Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is one in every of the largest personalities this world has ever seen. We are saying this metaphorically and literally as he stands around 6’3″ to six’5″ (different sources) and 260 to 270 kilos. No matter his size, The Rock is one in every of the busiest men you’ll ever meet each within the business world and within the gym.
Known for his incredible physique that he seems to carry onto, even on the age of 51, he’s the epitome of physiques for many men. Luckily for us, Dwayne Johnson could be very energetic on social media, giving us an inside glimpse of the true Rock workout plan.
Table of Contents:
- Who’s Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson?
- What Is The Rock’s Workout Routine?
- What To Know About Dwayne’s Training Style
- What Is The Rock’s Eating regimen?
Let’s discover what the Rock’s been training!
Who Is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson?
Dwayne Johnson was born in 1972 and commenced his journey to fame as an expert wrestler within the WWF and WWE. He quickly became a crowd favorite as a consequence of his personality and skill to attach with the gang.
Profiting from this notoriety, he was in a position to find himself opening for SNL in 2000. From here, his profession took off. The Rock began working in movies and dealing his way up the proverbial staircase, climbing his method to the highest.
Today, he has change into a household name and blockbuster movie star appearing in among the biggest movies in the fashionable era. During this time, the general public really began to choose up on his impressive physique which has taken off on a lifetime of its own. Today, The Rock has earned a distinguished place within the fitness industry.
There is a ton more to debate about Dwayne, which we’ll get into in a while within the article. Very first thing, though, let’s discuss his workouts!
The Rock’s Workout Routine: Our Interpretation
The Rock is notorious for following a 6 day workout split. By combining different variables of his workout, we have put together this 6-day training routine for you.
We still want you to coach each muscle group 2 times every week, which is what you may do, excluding the shoulders, arms, and abs. It is because you already train these muscle groups once you perform any compound lift. It is also vital to notice that it is a scaled-back version of his program, as a lot of us haven’t got the time to dedicate to half-day-long gym sessions.
So we have taken his workout strategies, favorite exercises, and principles and created a 6-day split that can get you excellent results without requiring hours on end within the gym.
As mentioned above, there are two common training methods seen in The Rock’s training program:
- Pyramid Schemes
- Giant Sets
We are going to use each of those in a single program to change the stimulus. Let’s get into it!
The Rock’s Training Program: Week 1
As you leaf through these workouts, you will find that The Rock loves his giant sets. To perform those, you may cycle through each exercise inside the set one after one other, with a brief rest, around 30-45 seconds, in between exercises. Take an extended break once you’re done with 1 set, resting 1 minute to 1 minute and 30 seconds, after which cycle through the set again.
After your first week, you’ll alter the rep schemes for many of the stand-alone exercises. Notice the rep schemes which have parenthesis next to them. Those represent the reps for weeks 2, 3, and 4.
You can even experiment with exercise angles and equipment. For instance, fairly than traditional hammer curls, try failure incline hammer curls. Or, as an alternative of a cable lateral raise, try a dumbbell raise. Try the one leg hack squat rather than the hack squat. You may personalize this to your goals!
On the fifth week, you’ll drop some weight and return to 12 reps. You’ll want to track your weight so you’ll be able to increase the load the following cycle.
Monday (Back Day):
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
Bent Over Row |
4 |
12 (10, 8, 6) |
T-Bar Row (Medium Grip) |
4 |
12 (10, 8, 6) |
Barbell Front Shrug |
4 |
12 (10, 8, 6) |
Giant Set: |
3 |
15 (per exercise) |
Tuesday (Leg Day):
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
Safety Squat Bar Squat |
4 |
12 (10, 8, 6) |
Romanian Deadlift |
4 |
12 (10, 8, 6) |
Hack Squat |
4 |
12 (10, 8, 6) |
Giant Set: |
3 |
15 (per exercise) |
Wednesday (Chest Day):
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
Incline Bench Press |
4 |
12 (10, 8, 6) |
Swiss Bar Bench Press (Neutral Grip, Medium Grip) |
4 |
12 (10, 8, 6) |
Dips |
4 |
12 (10, 8, 6) |
Giant Set: |
3 |
10 (per exercise) |
Thursday (Shoulders, Arms, and Abs Day):
Exercise |
Sets/Rounds |
Reps |
Standing Military Press |
3 Sets |
12 (10, 8, 6) |
Shoulder Giant Set: |
3 Rounds |
8-12 |
Biceps Giant Set: |
3 Rounds |
8-12 |
Triceps Giant Set: |
3 Rounds |
8-12 |
Abs Giant Set: |
3 Rounds |
15-20 (per exercise) |
Biceps 21 (Finisher) |
1 |
To Failure |
Friday (Back & Chest Day):
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
Incline Barbell Bench Press |
4 |
12 (10, 8, 6) |
Bentover Row |
4 |
12 (10, 8, 6) |
Giant Set #1: |
3 Sets |
15 (per exercise) |
Giant Set #2: |
3 Sets |
15 (per exercise) |
Finisher: |
1 set |
To Failure |
Saturday (Leg Day):
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
Hip Thrusts |
4 |
12 |
Leg Press |
4 |
12 |
Walking Lunges |
4 |
25 (weighted as needed) |
Giant Set: |
3 Sets |
25 (per exercise) |
Belt Squat (Finisher) |
3 |
15-25 (complete sets to failure) |
Sunday: Rest Day
Even Dwayne needs a rest day. Be certain that you support muscle recovery by taking a full day to let those muscles grow!
