I've seen a lot of changing, but what I'm trying to say is that if I can change,
and you can change, everybody can change! Hey guys in today's video we're going to talk about
Sylvester Stallone's diet and training that not only helped him achieve his best physique
but arguably one of the greatest physiques ever seen on film. Of course I'm talking about the
legendary Rocky IV, a movie that came out in the mid 1980s that was chock full of amazing training
montages, it no doubt inspired millions across the world to get in better shape themselves. It
was also a movie released in the same year that Rambo: First Blood part 2 came out, both of which
helped Stallone become the biggest box office movie star in the world. It's only fitting he'd
have a physique to match and exemplify the great hard work and dedication it took to achieve that
level of success, so sit back and let's see what it took for Stallone to build that Rocky 4 body.
Preparation for Rocky 4 conveniently coincided after the production of Rambo: First Blood part 2,
so Stallone would have been 38 at the time and would have finished wrapping up production for
Rocky 4 in July of 1985, which would see him turn 39. That should be a great motivation for all of
us around 40 by the way, we can still be in our prime! Rambo First Blood part 2 was a film that
Sylvester Stallone was in phenomenal shape for as well, but in his eyes, it wasn't good enough.
Stallone said, "I always worked harder whenever I had a new Rocky or Rambo movie coming up".
So of course he felt he needed to one-up his Rambo 2 physique for Rocky 4. The last time we seen
Rocky was back in 1982 when he defeated Clubber Lang played by Mr. T. In that film Stallone was
beyond shredded, make sure to check out the video I did on Rocky 3 where I broke down his diet,
training and physique by the way, linked in the description below. Rocky 3 seen Stallone at his
lightest body weight in all of the Rocky films, tipping the scales at just 163 pounds of shredded
muscle. Instead of trying to top that physique as far as leanness goes, Sly went for a more
well-built muscular physique for Rocky IV where he ended up weighing 173 pounds. That extra 10 pounds
looked to be pure muscle since he looked equally impressive as far as leanness goes when comparing
his physique to Rocky 3. Stallone himself doesn't quite fully agree though. When referring to his
Rocky 4 physique he said, "I like this weight because it's a fuller, rounder look more in
keeping with the old Roman athletes. I'm not quite as sinewy as I was in Rocky 3, but I feel
stronger". What do you guys think, was he just as lean in Rocky 4 as he was in Rocky 3? Comment
below. As far as his body weight goes, we got to keep a few things in mind, 173 pounds is not
exactly huge on someone who's around 5 foot 9 or so but here's why he looks so impressive at that
weight. One, while 173 pounds by itself is not big, 173 pounds when someone is ripped and doesn't
have their shirt on actually looks pretty big. In a sweatshirt he'd probably just more look like a
normal guy though, that's actually a pretty common complaint with guys who are in really good shape,
really lean, but don't have overly sized muscles, they don't really even look like they work out
when they have a shirt on especially when they put on a sweatshirt. Put on a sweatshirt it's kind
of like this, "we're we're changing we're like turning into regular people". Two, he's pumped up,
lubed up, and lighted in such a way that makes him look more impressive than he ordinarily would if
he just randomly took his shirt off. Like Drago "I must break you". Lighting can also make or
break you as far as how you look. Seinfeld: "You know you might want to take the tunnel".
Have you come across this? George: Yes, I am familiar with this syndrome,
she's a two-face. As far as the pump and lube goes, the film's makeup artist Leonard
Engelmann remembers that the Rocky IV crew used the term pump and lube while filming was underway
to achieve the on-screen look of glistening sweat during Rocky's training sequence and
during his battle with Ivan Drago. The makeup team would wait for Stallone to pump up his
muscles and then the artist would lube his body creating an artificially sweaty look,
add in some nice lighting to that and you really see the muscles pop. Three, Stallone's never had
the best leg development. I think he could easily be five or ten pounds heavier if his legs matched
or even exceeded the musculature of his upper body. So, with all that in mind, ripped not
quite as developed legs, and then pumped lubed and lighted properly, 173 pounds looks and is
extremely impressive on screen. All right, so as far as the training goes, the production
notes Rocky IV started after completion of Rambo: First Blood part 2. Stallone adapted a grueling
workout routine under the guidance of world renowned bodybuilding champion Franco Colombu;
however, despite what the production notes for Rocky 4 says, that's not quite the real story.
