Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Hercules Workout Revealed

By Gym Staff | September 28, 2016

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you probably know that Dwayne Johnson played the title character of the film Hercules. For those who have watched the movie, the sculpted body of “The Rock” was one of the highlights. It was the baddest version of Hercules ever seen on the silver screen.

For a lot of Hollywood action stars, the task of being able to realistically portray the Greek demigod is very challenging and even Johnson who has massive muscles already, it proved to be a very difficult feat. So for us mere mortals, even working out daily at Fitness First may not be enough.

A Herculean Effort

Dwayne Johnson, was once an athlete before he became an actor. Even before Hercules, his physique was already envied by countless men the world over. But if there’s one thing that taught this former football pro, it’s that you can achieve what you set your mind to do if you put in a lot of hard work. This is the reason why he puts a lot of his energy and time to making sure he’s always at his peak physically before stepping onto the movie set.

According to Johnson, he went on a 22-week diet for the Hercules. His goal was to really look like a demi-god – a man who is huge and mean. He increased the volume and intensity of his training so he can achieve a definitive version of Hercules.

To look the part, he increased his training greatly working out 6 days a week for six months to bulk up. Every morning, he would do a 50 minute cardio before doing split training (ie working on a specific part of the body). It was his legs that he worked on more than once a week.

He started his days around 4am and he trained 6x each week. This is actually his normal routine even when he’s not filming. He also prefers training when the sun is up so he can step off the treadmill and put on his headphones.

He works out for an hour and a half, sometimes an hour and 45. He trains all year round, whether he’s preparing for a role in a movie or not.

Eating Like a God

To prepare for the role, he followed a strict diet filled with large amounts of protein, fats and carbs so that he could be in the bets shape possible. He ate 6-7 times everyday to get enough protein to grow more muscle. His food was also precisely measured depending on what part of his body he was aiming on for a specific day. He also stressed the importance of nutrition and that his foods always had lots of veggies.

As mentioned above, for the movie Hercules, he was on a 22-week diet and he ate egg whites, chicken, fish, filet mignon, broccoli, baked potato, asparagus, oatmeal, salad, cream of rice and complex carbs. Each ingredient was measured and weighed.

Each meal had carbs and he also took glucosamine and lots of multi vitamins. He had chondroitin, glutamine, branched chain amino acids and a protein shake – all these were consumed daily and drank right after training.

Tips From The Rock That You Need to Know

One of the things you can learn from this guy is that he often tweaks his workout routine so it doesn’t get boring and so he can continue to push himself harder.

Moreover, one of the reasons why he’s so successful in achieving his desired physique is that he loves what he’s doing. The Rock looks forward to his training schedules and that when he works out, it makes him feel good which is a good motivator.

The legendary wrestler also explained that he trains smart especially now that he is in his 40s. He has a conditioning coach who has helped him significantly because when you’re older, you start to feel aches and pains in your body.

Drinking excessively is also a bad thing, according to Johnson. He only drinks a couple each night and would never get drunk. In fact, the last time he got drunk was back when he was in college!

He also says that to sustain a good diet and a very tough workout program, he treats himself every so often. He has a cheat day once every week and mind you, this guy knows how to have a cheat meal!

Lastly, he uses the pyramid training structure which basically means he starts his workouts with lower weights and higher reps. He will then increase the weight weekly but the reps will be lowered. By the time month #1 is done, he will again start with higher reps but this time, he will also have a higher starting weight.

If you aspire to have a rock solid body like The Rock, we hope this guide will serve as a good starting point for you. Good luck!