Nicholas Galitzine might be He-Man now, but Dolph Lundgren did it first – and arguably best. While Galitzine needed to pack on as much muscle as possible in just 3 months, Lundgren didn't face quite the same challenge nearly 40 years earlier for the original Masters of the Universe film.
Not least because filming came less than a year after the Swedish actor had undergone an intense transformation for Rocky IV.
'I never trained harder in my life,' Lundgren said of his preparations to play Ivan Drago. Training lasted for 5 months. '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.'
Boxing coach Richard Giachetti helped develop both Lundgren and Stallone into more accomplished fighters, with sparring sessions reportedly lasting up to four hours a day. By the time filming began, Lundgren looked like a lean, powerful athlete ready for battle – something that served him especially well when it came to playing He-Man in 1987.
Dolph Lundgren's He-Man Workout
Despite already having an impressive physique, Lundgren still trained diligently for 4 months to prepare for the role. The focus shifted from boxing performance to building muscle while maintaining a lean, athletic look.
'I had to continue to work out daily during the 5-and-a-half-week shoot,' Lundgren told Men's Fitness. 'Sometimes I'd have to get up at 5am to get in a 45-minute workout during the day.
What to read next
'I would break up my exercises, doing my chest in the morning, for example, my shoulders during lunch and putting in some time on the stationary bicycle in the evening. And, of course, I would pump up on set a lot during the day.'
Recovery also became a major priority. Lundgren regularly worked with former tennis star John McEnroe's masseur and visited a chiropractor to stay healthy during filming.
'The combination of training hard and being involved in a lot of action scenes made it essential for me to treat my body well and also obtain maximum recuperation. So I got regular massages to stay loose and maintain good muscle tone. And when that wasn't enough and I needed some kinks worked out, I relied on my chiropractor, Greg Teft.'
In reality, everything Lundgren did was geared towards looking his absolute best on camera. After all, He-Man's famously minimalist costume didn't leave much to the imagination.
Why He Stayed so Lean
Lundgren's costume became almost as famous as the film itself.
'I had some say in my costume,' he told The Guardian. 'The studio wanted me to wear less. I think they thought, "The more we see his muscles, the better." I wanted the armour to accentuate my body. I'd learned from Sylvester Stallone about what looks good on film. But I basically had nothing on.'
The lack of clothing wasn't always enjoyable.
'We shot outdoors in winter and I remember being extremely cold. I had to put Vaseline on to keep my body heat.'
Dolph Lundgren's He-Man Diet
Looking the part required just as much attention in the kitchen as it did in the gym. For Masters of the Universe, Lundgren followed an even stricter diet than he had for Rocky IV.
'My diet was much better planned than it had been for Rocky IV,' he said. 'I talked to a number of nutritionists, and the programme I came up with was very, very strict. For example, I cut out fats as much as possible. I wouldn't eat bread, dressings or sauces. Everything had to be unprocessed, quality food with high nutrition and no extra calories.'
His drinks of choice were equally simple.
'My fluid intake was water, iced tea and coffee.'
The approach wasn't exactly comfortable.
'After a while, I adjusted to always being just a little hungry. I got used to it because I knew that it contributed to how good I looked on screen. But beyond that, being hungry makes you edgy and more aggressive, and I found this contributed to my being able to play He-Man, a character filled with restless energy – just barely under control.'
If there’s one thing Kori Sampson knows, it’s how to optimise your body composition for performance. To tap into his knowledge as an elite athlete and coach, we asked him to create a 4-week plan to help you move faster, recover quicker and keep pushing when the fatigue sets in – all while improving your muscle-to-fat ratio.
Ready to build muscle, burn fat and come out the other side looking, feeling and performing better? Click here to get 14 days of free access to the plan via the Men’s Health app.
Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.
During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.
Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark…
You can follow Ryan on Instagram @ryan.dabbs or on X @ryandabbs_
