Dwayne Johnson has a body that is just incredible. In fact, if someone with a genetic tendency to be very muscular trained like a demon from age 13 to 50, they would look like “The Rock”. This is the man whose superhero suit doesn’t need padding, even when he plays Black Adam, a character with superhuman speed, strength, power, and stamina. And we mean that literally, because when the costume designers put Johnson in the padded suit they usually make for their superhero actors, it was too much and even looked silly.
So, how does “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson, who is 50 years old and has done a lot of sports in his life, stay in such great shape? A lot of this is because of his friend and trainer, Dave Rienzi, who also trains Henry Cavill and has worked with him for almost ten years.Â
How does Dwayne Johnson work out?
Dwayne Johnson always trains six days a week, and every day includes both strength training and cardio. Black Adam trained his chest and triceps, his back and biceps, his shoulders and arms, and then his chest and back. He did one of these groups a day, but instead of training very hard, he focused on getting a lot of blood to the muscles. Sunday is usually the sixth day, so there will be a day off before that, which will be leg day. We made sure to schedule his leg workout for the weekend, which is not during his work week, so he can recover without it affecting his job.
Could you imagine going from a 12-hour training session to a 12-hour filming session? It wasn’t going to work. A leg workout today might include leg presses, hack squats, chain lunges, and sumo squats with 100-pound dumbbells, with no rest in between. In a move like the sumo squat, there is usually a three-second hold at the bottom and a one-second pause.Â
He keeps his heart rate between 125 and 135 beats per minute during steady state, which is probably about 70% intensity for him. During interval training, the intensity is usually at its highest for about 30 seconds. Then, for the next minute and a half to two minutes, the intensity stays the same. The goal is to have enough time to rest before the next interval.Â
Modify training with age
The body changes all the time from year to year. So, first you have to fit as per your schedule, your feelings, and your way of life, and make changes as you go to help your life as a whole as much as possible. As he has grown, he had to be switched to a model that focuses more on time under tension techniques than on lifting very heavy weights.
Today, all of the training sessions also start with pre-exhaustion. The idea here is to use a moderate weight and do some time under tension exercises with very little rest in between, so that the muscles are tired before doing a heavier compound move like a barbell row. We don’t need to lift as much weight if your muscles are already tired. This lets us lighten the load and, by extension, the stress on your body and nervous system, but it still makes you work hard and tires out your muscles. In the case of Dwayne Johnson, let’s say he can row uphill with 315 pounds for 10 reps.Â
Dwayne Johnson Routine and Diet
It’s always figured out, and every meal is measured. His trainers gave Black Adam seven meals a day because we were pushing him very hard physically, trying to get his abs in shape, his quads to work, and his shoulders to stay strong. He ate about 500g of protein a day, and when we wanted him to gain muscle mass, we added carbs and fats to his diet.
Food-wise, it’s always a mix of lean protein sources like egg whites in the morning, beef twice a day, chicken breast, and turkey breast throughout the day. Whole foods are much better for the body. He hires chefs in every country he visits to cook for him.
Dwayne Johnson takes supplements that have been recommended to him based on his genes and lifestyle. During training, you usually take in branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and electrolytes, which help your muscles recover and keep you from getting dehydrated. The protein shake is made of protein powders from different sources and a carbohydrate powder.Â