So production for Rambo 2 ended on August of 1984, and then roughly eight months later in
April of 1985 production for Rocky 4 began. Based on the timeline from what I can surmise,
Stallone worked out with Franco for several months in the back half of 1984. These workouts according
to Franco consisted of what he called hurt "H-I-R-T", high-intensity resistance training
where sly would move from one station to another performing weighted exercises with minimal rest
until he had nothing left in the tank. To me it essentially sounds like a high intensity circuit
training routine, but looking at his arm workout it seems that he continuously blasted the same
muscle group, unlike a typical circuit where you do a chest exercise move on to a back exercise and
shoulder exercise, etc. Here's his arm routine for example, which consisted of four different phases:
biceps, forearms, triceps and then a wrap up. Go ahead and pause the video if you're curious
about the exercises he did during each phase. This is not really a routine I've ever seen
anyone do and you likely won't run across it in a magazine or online article. "What are you doing?"
"What?" In fact, I don't even think Stallone did it that long himself because Rocky IV was the
film where Stallone switched trainers from having started to work with Franco Columbu
in the late 1970s during Rocky 2. He'd switch over to George Pipasik in January of 1985 for
Rocky 4 and then would even continue to work with Pipasik years later for 1988's Rambo 3. Here's a
picture of the two men on set for Rambo 3 right here while Stallone's trying to get pumped up.
Before we talk about George Pipasik in the training though, I do want to point out a couple
of things that Franco Colombu said that Sly would have continued to incorporate in his training.
Franco said after training upper body you should flex your upper body muscles because that promotes
additional growth as well as burning off body fat for better definition. This is something that
Arnold Schwarzenegger used to do a lot and talked about in Pumping Iron as well. You're essentially
doing a static contraction, it's actually harder than it looks if you're squeezing those muscles
as hard as you can and it's a good reminder to do, at least for me because it's something I'm
going to start incorporating in my workouts again. Also in reference to the Rocky films, Franco said
Sly wanted a lot of stuff in the shoulders and forearms, so when the camera came in it would look
really big. In his book Sly Moves, Stallone talks about the hanging exercise he does from a bar.
He said the hangs were something he started doing with Dolph Lundgren in Rocky 4 because it gives
a huge pump to your forearms and taxes the arm and back muscles that you would never normally
activate. Dolph Lundgren said Sly not only wanted us to move like champion boxers, he wanted us to
have the best looking physiques anyone ever saw in a ring, and that meant developing muscles that
boxers usually don't develop. The way Stallone performs these hangs by the way is with a wider
than shoulder-width grip, slight bend in the elbows while keeping the bar deep in the palm
of his hand. Alright, so as far as George Pipasik goes, let me give you a little background on him,
and I'll make sense as to why Stallone wanted to train with him. George Pipasik was born
in Czechoslovakia, which has since split into two separate countries, Slovakia and the Czech
Republic. On a side note, I've really been brushing up on my geography research since
being called out on my "Who were the Fighters in Bloodsport?" video, where I mistakenly said
that Helsinki was the capital of Sweden and not Finland. As having Nordic and Viking roots, I'm
deeply ashamed but I am American and geography is not exactly our strong suit, but I digress. George
used to play hockey as a teenager during which time he and some friends began lifting weights at
the age of 19. He really took to it and ended up becoming one of the most important representatives
and pioneers of bodybuilding in Slovakia. You can see him in some of these pictures here where he
sports a very impressive physique. He emigrated to the United States in 1968 and actually trained
Arnold Schwarzenegger for eight months in early 1974. In 1982 he opened his own gym, the Santa
Monica bodybuilding center. Pipasik said Sylvester Stallone soon became a member of the club after
its opening in November of 1982. He first trained alone similar, to what Clubber Lang used to
do. Clubber: "I live alone and I train alone, I'll win the title alone". Then Stallone worked
with several coaches including Franco Colombu and then later asked George Pipasik to be his coach
and prepare him and Dolph Lundgren for Rocky 4. So here's how their training went down, they trained
six days a week hitting each body part twice a week. Having an entire day devoted to rest each
week is very beneficial not just physically for the body to recover but also mentally. As
far as their split goes, it's one of my all-time favorites, push, pull, legs, and of course they
would repeat that. So push day was Monday and Thursday, which consisted of chest shoulders
and triceps. Tuesday and Friday would be a pull day, back and biceps, and Wednesday and Saturday
would be everyone's favorite leg day which when it comes to working out I've always liked to say
"Time to separate the men from the boys". As far as the workouts go, they did three to four
exercises for each muscle group, four sets on average with a rep range of six to 12. That type
of workout in my opinion is very beneficial, it's classic bodybuilding, it's a classic bro split,
essentially it's actually very similar to the workout that I do which I bring up because some
people have asked me in the comments section in my other videos on what sort of workout routine I
have, so I am a big fan of that one. But Pipasik said they trained very intensively for about an
hour each session, the duration of the workout makes a lot of sense you really got to decide
and find a nice balance between volume and intensity, the more intense workout you
generally want to do less volume and spend less time in the gym, so one hour makes a lot of sense,
while on the other hand, with less intensity, you generally want to incorporate more volume,
which would result in a longer workout. Now the weightlifting was just one part of the training,
Stallone would spend another two to three hours a day focused on boxing with Dolph Lundgren.
