FIGHT CLUB

‘80s Action Star Shows Off His Age-Defying Body at 68

The ‘Rocky IV’ star’s form-fitting shirt highlighted his ripped arms, chest, and abs.

Dolph Lundgren is still in fighting shape more than four decades after stepping into the ring as Ivan Drago.

The 68-year-old Rocky IV star showed off his ripped physique while out in Philadelphia on Sept. 19 during the book tour for his new memoir, Fights Worth Fighting: Finding Strength in Struggle.

Lundgren wore slicked-back gray hair, sunglasses, light-colored pants, and a fitted white T-shirt that clung to his torso, highlighting his defined abs even through the fabric.

The 6-foot-5 Swedish actor’s muscular appearance comes after a grueling cancer battle that stretched nearly a decade.

Lundgren told Muscle & Fitness that doctors discovered a cancerous tumor in his kidney in 2015 after he noticed blood in his urine following a training session. The tumor was removed, but several more were discovered in 2020.

The cancer later spread, and one doctor suggested he spend more time with his family as his condition worsened, Lundgren said.

In a 2023 interview with In Depth With Graham Bensinger, Lundgren recalled asking his doctor how long he had left. “I think he said two or three years, but I could tell in his voice that he probably thought it was less,” he said.

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Lundgren said he believed his life was ending, but he was not bitter—he worried instead about leaving his daughters and then-fiancée behind.

A second opinion ultimately changed the course of his treatment.

According to Muscle & Fitness, UCLA Health oncologist Dr. Alexandra Drakaki found a mutation that allowed doctors to target the cancer differently, shrinking his tumors by around 90 percent before the remaining tissue was removed through ablation.

Lundgren announced in late 2024 that he was cancer-free.

Through it all, the former karate champion said strength training helped him cope with treatment—and he has not stopped working out.

“It’s very important, I think, as you get older, to keep your muscle mass, keep your testosterone level up,” Lundgren told the outlet, adding that he still trains three times a week and mixes weights with karate.

“It’s really helped me, especially after the cancer diagnosis,” he said. “Those treatments were quite tough, so the strength training really helped me.”

Lundgren—who got his first break in the early ‘80s when “It” girl Grace Jones spotted him at a nightclub in New York City—admitted that workouts have evolved with age.

While preparing to play Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, Lundgren trained up to six hours a day—four hours of boxing and two hours of weights.

“Six hours, which was the worst thing I’d ever done physically,” he told the Washington Post in 1985.

These days, his approach is less punishing.

In an Instagram post, Lundgren said he now does one upper-body strength session, one lower-body strength session, a rehab workout, and cardio each week, plus one or two Pilates sessions.

He previously told Men’s Health that he adjusts his workouts depending on how his body feels rather than forcing himself to stick to a rigid plan.

“I have a plan in the evening for what to do the next day,” he said, “but I adjust on how I feel. If I don’t feel like doing something, I won’t go.”

The Punisher star is now reflecting on both his health battle and his decades in Hollywood in Fights Worth Fighting, released on Tuesday.

“It’s a bit like doing therapy,” Lundgren told Muscle & Fitness about writing the memoir. “You’re going back and re-examining your life.”

He said the book is also meant for people facing battles of their own.

“It’s for other people who have their own fights, medically or going through hardships in life,” he said.

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Tamilore OshikanluContributor

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