DWAYNE'S TRAINING

Hey, guys.  Let’s talk about HERCULES TRAINING today.   I watched the trailer of the “HERCULES” movie with Duane Johnson in the lead role once again and could not but admire the superb form that he was able to reach in order to star in this movie.   Boy Dwayne, aka “The Rock”, has a good chance of getting ahead of the Austrian boy Arnold Schwarzenegger aka “The Austrian Oak” at this rate.

I’m often asked how Dwayne Johnson trains and eats in order to demonstrate such physique in his films.  He’s very muscular, but not too muscular, like modern top professional bodybuilders.  He looks athletic and lean.  In general, that’s what most men want to look like.  But in “Hercules”, old Dwayne decided to excel himself.  Realizing that he would have to play one of the most athletic and strongest characters in the world’s history, Dwayne made every effort to match him as much as possible.  In general, realizing that the issue of Dwayne Johnson’s training worries a lot of people, I decided to tell more about HERCULES training.  And more than that... Not just to tell, but to show how it happens.

Dwayne Johnson gained his form for filming in “HERCULES” for 20 WEEKS!!!!  Which is not bad at all, considering the fact that professional bodybuilders usually prepare for competitions for 3 months.  And there’s FIVE!  All this time Dwayne woke up at 4:00 a.m. and worked out to be on a movie set in the morning!  The man just had no other options.  All day - shooting in Budapest, and you can not skip training because lean Hercules is not epic at all.  Right? ))) Add the most excruciating diet so that all those muscles could be seen (Hollywood somehow does not like fat athletes. They want an athlete in peak form) and you’ll understand that Dwayne is called “The Rock” for a reason.  Many would envy such a stubbornness.

TRAINING SPLIT OF DWAYNE JOHNSON

Frequent workouts.  Very frequent.  When preparing for shooting Dwayne trains almost as much as Arnold did in the good old days.   Dwayne trains small muscle groups (SHOULDERS, BICEPS, TRICEPS) 2-3 TIMES A WEEK!!!!  LARGE GROUPS (BACK, CHEST, LEGS) - ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK.  Why? Because big groups need more time to recover from hard workouts.      “The Rock” trains six days a week, which again looks a lot like Arnold’s split. Arrangement of the muscle groups varies.   For instance, it might look like this:

• CHEST + BACK + BICEPS

• LEGS + SHOULDERS + TRICEPS

or

• CHEST + BACK

• SHOULDERS + ARMS

• LEGS

The closer the filming time, the fewer days of rest between muscle groups.  For example, 2-3 months before shooting Dwayne trains ONE MUSCLE GROUP TWO TIMES A WEEK and 1 month before and throughout the shooting Dwayne switches to ONE MUSCLE GROUP THREE TIMES A WEEK.  It’s not real to build muscles with this approach. Then why is Dwayne doing this? In order to get a better shape and to cut the fat from the muscles he already has.

Usually it works pretty well.  In the off-season, our boy weighs about 120 kg with a height of 193 cm.  When training muscle groups three times a week, Dwayne reduces the percentage of body fat from 14% to 7%.    And this, by the way, is an almost competitive bodybuilding form.   Only that, unlike bodybuilders, the actor often has to keep such physique for months while shooting is on.

NUMBER OF EXERCISES, REPS AND SETS

Dwayne is a fan of the classic HIGH-VOLUME training aimed at strong muscle pumping.  It works well for his body when preparing for the stage.

• EXERCISES = 5-6

• SETS = 3-4

• REPS = 12-15

• SUPER TECHNIQUES = DROP SETS

• REST = 30-60 sec (minimum)

• SUPER TECHNIQUES = DROP SETS

NUTRITION WHEN PREPARING FOR THE MOVIE

In preparation for the movie, Dwayne goes into hardcore fat-cutting mode.  This is expressed primarily by the reduction of carbohydrates and an increase in the amount of protein in the diet. Nothing exotic. Bodybuilding classics.

• PROTEIN = 360-400 grams / day (3 g/kg body weight)

• CARBS = 500 grams / day (4 g / kg body weight)

• SPORT NUTRITION = PROTEIN before and after workout + CREATINE + BCAA

Dwayne loves chicken breast and fish as a source of PROTEIN, and usually chooses rice or potatoes as his carbohydrate source.   Plus sport nutrition and lots of fiber from vegetables and salads.

Example menu: 1 meal: 300 grams of cod, 2 eggs, 2 cups of oatmeal. 2 meal: 200 grams of cod, 350 grams of potatoes, 1 cup of vegetables. 3 meal: 250 grams of chicken, 2 cups of rice, 1 cup of vegetables. 4 meal: 200 grams of cod, 2 cups of rice, 1 cup of vegetables + 1 tablespoon of fish oil. 5 meal: 250 grams of meat, 300 grams of baked potatoes and spinach salad. 6 meal: 280 grams of cod, 2 cups of rice, salad. 7 meal: 30 grams of casein protein, omelet of 10 egg whites, vegetables + 1 tbsp of fish oil.

LONG JOURNEY TO HERCULES GLORY

“HERCULES” is a cult movie.  A lot of people want to act as such a famous character.  There were many hunks in Hollywood which competed for the role of HERCULES.  And Dwayne Johnson succeeded.  But life was not as easy and simple for him as many might think.  Dwayne worked as a shoe salesman after university and life seemed boring and hopeless for him back then. BUT HE NEVER GAVE UP TRAINING!  Not when there was no money, not when there was a 40-degree heat in the gym without air conditioning and he swear buckets.  He always kept training.

Duane was very lucky to have his father, who was a quite famous BODYBUILDER before becoming a PROFESSIONAL wrestler.  It was his father who made the boy do his push-ups for a week after Dwayne was crushed by a barbell in the gym.  The result was that a week later, a future movie star pressed the weight that had recently crushed him.  It had a very strong impact on his morale.    “I learned perhaps the most important lesson from my father, says Dwayne. I realized that power can be gained. The harder I work, the stronger I’ll become...”

It’s a long story to tell about Dwayne, actually. He had a very interesting life even before the movies.  He did a lot of heavy base work (clean and jerks, snatches) during his university training.  He was noticed by coaches from the American national football team and after a while Dwayne became a local football star (played in defense, broke the “backs”). Everything was cool until life turned back on him (he never got the contract).  He had to start working as a shoe salesman.

Then there was a big piece of life in wrestling.  Dwayne first laughed when he was visited by representatives of the American Wrestling Association (his father told him a lot about all intrigues of that world). But after a while, he became a wrestling star. Three months later, he signed a contract.

His popularity began to grow rapidly... Until he got a call from Hollywood in 1999...   With the proposal to star in the movie “The Mummy Returns”.  And then there was “The Scorpion King” that made Dwayne a movie star.  That’s just what an extraordinary man he is.. Gave it a shot at football... became a star... gave it a shot at wrestling... became a super star... gave it a shot at movies... became a mega star...  Progress is clear.

BODY PROGRESS = HERCULES TRAINING

Despite the lack of time and very heavy daily routine, Dwayne not only finds time for training, but also CONTINUES TO PROGRESS.   For each new film, he continues to amaze me with more and more achievements.  When “NO PAIN NO GAIN” was released, I said to myself... “no way... the boy grew up”    And now I see he’s making a habit of it.