Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Workout Routine and Diet: How the Sexiest Man Alive Trains to be Superhero Jacked!

Last updated on May 9th, 2020 at 06:55 pm

*This Dwayne Johnson Workout Routine and Diet Plan has been updated and will continue to be as new information comes out.*

Everyone is well aware of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s physique.

If you’re not, I honestly don’t know what to tell you…

He was also just named People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2016.

I guess he deserves a revamp post for his workout routine.  Plus I just want to…

We’ve seen some pics of The Rock training with co-star of Baywatch, Zac Efron, when we covered his routine.

We’ve also seen The Rock’s prescribed Intermittent Fasting program that he gave to Hugh Jackman for his role as Wolverine!

Another thing we’ve seen (not specifically on the site, but in life) is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson go through a flurry of different body compositions throughout the course of his career.  It’s been a long and successful one, and he’s managed to be Superhero Jacked throughout most of it.

That being said, I think it’s only fair if we go through a few of them to give the full spectrum of what we’re working with here.

Dwayne Johnson Through the Years

And while I know this timeline doesn’t do Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Physique any justice, it gets us to the point.

Now, for this article we’ll be covering how Dwayne became the sexiest man in the world.

He’s been portrayed in Hercules, G.I. Joe, Scorpion King, and I can’t wait to see if he eventually shows us what he can do teamed up with Marvel or DC.

The best way to dig into the Rock’s routine is to hear from him, so I’ll start by getting some quotes of how he has been training.  I’ll utilize quotes from all his recent movies, and incorporate bulking and leaning techniques that he gives us.

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What Dwayne Johnson has to say

The Rock isn’t just a big behemoth of muscle, he’s also a businessman, philanthropist and all around awesome person.  That being said, his routine and lifestyle adjustments could make a difference in multiple aspects of your life.

Let’s start with this quote from Johnson on training 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.”

Recap: He’s telling us that he’s utilizing fasted cardio for about 30-50 minutes on the elliptical first thing in the morning, after drinking a cup of coffee – depending on his role.  After cardio he eats his breakfast.

And a quick quote on dieting:

“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,” he explains while shoveling food into his mouth. “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.”

This one is pretty self explanatory, so I’ll do without the quick recap.

We’ll dive straight into some more training talk:

“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.”

Recap:  The Rock talks about how training is his therapy and he couldn’t imagine life without it.  After breakfast he hits the gym hard with a session of what he calls “clangin’ and bangin'”.

To finish off with some more training quotes we’ll take a look at this:

“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.”

Recap: The Rock works out six days a week and usually in the morning.  (If you follow him on Instagram you’ll see he’s out busting his butt at 4 o’clock in the morning a lot of the time!)  He trains separate body parts and mixes up dumbbells, cables, barbells and machines.  He does 4 sets of 12 reps with 60-90 second rests.

This tells us A LOT of how he’s training and we’ll definitely be utilizing it within the routine.

Oh, but before we get into the full routine, I think it’s important to take a look at The Rock eating some of his famous cheat meals.  Sure, he’s a ginormous, machine of a man, but he still gives himself a chance to step back and live life a bit.  Plus, carb replenishing could be a really good thing, remember?

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If that isn’t awesome, I don’t know what is.

Here’s a sample diet plan that The Rock gives when training for Pain and Gain:

Meal 1: 10 scrambled egg whites, 3 servings cream of rice or 1 cup oatmeal, 3 rice cakes, 24oz water

Meal 2: 6oz skinless grilled chicken breast, 1 cup grits, 6oz yams, 1 cup of steamed asparagus, 24oz water

Meal 3: 6oz tuna, 1 cup brown rice, 1 sliced cucumber, 24oz water

Meal 4: 6oz perch fillet, 1 cup barley, 6oz baked potato, 1 cup steamed green beans, 24oz water

Meal 5: 6oz pork tenderloin, 1 cup brown rice, 6oz sweet potato, 1 cup peas, 24oz water

Meal 6: 10 scrambled egg whites, 3 servings cream of rice or 1 cup oatmeal, 24oz water

Let’s get into the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Workout Routine now…

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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Workout Routine

What do we know?

1. The Rock trains 6 days a week
   • This is going to be an intense program, if that wasn’t obvious already!
2. He trains separate body parts and mixes up dumbbells, cables, barbells and machines.
3. He does 4 sets of 12 reps with 60-90 second rests.
4. Depending on the role he’s training for or playing at the time, he usually does about 30-50 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer first thing in the morning

That means we’re following ALL of these guidelines.

Training Volume: 6 Days a Week

Breaks between workouts: 60-90 Seconds

Want To Upgrade This Workout?

The Superhero Academy now comes with an Upgrade Your Workout Tool that allows Academy members to turn any SHJ workout into a 4-8 week fully planned regime detailing exact weights to lift and including reverse & tradition pyramid training, straight sets, super sets, progressive overload and more.

Video Link:

SHJ YouTube Workout GuideBrandon Trained like The Rock for a Week:
SHJ YouTube Workout Guide

Dwayne Johnson Workout – Monday: Chest and Cardio

Cardio

Cardio can be done separate from your workout if you’d like to do a two-a-days.

30-50 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer

Chest

Barbell Chest Press:

4×12

Incline Dumbbell Press:

4×12

Cable Crossovers (we’ve seen this picture of Johnson before!)

4×12

Dumbbell Flyes

4×12

Dips (The Rock would do these weighted, naturally…)

4×20

Push Ups

4×20

Dwayne Johnson Workout – Tuesday: Shoulders and Cardio

Cardio

Cardio can be done separate from your workout if you’d like to do a two-a-days.

30-50 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer

Shoulders

Barbell Overhead Press

4×12

Cable Front Raises (Alternating Arms or Straight Bar)

4×12

Dumbbell Arnold Presses

4×12

Barbell Shrugs

4×12

Rear Delt Cable Raise

4×12

Pull Ups

4×12

Dwayne Johnson Workout – Wednesday: Triceps and Cardio

Cardio

Cardio can be done separate from your workout if you’d like to do a two-a-days.

30-50 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer

Triceps

Skull Crushers

4×12

Overhead Tricep Extension

4×12

One Arm Reverse Grip Tricep Extension

4×12

Tricep Push Downs

4×12

Close Grip Bench Press

4×12

Cable/Dumbbell Kickbacks

4×12

Dwayne Johnson Workout – Thursday: Back and Cardio

Cardio

Cardio can be done separate from your workout if you’d like to do a two-a-days.

30-50 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer

Back

Deadlift

4×12

Wide Grip Lateral Pull Downs

4×12

Close Grip Lateral Pull Downs

4×12

One Arm Seated Cable Rows

4×12

Hammer Strength Rows

4×12

Wide Grip Pull Ups

4×12

Dwayne Johnson Workout – Friday: Legs and Cardio

Cardio

Cardio can be done separate from your workout if you’d like to do a two-a-days.

30-50 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer

Legs

Squats

4×12

Calf Raises

4×12

Dumbbell Weighted Lunges

4×12

Leg Press

4×12

Hack Squat

4×12

Box Jumps

4×12

Dwayne Johnson Workout – Saturday: Biceps and Cardio

Cardio

Cardio can be done separate from your workout if you’d like to do a two-a-days.

30-50 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer

Biceps

Preacher Curls

4×12

Dumbbell Hammer Curls

4×12

Spider Curls

4×12

Overhead Cable Curls

4×12

Zottman Curls

4×12

Chin Ups (The Rock would obviously do these weighted as well…)

4×12

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