when you think about Rambo you think about a tough muscular ripped physique in
the course of nearly 40 years Stallone's Rambo physique could see many iterations from
being athletic in First Blood Ripped and tarzan-like in First Blood part two and
even bodybuilder-esque in Rambo part three now the all those films came out within
three years of one another when Stallone was still in his prime in 82, 85 and
1988 but in 2008 s Rambo, Sylvester Stallone was 61 when he shot the film and that's what
makes it even more impressive so in today's video I want to talk about Rambo
4 also known as Rambo or John Rambo in certain territories I want to talk about
the diet and the training that got him into that amazing shape and also share
some fun film facts with you guys so sit back and enjoy
Rambo's popularity peaked in the mid to late 1980s and 1988 s Rambo 3 was one of
if not the most expensive films at the time the success of Rambo First Blood
Part 2 definitely helped greenlight this massive budget however Rambo III ended
up being a modest hit at best so it's no surprise that the studio kind of let the
franchise like dormant in fact it would seem as if they completely forgot about
it as it would take another 20 years to finally get another one produced let
that sink in 20 years later Stallone with reprise his role as a Famed Vietnam
vet, now 61 years old the age that most people in their retirement we obviously
can't really expect Stallone outdo his Rambo 3 physique but he still looked
great albeit with a different kind of look as far as how much he weighed just
by judging by the look of his physique I wouldn't be surprised if he were around
200 pounds we got to remember in First Blood part 2 he was as light as 163 which
he stated in his book sly moves and in Rambo 3 Stallone said he was 180 though
I've heard he might have been as high as 190 now the main difference with part 4
is that he's not quite as lean he's also sporting a much thicker look we can't
fully judges leanness however because this is a first Rambo film where
Sylvester Stallone does not appear without his shirt on but the reason
behind that is because of the extensive Tattoo work that he had done in his
shoulders which he started getting in 2007 but let me know in the comments
section by the way what you think he weighed in Rambo for now as far as
appearing thicker that could be attributed to a couple of different
reasons one the output training and what he was going after as far as Rambo 4 goes
Stallone says I always really liked the idea of Rambo having a strong a
lumberjack-esque build to get across the type of life I believe he would have
been leading up to that point the movie taken place you know like big and broad
but not the lean body below physique I went for in those earlier movies despite
not being very tall I was able to create a very powerful looking physique for
that movie that's it for you guys out there who perhaps like me don't have a
height advantage but want to create a powerful looking shape train your traps
and forearms that's something I did for Rambo for and also for the Expendables
now Sylvester Stallone himself is there's been different reports he's realistically
probably between anywhere between five foot eight and five foot 10 in
person now a reason to on why he just looks thicker overall would be human
growth hormone in 2008 Stallone admitting to taking HGH human growth
hormone as well as testosterone treatments for the latest Rambo and
Rocky films, Stallone still denies he has taken steroids Stallone also says that
taking HGH and testosterone is part of what makes him feel and look younger he
says that HGH is nothing anyone who calls it a steroid is grossly
misinformed testosterone to me is so important for a sense of well-being when
you get older everyone over 40 years old would be wise to investigate it because
mark my words in 10 years it will be over-the-counter
now what Stallone says kind of makes sense I mean if you're getting monitored by a
doctor and you're getting legit hormonal therapy I don't necessarily think
there's anything wrong with that why not take advantage why not feel like you're
in your 20s again why not look better why not feel better and if you get
monitored I don't I don't really see the danger there the danger would really be
with those guys buying some sort of illegal steroid
you know out of some guys gym bag that you know that that would be dangerous
but the way Stallone's going about it with the life extension doctor and
getting that Homer onna replacement therapy and getting monitored I don't
see anything wrong with that I'm actually glad that he's able to you know
keep keep this lifestyle up and keep giving us these great movies most
recently 2019's Last Blood for example also check out my other video I'll link
it in the description below and also put them put a link at the end of this video
it's basically Stallone's upcoming movies in 2020 and beyond some really
good ones there so check that video out when you get a chance so with all that