7 Things To Know About The Rock’s Training Style
Just like all other person, The Rock doesn’t have only one workout routine. As a substitute, he’ll use a combination of best workout splits, rep schemes, and exercise selection for optimal training. Still, there are defining characteristics you will discover in the best way he trains.
One among the defining characteristics of The Rock’s training style is his dedication. Johnson trains as much as 6 days every week along with his notorious cheat day on the seventh day. Even along with his hectic lifestyle, Johnson’s workouts are rarely missed.
Granted, Dwayne has a traveling gym, often known as Iron Paradise, that comes with him on the road to make this easier. And we mean a literal gym, not some Bow-Flex and a few pairs of dumbbells. His Iron Paradise consists of over 40,000 kilos of weight so he can push and pull real iron.
He begins his training with 30 to 60 minutes of cardio. Next, he makes sure to eat an enormous breakfast to fuel up. This meal could be very vital as he needs the energy to then proceed to weight lift for 1.5 hours. And his training is at all times done at maximum intensity.
Listed here are 7 more facts about Dwayne’s workout routine.
1) Dwayne Loves Fasted Cardio:
As mentioned above, Johnson does 30 to 60 minutes of cardio day by day. Before we go any further, can we now agree that cardio won’t kill your gains!
Regardless, we do not know if he loves it, but The Rock workout plan wouldn’t be what it’s without it. It ought to be noted that he likes to perform fasted cardio (on an empty stomach) to hurry up his metabolism.
Sure we love his insane leg press workouts or massive barbell rows, but we actually love the actual fact he does a lot cardio. The fitness industry is over-saturated with influencers who’ve turned the word “cardio’ right into a negative thing. It isn’t.
2) Dwayne Johnson’s Workout Routine Has A LOT Of Volume:
Johnson’s primary goal for his training appears to be muscle hypertrophy for each muscle group. In fact, this doesn’t suggest he is weak, however the essential purpose of his training is to organize for roles.
He obviously loves training for the grind and pump, but Johnson routinely talks about he manipulates his training to organize for various roles. This implies he attempts to change his size which is finished with constructing muscle mass.
We’ve got discussed this persistently before that the essential driver of muscle hypertrophy is volume. You may see this in his programs.
You’ll routinely see exercises prescribed a rep scheme of 4 sets x 15 reps, 4 sets x 20 reps, and even 4 sets x 25 reps. Johnson also routinely utilizes “giant sets” that are 3 or 4 exercises performed in succession.
3) The Rock’s Workout Utilizes Multiple Angles:
Should you view his Instagram for any length of time, you’ll quickly see that he works various angles to optimally hit a muscle, goal different muscle groups, and get that detailed muscle appearance. For instance, during his chest workout, he may perform one in every of his giant sets as so:
- Bench Press: 3 sets x 12 reps
- Dips (Chest version): 3 sets x 12 reps
- Incline dumbbell press: 3 sets x 12 reps
- Flat bench cable flyes: 3 sets x 12 reps
4) He Changes His Movements Routinely:
As well as, The Rock tends to make use of quite a little bit of variety along with his program. He mentioned before how he switches up his program greater than his food regimen.
To be clear, this doesn’t suggest he’s promoting the “muscle confusion” nonsense. He simply understands the worth of variability in his training program.
5) He Likes To Use A Pyramid Routine:
The Rock will use a wide range of rep schemes as he’s consistently fine-tuning his training. One among his favorite methods it’s what’s often known as a pyramid routine.
A pyramid routine is only a type of periodization wherein you alter the load and rep scheme across multiple sets. He will begin with a lighter weight and perform more reps. He’ll then add some weight and perform fewer reps. For instance, a pyramid routine for leg press might appear like this:
- 500 x 15 reps
- 475 x 12 reps
- 450 x 10 reps
- 575 x 8 reps
As well as, he’ll utilize a slight variation of this every week as well. As a substitute of altering the load on each set, he’ll use the identical load. Then the following week, he’ll use a heavier load. For instance:
- 4 sets x 15 reps (500lbs)
- 4 sets x 12 reps (475lbs)
- 4 sets x 10 reps (450lbs)
- 4 sets x 8 reps (425lbs)
- 4 sets x 15 reps (525lbs)
Notice that after 4 weeks, he jumps back to doing 8 reps but has increased the load. It is a basic type of periodization training, and we like it. Altering the load and rep scheme is important to hit all training variables and supply a workout based on real science.
