These Bodybuilders Tried Carl Weathers' Apollo Creed Workout
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IN A NEW video on their YouTube channel, bodybuilding brother Brandon and Hudson White, a.k.a. the Buff Dudes, pay homage to the late actor Carl Weathers. Hudson explains that Predator was the first movie that inspired him and his brother to get into the gym, commemorating Weathers as "one of the originals who got us to where we are now."
Weathers played professional football in the NFL before transitioning into acting, but when it came to taking on the role of Apollo Creed in Rocky—the first in a series of iconic roles—he took some cues from professional bodybuilder Vince Gironda. To honor Weathers, Brandon and Hudson try out one of the workouts he used to build his fighter's physique.
First up is the neck press (all moves are executed for 3 sets of 10). The brothers acknowledge that this move comes with some risk to the shoulders, which has led to it being phased out of modern workouts. "You'll see a lot of old-schoolers in the '70s and '80s use it, but it's not really a popular exercise with today's generation," says Hudson. If you have any kind of shoulder issue, you'll want to sit this round out.
Next is the Reeves alternating dumbbell row (3 x 10), named for the bodybuilder Steve Reeves: this rowing movement is performed at a bent-over position, creating lots of tension in the back.
Dumbbell lateral raises are third, a useful move for creating a classic silhouette. "A lot of the time, it's all about the visual," says Brandon. "Being a bodybuilder, being an actor, being an action hero, you want to look a certain way: bigger shoulders, bigger back. It gives you that nice V-taper, so I can see why they're including exercises like the dumbbell lateral raises."
They move onto triceps pullovers, which Brandon describes as being somewhere in between a pullover and a triceps extension. "You're getting a little bit of lats, but the triceps are really going to help with that shoulder extension, so as you get that shoulder extension in the pullover, and then the extension with your elbow joint, it's kind of like a double whammy there for the triceps."
The final upper body exercises are the two-handed dumbbell curl, lighting up the arms for a screen-ready pump in the biceps, and barbell wrist curls, building out the oft-neglected forearms for a stronger look.
They then finish out the workout with ab-sculpting crunches, frog squats, and calf raises—because a legend like Weathers would never forget to train legs.
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