What is the physique difference between Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger?

 

There is obviously a big difference in muscular size, bodyweight & intimidation potential, whereby Schwarzenegger has way more physical presence due to these aforementioned factors. For his era, Arnold was a symmetrical mass monster, whereas Stallone was a reasonably well muscled gym rat, who “punched” above his weight due to his filmography.

Hypothetically speaking, if Stallone was a pro bodybuilder in Arnold’s era, he would probably have been in the same weight class as Arnold’s one time training partner in Pumping Iron, Franco Columbo. Anyone who watched Pumping Iron back in the day would realise that Arnold was in the category known as “the tall man” class. Stallone who stands around 5 ft 9” would not have made that class.

In terms of specific muscle groups where there is literally no comparison is the chest & biceps — the showcase muscles of a bodybuilder. Even to this day, 40 years later Arnold’s chest & biceps are gold standard benchmarks for the industry…Make no mistake, Stallone at his peak, probably in Rocky 4 too had a very respectable physique & had notable definition but he never came close to attaining Arnold’s muscular hypertrophy.