How To Adapt An Action Movie Star Workout Into Your Fitness Routine

By Russ Howe


Most guys who have exercised in a gym at some point in their lives have done so because they want to obtain the lean look of their favorite action movie star. However, finding the Sylvester Stallone arm workout is certainly easier than actually doing it for real, as you are about to find out.

Many people go on to discover that the workout is then much more difficult than they initially expected it to be. The finely tuned machine you see on the silver screen at your local multiplex cinema wasn't built overnight.

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!

This workout is broken up into four stages. They are aimed at biceps, forearms, triceps and a cool down. It is performed as a circuit, with one set of each exercise in the phase without rest being classed as one round of the circuit for that particular muscle. You need four rounds before you can move on to the next round.

Dumbbell Hammer Curl - Go quite heavy on this exercise for 12 reps while your biceps are still at their full ability.

Incline Bench Dumbbell Curls - Set a bench to a 45 degree angle and perform dumbbell curls, ensuring you get the twist at the top of each rep to build the peak of your biceps muscle. Shoot for 12-15 reps here.

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.

Lying Cable Curls - Wheel a bench underneath a dual cable station and attach a straight bar to a high pulley. Perform curls while lying on the bench, curling towards your head. The gravity and cable working against you will ensure that this is a very difficult exercise indeed. Aim for 15 reps on a relatively light weight.

Zottman Curl - Bring your forearms into the equation for the final 10 reps of the biceps section with this move. It's a regular biceps curl twinned with a great forearm builder by simply putting a twist at the top of the motion so that your wrist is facing away from you. You need 12 reps here.

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.

Triceps are the biggest muscle involved in this particular gym session and it is important to remember that factor when deciding upon what weight to use. Go as heavy as possible for the reps prescribed to maximize your results. It begins with a set of 10 Close-Grip Bench Presses.

This leads to your first encounter with Bench Dips. Perform a set to failure before switching to a cable station and pushing out 12 Triceps Pushdowns with a triangle bar. Your second round of Dips then awaits, again going to failure. This phase rounds out with 20 Dumbbell Kickbacks.

After four rounds of each phase, you will be feeling pretty exhausted by the time you round out the triceps phase. There is only a cool down phase remaining. It is always advisable to do a cool down, particularly after a session as brutal as this one, because it will help you to prevent blood pooling and feeling faint. The cool down only consists of two exercises - holding the plank to failure three times and a set of close-grip push ups to failure.

The time and dedication which goes into building a physique for the big screen is quite daunting. Rome was not built in a day, as they say, and this workout is certainly structured with that quote in mind. The high intensity circuit style often tricks people into thinking it's going to be easy. You will increase your chances of success if you don't make that mistake.

The Sylvester Stallone arm workout is one of the oldest and most effective ways to blast your arms with a completely new approach. It is a well known workout and one which has been attempted many times in gyms around the world. Now it's your turn.




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