said Sloan did look pretty damn impressive in Rambo in 2008 what sticks
out most of me is a raw size of his forms and neck, certainly very muscle up
Stallone and well not as lean or aesthetic he was certainly bigger in
fact you see the biggest change of that overall thickness which we could
attribute to the training as well as some of the hormonal therapy he's been
getting forms are completely insane strong
enough to rip out that guy's throat for example like like this just a human vise
grip there now there were a lot of different story
ideas for Rambo 4 and I'll do a whole video talking about all those different
ideas but in Rambo 4, John Rambo joins a group of mercenaries to venture
into a war-torn Burma to rescue a group of Christian aid workers who were
kidnapped by the ruthless local infantry unit so I was kind of interesting what
inspired this story idea by the way Sylvester Stallone specifically wanted
the film to be set in the midst of the most brutal ongoing global conflict that
was basically ignored by the public and media after rolling out established and
well-known conflicts in the Middle East Latin America and Africa
Sloane talked to international experts who told them about the Burmese junta's
mass murder of the Koran people he then set the movie's storyline in the middle
of this genocide the author of first blood writer David Morell was actually
asked what his take on this film was and he said I'm happy to report that overall
I'm pleased the level of violence might not be for everyone but it has a serious
intent this is the first time that the tone of my novel First Blood has been
used in any of the movies it's a spot-on in terms of how I imagine the character
angry burned-out filled with self disgust because Rambo hates what he is
yet knows it's the only thing he does well
some interesting Rambo trivia by the way this is a first Rambo film where he
actually uses a pistol and it's also the first Rambo film without a helicopter
going back to David Morell he said I think some elements could have been done
better but I think this film deserves a solid three stars I think David Morrell
just wanted a helicopter in it but I still loved the film as well
despite the absence of said helicopter but let me know in the comments section
what you guys think about 2008's Rambo going back to the violence in the film
many critics and audience members felt that the horrific wounds inflicted by
the m2 50 caliber heavy machine gun in the finale were so gory that it was
unrealistic however returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who had used the m2
in combat noted that the wounds were quite accurate info anything toned down
from reality in the auto commentary on the DVD and blu-ray versions of the film
Sylvester Stallone himself makes note of that fact chalk that one up as things
that nobody should ever have to see in real life now as far as the actual
workout goes Stallone went on record and said he actually over trained during a
lot of the earlier Rocky and Rambo films and in 2005s sly moves book he lays out a
classic workout as well as an advanced workout now you can be sure in 2008 some
Rambo he he definitely took it up a notch but as far as what he would use
for maintenance if we look at the advance work out here it's a three day a
week split Monday and Friday drills as well as Wednesday drills the thing that
really sticks out Monday and Friday you'll see him hit the larger body parts
like chest back and legs whereas Wednesday kind of saves it for
shoulders and arms so he's hitting the bigger body parts twice a week and the
smaller body parts like shoulders and arms only once a week he also does
throwing some back on Wednesday as well which is really no surprise he's gone on
record as saying that his back is his strongest best body part people did do
typically like to hit their best body parts more often and myself included so
I can't blame him for wanting to double up on the back workout so he also does a
lot of cardio during these and you'll see a lot of ad work on Monday and
Friday so that's that's his maintenance work out when he's probably really busy
between films for example now if you watched my previous videos on the
earlier Rambo films you'll know that Stallone worked with Franco Columbo and
a lot of his workouts these days over the last I'd say 10 plus
years he's been training with Gunnar Peterson
Gunnar Peterson is an American personal trainer best known for his work with
professional athletes and celebrities I believe he's actually training the
Lakers right now he's also an author speaker creator of major fitness
programs and developer fitness equipment with the focus on functional training so
just to give you guys an idea of the kind of challenges slim face when
training this is what he said in 2006 during filming of Rocky Balboa and you
could be sure that he had these same kind of injuries when shooting and
training for Rambo in 2008 he says this was injury prone the joints were down
and you get inflammations of things he didn't know existed it became living
