At 68, Dolph Lundgren maintains his action-star physique with just 5 exercises: His chest and back workout that keeps him strong

At 68, Dolph Lundgren is still spending plenty of time in the gym. The Swedish actor, best known for playing Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, has continued strength training for years, even after going through a serious cancer diagnosis. His latest chest and back workout shows that his approach to staying fit has not changed much; train consistently, keep the movements controlled and do what the body can handle.

Lundgren was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2015, which later spread and led to further health problems. At one point, he was told he may have only a few years to live. In 2024, however, the actor announced that he was cancer-free.

Dolph Lundgren credits strength training after cancer

Speaking to Muscle & Fitness, Lundgren explained how weight training helped him deal with the physical effects of cancer treatment.


“[Strength training] has really helped me, especially after the cancer diagnosis,” he told the publication. “Those treatments were quite tough, so the strength training really helped me.”

Lundgren, who also has a background in karate and martial arts, now trains around three times a week. His routine combines weight training with karate rather than relying only on heavy gym sessions.

The actor has also spoken about the importance of maintaining muscle as people get older.

“Anything is better than nothing when it comes to staying in shape,” Lundgren previously explained. “It’s very important, I think, as you get older, to keep your muscle mass, keep your testosterone level up.”

His five-exercise chest and back workout

Lundgren recently shared a chest and back training session with his followers on Instagram. The workout brings together five fairly familiar gym movements, with exercises for both pulling and pressing muscles.

The session includes:

• Seated cable row
• Lat pulldown
• Chest-supported row
• Incline bench press
• Machine chest fly

The combination works the major muscles across the back and chest without making the workout unnecessarily complicated.

Seated row and lat pulldown

The workout starts with the seated row. This exercise targets the middle back, with the movement driven by pulling the elbows back rather than shrugging the shoulders. Keeping the return slow also keeps the muscles under tension.

Lundgren then moves to the lat pulldown, which focuses more on the lat muscles and helps build back width. The movement involves pulling the bar towards the chest while keeping the torso relatively stable.

The third back exercise is a chest-supported row. With the upper body supported by a bench, there is less opportunity to use momentum. That allows the back muscles to do more of the work while also reducing the need to stabilise the lower back.

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Incline press and chest fly finish the session

After the three back movements, Lundgren shifts his attention to the chest with an incline bench press. The incline changes the pressing angle and places greater emphasis on the upper portion of the chest.

The workout ends with a machine chest fly. Unlike a pressing movement, the fly keeps the focus on bringing the arms together and contracting the chest. A controlled return is important here, rather than allowing the weight to pull the arms back quickly.

What stands out from Lundgren's workout is not that the exercises are unusual. They are common movements that can be found in many strength-training programmes. The difference is his consistency and the fact that he continues to train at an age when many people naturally become less active.

From Ivan Drago to lifelong fitness

Long before he became famous as Ivan Drago, Lundgren had already built a strong sporting background. He earned a black belt in karate and competed in martial arts before moving into acting.

His academic background was also far away from Hollywood. Lundgren studied chemical engineering and received scholarships that took him to institutions including Washington State University, the University of Sydney and Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology. He was eventually awarded a Fulbright scholarship to attend MIT.

His career changed after he became involved with Grace Jones and moved towards the entertainment world. A martial arts background and imposing physique eventually helped him land the role of Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, which became his breakthrough.