Sylvester Stallone put himself through the wringer for the title character in the iconic Rocky franchise, which propelled him to the top of Hollywood, kickstarting his decades-long dominance. For his part as Rocky Balboa, the Rambo Star resorted to an extreme diet to shred his body fat to the lowest, which could’ve resulted in some serious repercussions per a doctor.
Known as Doctor Mike to his 11 million YouTube subscribers, Dr. Mike Varshavski couldn’t help but diagnose the numerous injuries Rocky could’ve sustained in the movies, especially for his extreme diet.
Rocky’s Routine Could’ve Resulted in Some Severe Health Issues for Sylvester Stallone
While Sylvester Stallone‘s rigorous workout regime for his most acclaimed franchise is admirable, it’s also pretty risky per Doctor Mike. In his 12-minute video, Varshavski couldn’t help but stress the health complications that could’ve aroused from his diet, as he pointed out the famous scene, where Rocky eats raw eggs before working out. Dr. Mike explained that he couldn’t help but think about “salmonella falling into his cup” during Rocky’s raw egg intake, and while it is rare, he did touch on the severity of the health issue. He said,
“I can’t help but think about salmonella falling into his cup right now. Because I bet those are not pasteurized in shell eggs. He doesn’t look like he was fancy enough to be buying those.But that one time you get it,” he adds, “you’re going to wish you didn’t.”
While Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky escapes from suffering the consequences of eating raw eggs, Doctor Mike points out another occasion, where Stallone could’ve sustained some serious injuries. Varshavski criticizes Rocky’s decision to punch raw meat with no gloves on, which could’ve resulted in some career-threatening injuries to his knuckles.
Sylvester Stallone Had a Hard Time Remembering Things Following His Restrictive Diet
Reflecting on his torturous routine for Rocky III, Sylvester Stallone recalled limiting his diet to the minimum in order to keep his body fat down to 2.8 percent, Following this, his restrictive diet only involved two small oatmeal cookies alongside 10 cups of coffee for breakfast and tuna fish with an additional 15 cups of coffee for the rest of the day. Reasonably, it resulted in some major complications, leading to his memory getting shot, as he even had a hard time remembering his phone number. He told The Wall Street Journal:
“I was forgetting my phone number. I was eating just tuna fish. My memory was shot, it was completely gone. I was getting all kinds of debilitating physical effects. But it was for the cause.”
While failing to reach the bar set by its predecessors, Rocky 3 was still a success, making around $270M at the global box office, further cementing Stallone as one of the biggest names in action.