In the 4 a.m., almost everyone is asleep. But at that time, before the sun even got out, Dwayne Johnson is already up, and he prepares for his morning workout. He is putting on his gym clothes, and he starts to stretch and warm up for what is to come. Most people at the age of 45 believe that their “working out” days are behind them. Dwayne Johnson is not like most people. He is going harder than ever.
A majority of people who go to the gym want to look muscular and be healthy. Otherwise, why bother going to the gym at all? To some, Dwayne Johnson is the role-model and they want to look like him. You can look like The Rock if you follow his exercise and diet routine and we want to warn you that it takes a lot of sacrifice and dedication to succeed. The 45-year old actor has a strict workout and diet plan he sticks to, and he is willing to share it with you.
Morning routine
Although the t-shirt is soaked in sweat by the time Johnson finishes his morning training, this is just the beginning of the day for this giant. The idea of getting early in the morning and exercising is appealing only to a few and Johnson is one of those people who want to get the hands dirty early.
“I love putting in that hard work as early as possible to get my day started off on the right foot, mentally and physically,” he says. “Depending on the role I’m training for or playing at the time, I usually smash out about 30-50 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer first thing in the morning, whether I’m at home or at a hotel, after drinking a cup of coffee. But when I’m at home, I like to hit the road as well. And after cardio, I eat breakfast.
“Diet-wise, I generally eat five meals a day. I’m very prepared and organized, and everything is planned out in advance. It’s all measured depending on what I’m training to achieve. Usually, I start off my day with some dead cow and oatmeal for breakfast. The other staples in my diet include chicken, steak fillets, egg whites, oatmeal, broccoli, halibut, rice, asparagus, baked potato, leafy salads, peppers, mushrooms, and onions, and then also some casein protein.”
Working out with weights
The advantage of going to the gym early in the morning is that there’s nobody around. You will share the gym with perhaps one or two people tops, and that’s just outstanding for all of the hard-workers. Once Johnson starts using weights, you can see the dedication in his eyes.
“Working out is my therapy, and it’s cheaper than a shrink,” he chuckles. “I can’t imagine my life without training, honestly. And for getting results—as with anything in life, but especially with working out—there’s no substitute for hard work.
“After I’ve had breakfast, I get busy with a nice session of clangin’ and bangin’—epic pain, epic results. I’m big on ‘together we conquer’ and ‘train to progress,’ so I like to share that on social media. I treat training like a metaphor for life—the dedication, the determination, the desire, the work ethic, the successes and the failures—I take them all into life.”
And you can see that he is telling the truth by looking at his physique. He follows the tested bodybuilder’s model of lifting heavy on a daily basis and results are more than obvious. We all know that DJ is a famous Hollywood actor and he is constantly working on multiple projects. He is a family man as well, so how does he manage to get everything done?
“I work out six days a week, and usually in the morning. But depending on my schedule, I may also [train] in the evening,” he says. “But I definitely prefer the morning. With the iron, I separate body parts: legs, back, shoulders, chest, biceps, and triceps. I mix up dumbbells, cables, barbells, and machines. My workout is constantly changing and adapting, but for the most part, I do 4 sets of 12 reps with a 60-90-second rest. I don’t play around in the gym. I always aim to be the hardest worker, and I make sure I clang, and I bang to the best of my ability.”
Johnson is famous for numerous movies such as Fast and Furious and San Andreas, to name a few. He worked hard and spent months in the gym preparing for these movies, but he said that it all started with Hercules. According to Dwayne, this was the role he trained and worked harder than anything he has ever done. He claimed that he spent eight months in the gym and completely isolated himself from the rest of the world. During the shooting, he was in Budapest, Hungary for six months. He used the similar routine for Furious 7 and San Andreas.
Speaking of Furious 7, it was the movie where Johnson wasn’t the only superstar. Besides Vin Diesel, Jason Statham showed up, and he is another muscle man. However, Johnson and Statham were both happy to share the set, and The Rock said: “The fight I have with Jason Statham in the opening scene was really something else. It was very, very cool and special. Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to fight a lot of guys who have great reputations in terms of being ‘Hollywood tough guys,’ action guys and men of action, but Jason Statham really takes the cake. I mean that with all due respect to the guys I’ve fought in the past onscreen. What Jason brings to this franchise is an authenticity. The guy isn’t just acting when he’s fighting, he’s completely legit. Jason’s a really tough SOB, believe me.”
After a hard day at work, Johnson drives back to his mansion in the Ford F-150 truck. He spends the evenings with his family when he is not working, but as our favorite actor mentioned, he wouldn’t be able to picture his life without exercising. When he talked about his life in the gym, Johnson grinned: “I love it. Creating and maintaining these kinds of physiques takes attention to detail, because sometimes you have to back off on cardio or add cardio or train two times a day or bump calories up or back off calories. It’s always in a constant state of flux, which makes it really exciting, for sure.”
Now, at the beginning of this article, we have said that you can train like Dwayne Johnson, and below, we present you his workout routine day-by-day. Before starting with the routine, ask yourself honestly can you push through or not. Here it goes.
Day 1 – Legs
• Running, Treadmill
• Barbell Walking Lunge
• Leg Press
• Leg Extensions
• Barbell Squat
• Hack Squat
• Hack Squat Single Leg
• Romanian Deadlift
• Seated Leg Curl
• Thigh Abductor
