So, your buddy just texted you and he left you high and dry for today's workout.
You're on your own. That is, until I replace him with someone much better.
Today, I'm going to give you the opportunity to train with your dream workout partner
and it gets to be one of these six guys. Who is your pick going to be?
What's up guys Jeff Cavaliere, Athleanx.com. What you see behind me is six of the most
iconic action heroes of all time. Each instantly recognizable even if you didn't have the great
fortune to grow up in the 80s and 90s like I did. However, today they're more than
that. They're your workout partner and you get to pick which one you want to replace
that lame workout partner with. And we're going to help you to do so by defining and grading
each of them in four different categories. So, we all know that a good training partner has
the ability to motivate you, right? To push you to do things that maybe you don't want to do.
Which one of these guys do you think has the ability to best push you
to get to that next level? The second category we have to look at is their physique and what
is the one that matches your goal the best. Everybody's going to have a different pick here,
but I want you to make sure that you're picking based upon the physique that you want.
The third category here is their training style. And believe it or not, each of these guys,
though they all look really good, have a different approach to how they got the job done.
Which one matches up best with how you prefer to train? And then finally, the fourth category is
that X Factor, right? Which of these guys, if you had only one choice, would be the one that
you want to hang out with? Could be because you just liked their movies more than others or it
could be because you simply just think that they have the best likability. We're going to rank them
from 0 to 10. Again, these ratings are based on my personal preferences, but I want you to be
able to go through the same rating scale and determine who your pick is going to be. Make
sure you leave them in the comments below. And so, we kick off this list with maybe one
of the most popular martial artists of all time. We're talking about Jean-Claude Van Damme. And now
look, this is a guy that actually people wanted to be like. I remember when his movies came out,
people would dress like him. When I posted this on Instagram, my buddy Chris Daughtry sent me
a picture showing me just how bad he wanted to be Van Damme when he was a kid. I mean,
he damn near pulled it off. But when it comes to motivation, this is a guy that
I never really thought was someone that's going to scream at me during a workout.
Well, there's that, but I just don't know how functional that will be during, let's say,
a bench press. So, for me, he gets an eight in the motivation category.
Now as far as physique, he had everything I was looking for at 5 10 176 pounds,
he was highly relatable to me. He had that muscle definition in size almost to perfection
and of course epitomizing what Athlean-X is about. If you want to look like an athlete,
you got to train like one. Van Damme, of course, is an athlete with an athlete's body,
he gets a 10 as far as his physique goal. Now when we were talking about his training style, you're
talking about someone who was an athlete first and actor second, so his training reflected that.
This is a guy who was a black belt by the age of 18, a competitive kickboxer internationally, and
also had a five-year ballet career, so he had all the attributes of a high-level athlete. However,
he did have an appreciation for bodybuilding and also competed in bodybuilding in his teens. The
workouts he favored were ones where he could put two muscle groups together in the same workout,
but also have room for kickboxing and of course, his all-important stretching.
And we all know how good Van Damme was at stretching. Now these workouts were done on
every other day basis, leaving room for his conditioning, which is something that I do
and a lot of our Athlean-X programs. So here we definitely align with our training
styles and for that he gets a solid nine. Now when it comes to the final X Factor here,
I have a confession to make. I was never really one of the Van Damme guys. I know a lot of you out
there are. However, for me, I always found his movies to be just a little bit cheesy. Doesn't
mean I didn't watch them though, but if I had to choose a single training partner, he just wouldn't
really get that X factor for me, so we round out his score with a seven in that category.
Next, we have Dolph Lundgren, a guy who I grew up wanting to hate because of course, what he did to
Apollo Creed. But now we have a different set of standards here. Is he going to be the guy that I
train with? And when it comes to motivation and the ability to motivate me, I kind of think he
could do this. And the reason why I actually say this is you might think that, oh, well,
he's kind of a stoic, quiet guy, but I actually know better. You see, I've trained with Florian
Munteanu, who played Drago's son in the Creed II movie, and he told me something about him.
