down the tumor.”

Training for Rocky Balboa

Sylvester Stallone was trained for the filming of Rocky Balboa (2006) by trainer Gunnar Petersen. Sly knew that he was training in the style of 50's and 60's bodybuilding in preparation for Mr. Olympia. Stallone admits that his training was more traumatic:

“It was traumatic. Your joints wear out and you feel inflammation you didn't know you had. We have to live with it because the discomfort does not go away. Every day I took painkillers. For all five parts of Rocky combined, I did not have so many injuries... I broke my foot. I lost a disc in my neck. Torn my calf muscle"

Motivational excerpt from “Rocky Balboa”:

Fruits for a good start to the day

Stallone could have calmed down long ago and been lying by the sea with a cocktail, but he goes to the gym at least three times a week and continues to monitor his nutrition. Every day, the actor wakes up around 7-8 am and then loads himself with carbohydrates for a vigorous workout. The actor's favorite breakfast dish is fruit salad, which can consist of pears, apples, oranges and kiwi. At 9 am Sly goes to the gym. Warm-up and stretching are followed by an hour of strength training.

It should be noted that Stallone loves quite unique and various innovative simulators. For example, one of them actually looks like a slot machine, where an actor trains the accuracy of a blow. Or a simulator where Stallone simulates the movements of a rock climber. Surprisingly, even at this age, the actor continues to motivate people around the world. Stallone looks great, he is energetic and never tires of making jokes.

Mikhailov Dmitry

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