How to Stay Healthy on Those Busy Days You Can’t Make It to the Gym

Pain & Gain Workout Routine:

Dwayne Johnson’s Pain & Gain Training Split

Excerpt from interview: Q: Dwayne, what was your training like for this film? Rock: My routine for this film was training six times per week with George Farah. Many people who go on Bodybuilding.com know who my strength and conditioning coach is. I also have a training coach in Dave Ramsey. This was a hell of a prep. For a movie like this, that revolves around the world of bodybuilding and the culture of bodybuilding—that we love, by the way, and that we grew up on—the prep was a good 8-10 weeks, six workouts per week, training twice per day. I did my cardio in the morning.

Johnson hits the gym six days per week, usually focusing on one body part per day. At 40, he’s a seasoned, instinctive trainer. “I go by feel,” he says, and notes that when he’s in the gym it’s all business. “I have my headphones on. I’m listening to my music. I’m 100% focused. There’s no wasted time and no wasted effort when it comes to me and the weights.” And The Rock’s favorite body part? Legs, which is why he leaves them for Saturday when he has extra time to train them.

> 6 days on/1 day off rotation > Train Biceps and triceps the same day > Prefers 3 sets per exercise to the more traditional 4 > Trains calves 3 times per week

Dwayne Johnson’s workout is always evolving as he constantly tweaks it and tries new things. Typically, though, he likes to hit big muscle groups once a week and smaller muscles (biceps, triceps and calves) twice. For each set he starts with relatively high reps, about 15, and does fewer reps as he progresses to heavier weight. He performs a drop set on the last set of nearly every exercise. Rest periods are short (30–60 seconds) to maintain his conditioning.

The following is a typical shoulder workout; it takes about 1 3/4 hours from start to finish.

Warmup:

— 10-minute jog on the football field in the unforgiving Miami sun

— Internal- and external-rotation exercises with 5-pound dumbbells

 

Exercise Sets Reps Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press 3-5 10-15 Dumbbell or Barbell Front Raise 3-4 10-15 Lateral Raise 3-4 10-15 Bent-Over Lateral Raise or Reverse Pec-Deck Flye 3-4 10-15 Lateral Raise 3-4 20-25 Barbell Shrug 3-4 8-10 Heavy Dumbbell Shrug 3-4 10-12 (No drop set)

 

Arms

Legs Workout

—3 sets per exercise —15 reps – pyramid up in weight 3rd set being the heaviest

Exercise Sets Reps Squats 3 15 Single-Leg Leg press 3 15 Walking Lunges (20 steps w/dumbells) 3 15 Romanian Deadlift 3 15 Seated Leg Curls 3 15

 

Calves workout

—3 sets per exercise —25 reps

Exercise Sets Reps Leg Press Single-Leg Calf Raise 3 25 Standing Single-Leg Calf Raise w/dumbbells 3 25 Seated Calf Raise 3 25

 

Chest Workout

Week 1

 

Exercise Sets x Reps Muscle Group Dumbbell Incline Bench Press On Bench Both Arms 4 x 12 Chest Dumbbell Incline Bench Press On Bench Alternating Arms 4 x 12 Chest Laying On Incline Bench Dumbbell Flys Both Arms 4 x 15 Chest Dumbbell Bench Press On Bench Both Arms 4 x 12 Chest Dumbbell Bench Press On Bench Alternating Arms 4 x 12 Chest Standing Mid Cable Flys Both Arms 3 x 25 Chest

 

Week 2

 

Week 3

 

Exercise Sets x Reps Muscle Group Dumbbell Incline Bench Press On Bench Both Arms 4 x 8 Chest Dumbbell Incline Bench Press On Bench Alternating Arms 4 x 8 Chest Laying On Incline Bench Dumbbell Flys Both Arms 4 x 10 Chest Dumbbell Bench Press On Bench Both Arms 4 x 8 Chest Dumbbell Bench Press On Bench Alternating Arms 4 x 8 Chest Standing Mid Cable Flys Both Arms 3 x 15 Chest

 

Week 4

 

Exercise Sets x Reps Muscle Group Dumbbell Incline Bench Press On Bench Both Arms 4 x 6 Chest Dumbbell Incline Bench Press On Bench Alternating Arms 4 x 6 Chest Laying On Incline Bench Dumbbell Flys Both Arms 4 x 8 Chest Dumbbell Bench Press On Bench Both Arms 4 x 8 Chest Dumbbell Bench Press On Bench Alternating Arms 4 x 6 Chest Standing Mid Cable Flys Both Arms 3 x 12 Chest

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