You can practically hear the sounding thump of Eye of the Tiger as images of a buff Sly Stallone going through a gruelling training montage as Rocky flashes before your eyes. The scenes of Rocky are so iconic, they’ve practically been burned in our retina as inspiration we can recall at any moment when motivation to exercise is waning and we haven’t been too diligent with our diet (we have only the hot cross bun six-packs and chocolate bunnies being slung at supermarkets to blame).
While none of us are immune to the reflections that creep up with age, pining for our younger selves (and fitter bodies), it seems even Sly Stallone has fallen victim to nostalgic leanings. And when it comes to the famed Hollywood star, few actors can attest to having the kind of gym-honed physique as Stallone, who was basically the poster-child for men everywhere during his hey-day (and still is). The 74-year-old recently posted a throwback photo to his Instagram account detailing the remarkably low body fat percentage he achieved while preparing for Rocky Balboa’s fight against Clubber Lang, played by another ’80s icon by way of Mr. T.
Sly captioned the post: “Funny flashback because I have nothing interesting to report today. This is prepping for the Mr. T fight. He was one strong dude. Trust me.” He went on to add, “This is also the lowest weight and body fat I ever was. 166 pounds (approx. 76kg) and 2.8% body fat. That was tough.”
In the pics, Stallone is training in the gym while standing in front of a weight rack. There’s also some vintage throwback stills of him and Mr. T throwing punches in the ring, too. And of course, the triumphant scene of Rocky emerging over Lang during their rematch at Madison Square Garden.
It’s not the first time Stallone has looked back at his Rocky days and the brutal regime he put his body through. He previously said that to get that physique, he drank a reported 25 cups of coffee a day and ate solely oatmeal cookies and a few scoops of tuna. “I may have looked pretty good on the outside but inside it was a very dangerous thing to do,” he said in an earlier post.
Put simply: that kind of physique isn’t sustainable – or healthy.