He said, He can train us all under the table at his current age right now. He's a badass still
to this day and also a very likable guy, but has the ability to push you and motivate you
all the way to your last rep. I'm going to give him a nine in this category. Of course,
there's nothing to not like about Dolph Lundgren's physique, but the thing about it was,
from a reliability standpoint, there wasn't much for me because we're talking about a guy who was
6 5 245 pounds. Yeah, I would like to look like that, but I never will. So, for that,
I just didn't really have a high reliability, so I had an eight point five in this category.
Now, as far as his training style, there's another guy who's an example of being an athlete first,
an actor's second. And when we talk about athlete, this guy was competing at a high level from the
age of seven and all the way into his twenties, Dolph was competing internationally in both karate
and judo with most of his training focusing on how to improve and be the best in sport.
It wasn't until the opportunity for Rocky IV came along that he switched his training focus.
And what happened here was a couple of things. Firstly, he kind of shelved his athletic training
in favor of almost exclusively bodybuilding training at this point. And he did so on a push
pull leg split, which we know I'm a big fan of. He did a six-day continuous push, pull legs,
push, pull legs with a repeated day off on Sunday, however, he would choose three to
four exercises per muscle group with four sets per exercise and then six to 12 reps
on every set. This is what's been reported, but if it's accurate, it's too much volume for me.
I would not have the ability to recover from that type of volume so while we get the extra points
for having the right split, we don't get points for the amount of volume. And we certainly don't
get the points for the fact that we had to shelve the athletic training altogether. I think there's
a way we can incorporate both, so I give him the seven in the training style category.
Now lastly, as we get to the X Factor here, though, admittedly he gave me nightmares as
a child, I still have that appeal of wanting to actually make that workout happen with Florian,
so I'm going to give him a good solid eight in this category.
So, let's stick with the Rocky theme now and talk about Carl Weathers. Another one of those
guys that I didn't really start off liking but of course became a big fan of when he went and helped
out Rocky. Now, all you had to do, though, is watch that training scene in Rocky III to realize
what an amazing motivator Apollo could be. If I had one guy that I needed screaming in my ear to
make sure I could get that final rep done, he's the guy to go to. And for that I'm going to give
him a solid 10 in the motivation category. As far as the physique, this is another one of
those guys that represents everything that I wanted, right? The perfect amount of muscle mass
and leanness, except that at 6 2 220, again, here's a guy that was a little bit bigger than
I could relate to. So, for that, I have to give him a little bit of a notch down. but again,
still a solid nine and a half. As far as the training style, he did something very interesting.
He teamed up with Vince Gironda to do something called Peripheral Heart Action Training, which is
a style of training that works your total body in one workout sequentially, one exercise after the
next with no rest in between. And the desired outcome here was to help you to burn fat and
build muscle at the same time, doing a little bit better job at burning fat than building muscle.
That being said, he would do these workouts for seven consecutive rounds, which is a lot more
than anybody else that Vince was training, they would usually cap out at four or five rounds.
All sets were performed for 12 repetitions, sometimes with weights that were very light
to get the benefits of that cardiovascular conditioning. And sometimes on the heavier end,
even to the point where he would rest, pause his way to the 12 reps with the goal here
being to kind of put on more size. Though this is something Carl has said many times he never had a
problem with. Well, I can't really relate to that in a total body workout for me is going to look a
lot different. And for that reason, it's going to be a seven and a half in the training style.
And finally, for that X factor, whether it's Action Jackson or Predator, I always kind of
looked at Carl Weathers as just a bad man, you know, someone that you'd want to have
your back in a bar fight. But for all these reasons, for me, he's going to get a solid
score of eight in that X Factor category. Fourth up is going to be first up on many people's
list for the person that they want to train with. And I have to say, who wouldn't want to train with
Arnold? When it comes to motivation, again, I got another guy who's sitting up there at the very top
with a solid 10. I know he could get me to do something that I didn't want to do.
I know that if I'm in a workout and he asked me to do something, even if he did it very politely,
I never want to disappoint him and of course, I would give him my A-plus effort. So,
for that, I'm going to give him the 10. Now, when it comes to the physique goal, I've
got to be honest here, although I always wanted to be Arnold, I knew from day one I'd never look like
Arnold. All I had to do was look in the mirror at my chest even now and I don't see that. And I knew
that I didn't have the genetics to ever be him. At 6 3 , 235, again, he felt too far out of reach
for me. So, while he had everything in perfect proportion, I have to give him an eight and a half
here because there is just no relatability for me, though it might be vastly different for you.