with conditions because nothing was going away every day was an Advil day
and all five Rocky movies put together I didn't have this many injuries I broke
my foot I had a bulging disc on my neck I
shredded a calf muscle speaking of injuries on the set of Rambo for the
first day of shooting he actually tore part of his quad while running through
the jungle in addition to that he described the Burmese River as the most
difficult terrain I've ever had to navigate including cliff finger it's
probably no surprise why the working title for ran before was called to hell
and back as far as the training for Rambo 4 goes I was able to pull some
good info from a website called greatest physiques.com his workout looked like
this it was a Monday Wednesday Friday Tuesday Thursday Saturday split so on
Monday Wednesday and Friday in the morning he would hit chest back abs and
cardio in the afternoon he would use shoulders arms abs and cardio Tuesdays
Thursdays and Saturdays would see him do calves thighs and cardio in the morning
followed by rear delts traps abs and cardio in the afternoon for each
exercise he did between three to four sets and anywhere between 8 to 12 reps
as far as cardio goes he typically do 30 minutes on either the stationary bike
treadmill or another traditional cardio machine usually on an empty stomach in
the morning his heart rate would usually be around 85% of its maximum now I hear
the actual exercise is heated on Monday Wednesday and Friday mornings when he
did chest back in ABS incline bench presses dumbbell fly's closed pert bench
presses why Grip chin-ups bent over one arm lateral raises Close Grip seated
rows raised leg crunches and seated extensions so the first thing that
sticks out pound movements a lot of free weights
and body movements very little machines actually yeah aside from the close grip
seated rows that's pretty much the only machine now in those same days in the
evenings when he did shoulders arms and abs he'd do military presses side
lateral raises bent over dumbbell flyes barbell curls seated incline dumbbell
curls concentration curls long dumbbell raises bent over one arm lateral raises
cable pull downs alternate leg raises decline bench sit-ups and oblique
crunches against just a lot of free weight work there now the other days of
the week Tuesday Thursday and Saturday on the mornings when he would do calves
and thighs he do seated calf raises standing calf raises standing barbell
alternate calf raises incline leg presses squats seated leg extensions leg
curls leg extensions and stiff leg dead lifts and then on those same days in the
evenings when he would do rear delt straps and add work he would do then
over a dump over delt raises reverse cable crossovers reverse PEC deck flies
barbell shrugs in the front barbell upright rows flat bench cable rows to
the neck ab crunches oblique crunches and cable crunches so let's certainly
helped build the toughness that he would need to take on set when he shot the
film speaking of shooting the film this is actually the first and only Rambo
film directed by Sylvester Stallone himself it's clearly a passion project
for him after coming off the success of 2006 as Rocky Balboa which he also
directed I don't think there's anyone else who could have treated this film
with such care it should be noted that Ted Kotcheff who directed first blood in
82 acted as a technical consultant on this particular installment as far as
the diet goes, Stallone would have taken a much more balanced and same approach
as outlined in his book Sly Moves and no longer endured the extremes from Rambo 2
and Rambo 3 days where maximum fat loss was the ultimate goal
Stallone is not a fan of fad diets and actually prefers a sustainable long term
approach eating several times a day three main meals followed by three
snacks so it's really six meals a day it's classic type of diet most people in the
fitness community feel follow it's been around for decades and it definitely
works as far as the food basics goes for proteins he likes lean proteins egg
whites lean ham New York strip steak chicken turkey breast etc
for carbs complex carbs you like sweet potatoes baked potatoes whole-grain
pastas yams etc vegetables you got asparagus bell peppers broccoli spinach
cucumbers etc just to keep it simple he likes a ratio of around 50 to 60%
carbohydrates 30% protein and 20% good fats just a pretty easy way to remember
is if you look down on your plate it's a little more than half of it should be
vegetables and some good starches like brown rice or whole wheat pasta a third
should be your main protein source and the rest healthy fats such as olive oil
for example now if there's one thing I've noticed while making this video is
I'm gonna give it ten so there you guys have it 2008s Rambo quite the
masterpiece quite the body of work anyway let me know what you guys think
in the comments section as far as which want me to cover next maybe Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme more Rambo
or even non Rambo Stallone films let me know