6) The Rock’s Favorite Exercises:
It’s hard to say what’s the Rock’s favorite exercise is as again, he does quite a bit. That said he does appear to gravitate towards traditional weight lifting and uses a variety of free weights.
- Barbell walking lunge
- Leg Press
- Belt Squats
- Barbell Row
- One Arm Dumbbell Row
- Dumbbell Shrug
And so forth. One interesting point is that Dwayne doesn’t appear to perform barbell squats or deadlifts. Many of the posts he has concerning squats have him performing squats with a security squat bar (SSB).
We love SSB squats and are a unbelievable addition to your leg workout. Just know that if you should train like Dwayne, you will not be doing barbell squats.
7) No Deadlift Love From Dwayne:
Deadlifts appear to be absent from his training. While he does do the Romanian deadlift, traditional deadlifts aren’t present. He has mentioned that he doesn’t perform back squats or deadlifts for safety concerns.
As a substitute, his leg workout routine will contain a wide range of other exercises comparable to:
- Leg press
- Romanian deadlift
- Hack squat
- Seated leg curls
- Lunges
The one exercise that one exercises Dwayne does perform that we wish to specifically mention is pit squats or belt squats. These are unbelievable movements to coach the legs while taking the stress off the lower back. This makes it the right exercise so as to add volume while mitigating the danger of injury.
What Is The Rock’s Eating regimen?
To fuel this regime, Dwayne consumes a variety of calories. Depending on his role, The Rock admits to eating anywhere from 5,000 to 7,000 calories day by day. Luckily it isn’t abruptly as he’ll divide this up into 5 or 7 meals throughout the day.
In fact, Johnson enjoys a plethora of food items but when you should eat like him, your “Rock food regimen plan” should include a few of these basic bodybuilder foods:
- Oatmeal
- Rice Medley
- Fish (specifically cod)
- Chicken
- Baked Potatoes
- Steak
- Sweet Potatoes
- Egg Whites
The Rock eats casein protein and whey on the regular as well to get more protein. Whenever you’re hitting protein goals, investing in among the finest protein powders and consuming protein shakes are a day by day strategy.
Other than eating properly, we are able to only assume The Rock is benefiting from multiple supplements to realize his intimidating body. We do not know exactly what he is using and whether it’s legal. Nevertheless, we do know that there’s a trio of supplements that may aid you in your quest of constructing a greater body. These three supplements include whey protein, pre-workout, and creatine. With this complement stack, you’ll be able to construct muscle, gain strength, recuperate faster and train harder. Try our favourite complement stack below!
The Rock’s Cheat Day Eating regimen
Perhaps more famous than his actual training are Dwayne’s epic cheat meals on his rest days wherein he eats a shed load. He routinely posts his cheat meals on his Instagram and claims a cheat day ought to be as extreme as possible as “they’re earned”.
A few of his favorite foods to eat right now are:
- Sushi
- Peanut butter pancakes
- Assortment of cookies and cake
- Pizza
- Hamburgers
These insane meals can range from 4,000 to 7,000 calories a chunk! Together, it isn’t unusual for him to eat greater than 10,000 calories on his cheat days.
Why You Probably Don’t Want To Follow The Rock’s Eating regimen Cheat Day
This kind of eating may be difficult for brand spanking new lifters. To start with, it’s worthwhile to have great discipline in order that one cheat day doesn’t change into two cheat days or three.
Should you are only learning healthy eating habits, a cheat day can steer you in the wrong way for those who’re not ready for it.
Also, consider that the majority people haven’t got as much room to play with concerning calories. Keep in mind that Dwayne Johnson is an enormous individual who takes time to coach 4 hours a day. This implies he burns a ton of calories which is obvious by his not gaining weight.
This means that his day by day caloric intake of 5,000 to 7,000 calories might be actually putting him in a deficit. Subsequently, after 6 days of being in a deficit, he can eat a crazy amount on his cheat day.
As compared, unless you are training for 4 hours a day, you will probably gain weight. And we’re not talking in regards to the good sort of muscle weight you gain from body recomposition. We’re talking just straight up, packing on the kilos, weight gain. For instance, for those who’re eating 3,000 calories for maintenance, after which eat 10,000 calories on Sunday, you are going to be in a caloric surplus of seven,000 calories which implies you simply gained two kilos of fat.
Just keep this in mind before you dig into 4,000 calories price of pancakes. Can you’ve a cheat meal or cheat day? Absolutely. Just be certain you are not blowing your entire labor for someday. Moderation is vital.
The Rock’s Workout Plan: Stay Dedicated!
Dwayne Johnson’s extreme dedication is the number one reason he’s so successful out and in of the gym. We’ve got said this before, the one who never misses a session will likely be the higher man 9 times out of 10.
You could get within the gym and put in labor week in and week out identical to Dwayne. Should you do that, we are able to promise you’ll achieve the goals you’re striving for. You would possibly not look identical to him, but you may look pretty awesome.