During his Hercules diet, Dwayne Johnson got to feast like a warrior half-god. If you smelled what The Rock was cooking, you ‘d most likely get a whiff of white rice (he ate vats of the stuff).
The Rock has been kind enough to use the godly power of Instagram to share the diet plan and workout routine he followed while working on the Hercules movie. If you only work out for 30 minutes three times a week, it’s probably not a good idea to follow his diet plan – he ate seven meals a day that added up to a grand total of around 5000 calories. You aren’t going to get Herculean muscles if you don’t burn off most of that energy at the gym.
As you can see from The Rock’s Instagram graphic, the Hercules diet is a bit boring – it’s all lean protein and carbs that don’t come from bread. “It’s about getting enough protein to aid lean muscle growth, and everything is very precisely measured depending on what targets I’m looking to hit for that day,” Johnson told Bodybuilding.com.
The Rock followed the diet for 22 weeks, and he supplemented it with glucosamine, multivitamins, glutamine, amino acids, chondroitin, and a daily protein shake. The former wrestler views food as fuel, so he had no problem chopping up steak and mixing it with his oatmeal to create a rather bizarre breakfast.
According to Yahoo! Movies, Dwayne Johnson worked out six days a week to get the bod of a half-god. Most days he started working out at 3:30 a.m., and he did this for half a year. He told Access Hollywood that he did 35 minutes of cardio every morning. After working out, he would spend 12 grueling hours on the Hercules set.
Photo source: Instagram
If you’re interested in his full exercise routine, Johnson has posted all of his #TeamHercules weight workouts on Instagram. There are graphic charts for a back routine, a chest routine, an arm routine, a shoulder routine, and a leg routine.
Because his arms are so impressive, let’s look at how he gets those guns.
For his biceps, The Rock does trisets. These are three different exercises performed in a row with no rest in between (however, you do get to rest for a few minutes between each triset). Do four sets of the triset below, and do 12 reps of each exercise:
-Preacher curl with EZ curl bar
-Standing BB curl with the EZ bar
-Dumbbell curl
For his triceps, he does the triset below. Once again, do four sets of the triset, and do 12 reps of each exercise:
-Rope pushdown
-Rope overhead triceps extensions
-Triceps dips to failure
Just be forewarned that this workout might be a bit much for beginners. Just don’t start out with too much weight, and really pay attention to your form. If you don’t know how to do some of the exercises above, you can always consult YouTube. However, it’s definitely best to work with a trainer.