The overwhelming majority of men who own gym memberships will confess that the initial reason they became interested in building a ripped physique was seeing an action hero in a movie while growing up. It's not uncommon to hear movies like Conan and Rocky cited as huge gym influences. Many of them then try to follow the same workout routines of their chosen action hero. The Sylvester Stallone arm workout is a prime example of that mistake.
However, you would be wise to avoid the common mistake of presuming that movie stars have a secret formula or an easy way to sculpt the end product which you see on the silver screen. They do not.
The workout Sly Stallone used to build his sculpted arms is renowned for it's simplicity and it's brutality. While the exercises are very basic, the techniques deployed are certainly not basic!
The workout in question today is a four phase attack on biceps, triceps and forearms. It is to be performed as a circuit workout, with four rounds of a section required in order to progress to the next phase of the workout.
Hammer Curl - 12 reps with a fairly heavy weight to get you warmed up.
Dumbbell Curl on an incline bench - 15 reps with a bench set to a 45 degree angle.
Biceps Curl - The old classic exercise is yours for 12 reps. After reaching 12 reps, switch to a wide grip and try to push out up to six more.
Flat Cable Curls - Pull a flat bench underneath a cable pulley station and lie on it. Curl down towards your head. The constant tension provided by the cables will make this variation of a curl much more difficult, so aim for 15 reps with a significantly lighter load.
Twisting Chain Curls - Attach a free weight to a chain and hold the chain so the weight is hanging down. Now perform a curl, while twisting your palms to face away from you at the top of each rep. This engages the muscles in your biceps and forearms. Remember, the forearms are a lot smaller and the instability of a hanging plate is very noticeable, thus a lighter weight is required.
Phase two begins with Reverse Curls, an often overlooked exercise which will not only help you to develop your forearms but also minimize the gap at the bottom of your biceps muscle. 15 repetitions will suffice. This exercise is paired with Wrist Curls and Reverse Wrist Curls, which both need 20 repetitions each, before performing a timed hang from a monkey bar for as long as you can hold it. The forearm round is finished off with one of Sly's favorite moves, Handshake Curls. This move needs 30 reps with a light weight, and simulates a handshaking motion with a dumbbell.
The workout's final stage features it's largest muscle group, the triceps. Go heavy to obtain maximum results but also bear in mind how fatigued you will feel at this point. The first exercise in this phase is Close-Grip Barbell Bench Press for 10 repetitions.
Bench Dips form a large part of this phase. Perform them to failure before moving onto a set of 12 Triceps Pushdowns with a rope attachment. Then go back into dips until you reach failure again and finish off with 20 Dumbbell Kickbacks.
Only a cool down phase remains, but by this point in time you might be tempted to quit. That would be a bad idea, as cool downs have been shown to help prevent blood pooling and dizziness. It only consists of a Plank held t failure three times and a closing out set of close-grip push ups.
If you make it through this workout you will have a new found respect for the final physique you see on the movie screen the next time you watch a Hollywood action movie. It's simple yet brutal approach is deliberately misleading, leading many people to jump into it and regret it later on. Use lighter weights than you usually would because it is performed as a high intensity circuit, rather than a standard gym session.
The Sylvester Stallone arm workout is one of the most brutal celebrity training sessions out there and that is largely down to the man himself. After all, you wouldn't expect a Rocky-style training session to be anything too easy.
However, you would be wise to avoid the common mistake of presuming that movie stars have a secret formula or an easy way to sculpt the end product which you see on the silver screen. They do not.
The workout Sly Stallone used to build his sculpted arms is renowned for it's simplicity and it's brutality. While the exercises are very basic, the techniques deployed are certainly not basic!
The workout in question today is a four phase attack on biceps, triceps and forearms. It is to be performed as a circuit workout, with four rounds of a section required in order to progress to the next phase of the workout.
Hammer Curl - 12 reps with a fairly heavy weight to get you warmed up.
Dumbbell Curl on an incline bench - 15 reps with a bench set to a 45 degree angle.
Biceps Curl - The old classic exercise is yours for 12 reps. After reaching 12 reps, switch to a wide grip and try to push out up to six more.
Flat Cable Curls - Pull a flat bench underneath a cable pulley station and lie on it. Curl down towards your head. The constant tension provided by the cables will make this variation of a curl much more difficult, so aim for 15 reps with a significantly lighter load.
Twisting Chain Curls - Attach a free weight to a chain and hold the chain so the weight is hanging down. Now perform a curl, while twisting your palms to face away from you at the top of each rep. This engages the muscles in your biceps and forearms. Remember, the forearms are a lot smaller and the instability of a hanging plate is very noticeable, thus a lighter weight is required.
Phase two begins with Reverse Curls, an often overlooked exercise which will not only help you to develop your forearms but also minimize the gap at the bottom of your biceps muscle. 15 repetitions will suffice. This exercise is paired with Wrist Curls and Reverse Wrist Curls, which both need 20 repetitions each, before performing a timed hang from a monkey bar for as long as you can hold it. The forearm round is finished off with one of Sly's favorite moves, Handshake Curls. This move needs 30 reps with a light weight, and simulates a handshaking motion with a dumbbell.
The workout's final stage features it's largest muscle group, the triceps. Go heavy to obtain maximum results but also bear in mind how fatigued you will feel at this point. The first exercise in this phase is Close-Grip Barbell Bench Press for 10 repetitions.
Bench Dips form a large part of this phase. Perform them to failure before moving onto a set of 12 Triceps Pushdowns with a rope attachment. Then go back into dips until you reach failure again and finish off with 20 Dumbbell Kickbacks.
Only a cool down phase remains, but by this point in time you might be tempted to quit. That would be a bad idea, as cool downs have been shown to help prevent blood pooling and dizziness. It only consists of a Plank held t failure three times and a closing out set of close-grip push ups.
If you make it through this workout you will have a new found respect for the final physique you see on the movie screen the next time you watch a Hollywood action movie. It's simple yet brutal approach is deliberately misleading, leading many people to jump into it and regret it later on. Use lighter weights than you usually would because it is performed as a high intensity circuit, rather than a standard gym session.
The Sylvester Stallone arm workout is one of the most brutal celebrity training sessions out there and that is largely down to the man himself. After all, you wouldn't expect a Rocky-style training session to be anything too easy.
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