The Rock: Ultimate Workout Routine
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has pretty much defined what it means to be ripped. That sort of physical accomplishment cannot be achieved in a day. It’s a product of an intense workout routine that consists of six workouts a week, each focusing on a different group of muscles.
The Rock has shared his workout routine with his fans, but he also says that he mostly goes by instinct and chooses the exercises that work for him, meaning that the formula isn’t set in stone and can be changed to accommodate the unique needs of each athlete.
The morning
Every day starts with a run, ranging from 30 to 50 minutes depending on the rest of the program. It’s important to run on an empty stomach, and The Rock doesn’t skip this part even when he’s traveling or shooting a movie.
After that run, there’s usually a pretty strong breakfast, which isn’t a coincidence. Johnson eats five meals a day and they are usually pre-planned to include all food groups and help him maintain a healthy balance. A good breakfast is also important because he likes to exercise in the morning if the schedule allows it.
The exercise
The Rock is fond of posting pictures of his workouts on Instagram and discussing them on social media because he believes that proper motivation is very important. However, this doesn’t mean that the gym is a place for taking selfies and fooling around. He takes his workout routine quite seriously and does four sets of 12 reps for each exercise, with a 90 seconds rest between each set. This routine changes and evolves with time, but the intensity is constant.
He mixes up cables, dumbbells, barbells and machines and organizes his exercises by body parts.
Barbell walking lunge, leg presses, a bunch of different squats and Romanian dead lift are just the beginning of his leg day. Next, there are seated leg curls and thigh abductor. This means that the routine is divided into three parts focusing on different areas of legs, rather than the traditional four.
His back day starts with wide-grip pull downs divided into four series of 12 reps and continues with the same amount of bent over barbell rows. Then there’s one arm dumbbell row and a series of pull-ups. There is no set number of pull-ups – he does three series until failure. The same goes for the inverted row. Back extensions are the last exercise of a back day, again in four series, 12 reps each.
The shoulder exercises are usually done with various dumbbells depending on the desired intensity. First, there’s a dumbbell shoulder press and the standard military press. Front dumbbell raises and side lateral raises can really cause you to break a sweat, which is why the Rocks emphases the importance of proper gym wear to avoid injuries and work out comfortably.
Exercises for arms and abs consist of the same amount of series but with more reps. Each of the series is comprised of 15 reps, except spider curls, which are done four times. There are three different biceps exercises including a hanging leg raise done in 20 reps. Finally, the day ends with a Russian twist.
A rest day
Lifting heavy weights and not giving up is the only way to become The Rock, but having a pre-planned rest day is equally important. On rest days, the diet doesn’t change, but there’s also no cardio, meaning that it’s actually dedicated to letting the body recuperate from the extreme routine.
Try the routine for a few weeks and see if you can keep up. It could be challenging even for the best athletes out there but if you’re persistent enough, your muscles are going to be rock hard just like The Rock’s.
