Sylvester Enzio Stallone originally hailed from New York’s gritty Hells Kitchen neighbourhood. Due to complications during childbirth, he was born with partial paralysis on the left side of his face, which accounts for his unique appearance and slightly slurred inflection. However, that didn’t stop him from studying drama at the University of Miami and then pursuing an acting career. Famously, one of his earliest roles was in the 1970 softcore porn film “The Party at Kitty and Stud’s.”

Diet and nutrition play a role in Rocky’s training as early as the first film when Stallone chugs raw eggs from a tall drinking glass. Behind the scenes, the actor’s diet plan was no less extreme. That theme continued well into his career and only grew more intense with each subsequent film. By Rocky III, the actor was practising some dangerous eating habits in his pursuit of lean body mass and bulging muscles.

Keeping both himself and his fans on their toes, Sylvester Stallone approached each Rocky movie with different physical goals in mind. For the first two instalments, his training regimen was largely centred around building mass. By Rocky III, however, the actor was mostly targeting muscle definition. In the process, he dropped his body fat percentage down to a jaw-dropping (and dangerous) low of 2.9 per cent.