Now when it to the training style, again, what was there not to like about Arnold?
Arnold set the standard for training. He had an entire encyclopedia of bodybuilding that he put
out that of course, I had not just one copy of, but two. He had a variety of different splits,
but he always did have a foundation and dedication to not just the esthetics of bodybuilding but
building up that foundational strength. Which I know is a training for professional athletes,
is going to apply to and benefit and any single person that steps in front of me.
So, with his golden six exercises focusing on a priority of progressively
overloading on the squat, bench, pullups or weighted pullups, the military press,
barbell curls and weighted crunches Arnold knew how to build that base foundation
and set the stage for performance. However, the one lack here, was that there wasn't really a
whole hell of a lot of athletic performance to follow. So, while he had the right training to set
the stage for it, he didn't necessarily take that next step into the athleticism. So, for that, he
gets a good solid nine, but not a perfect 10. And then of course, when it comes to the X Factor,
I don't know, call me just a fan of his movies, but I always liked Arnold
Schwarzenegger. I would always want to be in his presence. If I had a chance to train with him,
you could never go wrong with him as a training partner. So, for that, he's got
to get a solid 10 in the X Factor category. So, I said at the beginning how Jean-Claude
Van Damme was one of the most popular martial arts of our time. Well, at least my time. But
the traditionalist will remind me, son, you're just not going back far enough in time, because
we've got to start talking about guys like Bruce Lee or in this case, Chuck Norris. And there's no
doubt that Chuck Norris was an athlete first, yet again and an actor's second. But when it
comes to motivation, as badass as he is, I kind of always looked at him as like the nice guy,
right? He always seemed friendly. I know he could kick my ass seven ways till Sunday,
but he just seemed nice. And I don't know if he'd be the right guy to get me really
digging deep to perform my next set, so I have to give him a seven in the motivation category.
And now when it comes to the physique goal category, now listen again, preferences are
individual. And for me, I never really wanted to look like Chuck Norris. He just didn't have
the amount of muscularity or definition that I was seeking. Now, it's not to say that he didn't look
good or is not a good goal for a lot of people, he just wasn't necessarily my goal. And I have to
admit that as a young kid, he always seemed to be sort of the older guy. You know, I had that stupid
anybody older than 30 mentality is an old man. And of course, of the bunch we talked about so far,
he seemed like the old guy to me. So, when it comes to physique, I just didn't really match up
with him and I have to give him a five there. Now, when we're talking about the training style,
however, once again, we're talking about an athlete first. So normally I would prefer the
training style, but there are some key differences here that make me diverge a little bit. Look,
you can never belittle the accomplishments in the competitive arena in both jujitsu
and judo. The problem was his focus was always on the martial arts. And though he knew that weight
training was an important component of his overall performance, he never really prioritized it. And
in fact, when he did try to prioritize it and actually start to lift heavier, he experienced
some injuries. Namely one shoulder injury that kind of knocked them back quite a bit and changed
his entire outlook on weight training and what role it really needed to play for him. And here
is where he sort of put it in that sort of adjunct rehab and/or prehab focus. And believe it or not,
though, he later on became famous for the total gym, he was actually exposed to this device many
years prior to its release. And he was using this because he felt like it gave him the ability to,
yeah, improve his strength as he moved his own body in space. But more importantly,
it was kind to his joints, and it allowed him to still perform at a high level without detracting
from his performance as a martial artist. That being said, there focus not necessarily
ever being on the progressively loading aspect of weight training is where we sort of diverge.
And though I know that choosing the wrong exercises are likely going to get you hurt,
there are a lot of exercises out there that are not going to do that. And for me,
I have to just give him a six in terms of the congruence between my training approach and his.
And when it comes to that X factor, can we all just agree that even though he does smile a lot,
I bet you can probably kill me with a smile, too. The fact is, when we talk about Chuck Norris,
they're sayings about him for crying out loud. He doesn't do pushups, but he pushes the ground down.
He's got to get just that bad ass number nine here when we talk about the X Factor category.
