Nicholas Galitzine's Masters of the Universe will be released in a few days, so let's hear it from the original He-Man what it takes to be a savior of the world.

In an interview with Men's Journal, Dolph Lundgren opened up about the intense training he had to go through to prepare for his role as He-Man. And it highlights the challenges of maintaining one of the most iconic physiques of the 80s.

"I'd had like 8-9 months in between, I did publicity and so forth, but I still had it kind of in my system. I just had to put on a little more muscle because, as He-Man, you know, I wasn't boxing as much, so I was wielding the sword, and I had to get a little more muscle." 

The actor also admitted that the most difficult part about maintaining his physique wasn’t the workouts; it was maintaining the discipline outside the gym. Curbing the urge to 'have some pasta carbonara and like an apple pie and ice cream' was the real challenge for him.

Now, when he looks back at it, the 68-year-old is himself surprised by the condition he rocked during that era. He is proud that he was able to preserve much of the fitness and discipline that defined his action-star peak and feels he is still in pretty good shape.

Besides He-Man, one of his most iconic roles was Ivan Drago from Rocky IV. According to Lundgren, it was a challenging role and also required intense training.

Dolph Lundgren's Training Routine for Rocky

Although Dolph Lundgren was an athlete before he entered Hollywood, training for Rocky IV was different from what he was used to doing. In an interview, Lundgren revealed that he had to put on 11 pounds for the screen test.

And his troubles didn't end there because after bagging the role, he had to train with none other than the fitness expert, Sly Stallone himself. During that time, Stallone was training with a bodybuilder and Mr Olympia, Franco Columbu.

“I never trained harder in my life,” Dolph recalled. “Sly drove me so hard, but he pushed himself just as hard. We trained two hours a day in the gym and then boxed for hours more.”

Lundgren also trained with boxing coach Richard Giachetti, and his training routine involved three phases:

• Bulking Phase: This phase lasted for 2 months and was all about building mass and strength. Each exercise had 6–8 reps and 4 sets and was based on strength and hypertrophy rep ranges.
• Cutting Phase: This phase also lasted for 2 months, and Lundgren had to train twice every day. The number of reps increased to 12–15, and the rest period got shorter. This phase focused on definition and muscularity through isolation exercises and supersets.
• Maintenance Phase: This phase lasted for a month and was around the time filming began. All Drago had to do in this phase was maintain the conditioning he had with gym work, sparring, and boxing.

Read more at Bodybuilding Bros.

Written by

Ruwa Javed

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil