Sylvester Stallone - training for the film "The Expendables"

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.

Biography

Sylvester Stallone was born on July 6, 1946 in New York. Studied at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Miami.

The film “Rocky,” a film that glorifies the postulate “of equal opportunities for everyone” so dear to the hearts of Americans, was released and from the very first days of release began to break all box office records. Overnight, Stallone quickly moved from a third-rate actor to the “rank of star.”

However, besides Rocky, Stallone has another trump card - “Rambo”, three episodes of which brought the actor even greater popularity and huge profits.

But although in a number of subsequent films such as “Nighthawks” (1981), “Cobra” (1986), “From All Might” (1987), the actor continued to exploit the screen image successfully found in “Rocky” and “Rambo”.

Participation in John Landis's comedy "Oscar" (1991) - a remake of the famous French film with the brilliant Louis de Funes in the title role - revealed to the public a new Sylvester Stallone - comical, resourceful and cheerful.

Being “the most eligible bachelor in Hollywood,” Sylvester Stallone is an extremely busy man: he acts a lot, writes scripts, dreams of staging a ballet, and also actively participates in the social life of American bohemia.

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.”

Understand the load

It is very important to correctly assess your own capabilities. Rocky's training program promotes rapid growth of muscle mass, and, due to the increased load on the legs, the metabolism of the muscles of the whole body is accelerated. We advise you to use this complex for a month, once every six months. There is no need to immediately try to meet the standards of a guy who has devoted his whole life to developing his body. Go at your own pace and your workouts will be much more productive!

Friends, support our group on Facebook, share this post with your friends or click the “Like” button! and you will always be aware of the latest news from the “Rocking Chair on Duty”!

For you, we collect the best workouts, recommendations for proper nutrition and, of course, humor from the world of beautiful, energetic and healthy people - like you and me!
Source

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):

"The Expendables"

For The Expendables, Stallone was trained by fitness and extreme bodybuilding coach Gunnar Peterson, who has worked with many NHL and NBA stars, as well as most Hollywood stars.

Extreme bodybuilding is another type of bodybuilding to add to my vocabulary. I learned this term from the latest articles in a popular glossy magazine.

Sly says:

“I wake up early in the morning at 7:00, then take a BCAA complex. In 45 minutes I have my first breakfast. Easily digestible food is great here. For example, I use 2 boiled eggs, 4 pieces of figs and 1 sandwich. Next, I allow myself to relax a little and within an hour I’m in the gym!

First I do a warm-up, which takes about 10-15 minutes.

The training itself begins with working out the muscle fibers of the arms, which takes 40-50 minutes. Next, I train the deltoids for about 30 minutes. After that I do abdominal muscle training. Next, I do 450-500 repetitions with a gymnastic cane.

At about 13:00 I have lunch. My diet consists mainly of salads, boiled chicken breast, fried zucchini and a couple of pieces of fresh fruit.

The second half of the day is devoted to work and business meetings. For dinner, I like to eat fried fish, salad, some spinach and a couple of slices of toasted bread. In addition to chicken breast, I also eat veal.

Almost any meat that I eat contains a small percentage of fat. Once upon a time, I could eat several hod dogs in a row, resulting in painful sensations and cramps.

My training takes place for 3 days in a row, then I rest for 1 day. If I have a tough business week ahead, I train only 2 days a week, and also reduce the amount of food I eat by about 2 times.”

Here I can’t understand, where is the secret to gaining weight? How to maintain 100 kg? What is the secret: a piece of fig, 500 repetitions with a gymnastics cane, fried zucchini, or business activity?

In 2007, Stallone was stopped at Australian customs because the growth hormone Jintropin, one of the elements of extreme bodybuilding, was found in his luggage. The actor was accused of attempting to import illegal drugs into the country and was forced to pay a fine. However, in one of the interviews, Stallone admitted that thanks to Ginotropin, his well-being and physical fitness had significantly improved, and that he needed this remedy during the filming of “Rimbaud” in Burma.

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.

First cycle: for all muscle groups

This cycle is done immediately after a thorough warm-up. It targets all muscle groups, preparing them for the next load. One cycle consists of three approaches, with a minute and a half rest between them. Each cycle includes the following exercises:

• Back squats - 8 reps
• Deadlift – 9 reps
• Seated cane (weight) twists – 10 reps
• Weighted Pull-Ups – 8 reps
• Weighted dips - 8 reps

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

Methods for increasing biceps

It’s not enough to just pick up a barbell with dumbbells and train your arms; you need to use a variety of techniques and schemes:

– Superset – suitable for experienced athletes (after 1-2 years of training), must be used periodically

– The principle of the pyramid – increasing and decreasing working weight during the exercise;

– Specialization (separate training) – targeted training of lagging muscles by reducing the load on sufficiently developed muscles;

– Drop sets – reducing the working weight with each approach without resting one after another;

– variation in the number of repetitions – remember that to develop strength it is necessary to perform 5-6 repetitions in 1 approach, to increase muscle volume 8-12 repetitions, to develop strength endurance and work out the definition of the biceps 15-20 repetitions.

Train in a variety of ways, cultivate willpower and you will achieve your ideal, good luck!

Watch this video on YouTube

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."

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”:

Nutrition

At one time, Stallone decided to make his own movie. Well, today he decided to produce his own sports nutrition “InStone” . The reasons are similar. In the abundant American market, over the years of his film career, he was unable to find products that met his professional, and therefore demanding, taste - just for people we considered and selected, and also compiled a sports nutrition rating. In other words, nutrition is based on the use of a large number of quality supplements, this was discussed here:

It should be noted right away that “InStone” is not a publicly available product. Even a banal whey protein costs Stallone incomparably more. And not because Sly abuses the markup. The point is different. This is exactly what real whey protein should cost. (Only the most obtuse can ask why all other proteins cost almost half as much.)

From the very beginning, Sylvester set the company's staff the unique task of creating drugs of pharmacological quality . At first, such a goal seemed impossible. After all, the same food technologies are used in the production of sports nutrition. Bulk packaging lines operate under known assumptions. Deviations in the composition of ingredients can be several percent. When it comes to flour for homemade pancakes, this may be acceptable. What about a product for building muscle mass, where the active ingredients are measured in milligrams? It turns out we need to start with the equipment?

Then the production program ran into a raw material problem. The same amino acids, as is known, are synthesized both by doctors (for their own needs) and by numerous commercial structures as food additives. It would seem that the sports nutrition manufacturer has a choice. There's really no choice. For the simple reason that the quality of medical amino acids is expensive. Needless to say, Stallone chose them.