Stallone Shared A Photo Of The Most Shredded His Body Ever Was

Not many action stars have ever boasted a physique as lean as Sylvester Stallone during his prime in the '70s and '80s. As a reminder of just how shredded Sly got while playing ‘Rocky,' the 74-year-old screen legend posted a throwback photo to his Instagram account detailing the remarkably low body fat percentage he managed to achieve while preparing for Rocky Balboa’s climactic fight against Clubber Lang, played by fellow '80s icon Mr. T.

"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,” Sly wrote. “This is also the lowest weight and body fat I ever was. 166 pounds and 2.8% body fat. That was tough.”

In the accompanying series of photos, Stallone includes a shot of himself training in the gym while standing in front of a weight rack, as well as some vintage throwback stills of himself and Mr. T battling it out in the ring—including the triumphant shot of Rocky emerging victorious over Lang during their rematch at Madison Square Garden.

While a body fat percentage of less than 3 percent may seem like an eyebrow-raising claim, it’s plain to see that Stallone is definitely very lean. That said, we wouldn’t necessarily advise the nutrition and diet regimen that helped him get that way, which reportedly included 25 cups of coffee a day along with oatmeal cookies and a few scoops of tuna.

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Even Sly admitted that was probably a mistake: “I may have looked pretty good on the outside but inside it was very dangerous thing to do,” he wrote in a previous post. For a healthier plan to hit your weight loss goals this summer, try these 30 nutritionist-approved weight loss tips.

Mike DarlingMike Darling is an executive editor at Men’s Health where he assigns and edits coverage around the brand’s core subject areas, including fitness, style and grooming, sex and relationships, and technology and gear. He was previously a senior editor on the magazine, and also spent two years as the managing editor of Vice Media’s health vertical.