And last but certainly not least, we have to talk about Sly, Sylvester Stallone. And when we talk
about motivation, here's the interesting fact. I don't even need to train with them for him to
motivate me. All I have to do is watch any one of the Rocky movies, which I probably done 500 times
apiece, and I'm going to be fired up to do my next workout, or I just have to simply listen to
the Rocky IV soundtrack and I'm going to get the same result. So right here, I'm going to give him,
of course, a 10 in the motivation category. Now, when it comes to the physique goal category,
he was exactly who I wanted to look like. When I set out on day one of who I wanted to look like,
it was Sylvester Stallone. And the reason for it was there is a high degree of relatability. Now,
granted, I grew up an Italian kid, and of course, the Italian Stallion had a certain appeal to me.
But beyond that, we're talking about 5 10 , 173 pounds, once again, certainly within my reach for
someone that I wanted to look like. And again, we're talking about the perfect blend between
the right amount of size and the right amount of definition. I just always aspired exactly
to look like him. I mean, look, I even dressed like him and hung posters of him in my basement
at least I had my goal set from the very beginning at a very early age. He's going
to get a 10 for the physique goal for me. Now, when it comes to the training style,
it's well documented that Sly was an avid bodybuilder, right? He knew how
important it was to esthetically look a certain way to make an impact on camera. So, he sought
out guys like Franco Columbo to train him as a bodybuilder, but it didn't mean that he didn't
pursue the athletic part of his job as well. He knew that being in Rocky was going to require him
to learn how to box. He knew that he had to do some important fight choreography in order to make
that look a certain way. You need a certain level of athleticism and coordination to be able to pull
that off convincingly and he did that. Of course, even the skills of the boxer, his jump rope
ability, he had a high degree of athleticism that he worked on in conjunction with his training.
Now, what did the training look like? Well, as any effective bodybuilder would do, he would vary his
splits, but he landed most often on an upper lower alternating day split. So upper body one day,
followed by lower body and he did this three times for a total of six workouts in the week.
With the right selection of exercises, you can actually disperse that volume responsibly
between, let's say, the anterior chain and posterior chain, but still get the frequency
needed to create the muscle gains that you're looking for. All the while, like I mentioned,
still having the ability to perform athletically as he did, especially with all that extra boxing
and ring work guys. For me, his training style is going to get a solid nine point five.
Now when it comes to The X Factor here, guys, I think I probably already showed my bias. But,
you know, this is a subjective list, so we're all entitled to one. But I will tell you this,
Sylvester Stallone is and always will be my main inspiration for what I do. He's the reason
why I started what I do. He's the reason why I will continue to look to do what I do for many,
many years to come. And when the guy that inspires you actually comments on your own Instagram post
and leaves yet another inspiring message. He's always going to get a 10 in my book when it
comes to that important X factor. And so now with all the rankings in,
it's time to break out the final totals to reveal my number one training partner choice,
as if it's not already obvious. With every list though, guys, we have to start somewhere at the
bottom for me, Chuck Norris is going to get that bottom spot with a total score of 27. Next up,
we know Dolph Lundgren is somebody that I want to train with, Florian let s make it happen,
but I'm going to have to give him a score of 32.5 for his total. Next up again, Van Damme is
going to be the popular choice for a lot of people out there make sure you leave your choice below.
But for me, he gets a total score of 34. Next up, this might be a surprise to some,
but again, maybe I'm partial to the Rocky Series. But Carl Weathers is going to get
that next important ranking for me with a total of 35. Which leaves the two big guys at the top.
And of course, Arnold's going to get that second runner up spot for me with a solid score of 37.5,
probably just falling short in terms of the reliability and the fact that I knew I can
never look like this a day in my life. But of course, for me, as it will always be, Sylvester
Stallone s at the top of the list and a solid score here, an almost perfect score of 39.5.
And so now with that, I turn the decision over to you. Who's your choice? Who of these six are you
picking? If you want to leave your entire list in the order of who you'd like to train with, please
do so. Remember to thank your training partner too for skipping today's workout because again,
he probably gave you a hell of a better training partner.
If you guys are looking for a complete training program, we have them all laid out for you over
at Atleanx.com. If you haven't done so, make sure you click Subscribe and turn on your
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