The boxing was done at another gym Stallone had built a few miles away in Culver City where the
two men were coached by Richard Guillechetti. Seagal "Anybody seen Richy, huh?" Hey Steven
"I found him, he's here with Larry Holmes" who he worked with and guided to the heavyweight title.
He'd also later be one of Mike Tyson's trainers as well. It should be no surprise that Stallone
ended up surrounding himself with world-class trainers and had all the motivation in the world
to go after it since he was training alongside Dolph Lundgren. I can only imagine that the two
men were trying to outdo one another in the run-up for the film. Dolph said in an interview in their
final days of training just prior to the start of filming that they were sparring for four hours a
day. It should be noted that at this time they did tone down the bodybuilding workouts which
by this point in their preparation consisted of just a few heavy sets for each body part.
It sounds like they did just enough to maintain the muscle mass they built while getting all their
definition and conditioning from those boxing workouts and of course diet which we need to talk
about next. Now Stallone has mentioned and brought up some of the ridiculous and extreme diets he's
had over the years specifically the one from Rocky 3, as far as Rocky 4 diet goes, I believe Stallone
likes to exaggerate for dramatic effect, he is an accomplished writer after all. When reflecting on
Rocky IV, Stallone said, "I looked great for a little while and is probably my best physique
in Rocky 4, but what you didn't see on camera is that it was quite literally running my body
into the ground, and you can't live like that", which echoes what Adrian said to him in Rocky 3,
"and you can't live like this we can't live like this". He continued and said these days
I have learned how to look after myself and keep on top of my nutrition without all the
crazy stuff I used to do and that's definitely the approach I'd advise other people to take above all
else be healthy. I was so unhealthy, I even went through a period where all I ate was burnt toast,
burnt toast. I'm thinking as far as carbs go he probably just resorted to burnt toast so as to cut
back while so obviously eating adequate amounts of proteins and fat. Jeff Lunger said Stallone had
his own cook on set, so I highly doubt Stallone just had his private chef turn the toaster
settings on high. If that were the case, that chef literally had the easiest job in the world. When
Stallone was training with Franco Colombu prior to Rocky 4, Stalllone said the diet Franco had
him on was yogurt yogurt and more yogurt but the more yogurt he ate the slower and bulkier he got,
which caused him to bloat. He chalked it up to Franco's body just being completely different
from his when it came to processing food. In his book Sly Moves, Stallone said yogurt slowly
brought the curtain down on his and Franco's working relationship, so it's safe to say
yogurt was not part of Stallone's diet in Rocky 4. As far as Pipasik goes, he's a big advocate
on the diet, says it attributes 80 percent of workout results, so he promotes clean natural
foods and doesn't believe in supplements. He did say Stallone likes to supplement with protein
shakes though in an interview with the website Stallone Zone. Pipasik gives us some background
info on Stallone's Rambo 3 diet. Since I couldn't find much more on Rocky 4, I'll share the Rambo
3 diet because it's actually a diet that makes sense and I bet had its origins from Rocky 4.
Three times a day he'd have green vegetables and chicken but throughout the day he'd have
oatmeal cookies and honey with his coffee. During Rambo 3, Stallone would constantly pump up his
muscles prior to filming scenes which is why he chomped on those oatmeal cookies between takes.
George Pipasik mentioned Stallone did that every 15 minutes, the fact that he also pumped up prior
to filming scenes during Rocky 4 leads me to believe that he was also likely eating
those oatmeal cookies with his coffee during that film. For all you guys that work out,
I'm sure that makes a lot of sense to you. I've always used the analogy that without any carbs
in the body when you're lifting it's literally like trying to pump up a tire with a hole in it,
it just doesn't work, it doesn't stick, you end up feeling pathetically flat.
By the way, even if you haven't necessarily been neglecting carbs, sometimes you just have those
workouts where you can't get pumped, Rocky: "Sometimes "we're thinking that
we broke something inside". If you think your ability to get pumps is broken and you're going
through that you need to check out my dragon's blood recipe, all-natural healthy mixture you
can make and blend up at home. That'll give you a crazy pump! I'll link that in the video
description below. But anyways, Stallone's physique Rocky 4 is absolutely amazing. I
hope that background info on his training and diet was as interesting to you as it was for me.
If you're a fan of Stallone make sure to subscribe and I'll be sure to keep giving more great content