NO ONE GRINDS in the gym quite like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Johnson has built his hulking physique through years of relentless training, pushing an intensity most of us would struggle to comprehend. Still, I wanted to find out just how tough his sessions really are by trying one for myself.
For his WWE comeback and in preparation for GI Joe: Retaliation in 2013, Johnson began training with Aaron Williamson. Looking to shake things up, Williamson introduced new movement patterns and training sequences, removing much of the guesswork around what Johnson needed to do to get back into fighting shape.
On push days, that meant completing a brutal 30 sets across nine exercises. Williamson pushed the Hollywood star to his limits in the gym – and here’s what happened when I attempted one of those workouts.
The workout
A. Push-Up x 3 sets of 10 reps
B. Incline Hammer Press x 3 sets of 10 reps
C. Weighted Dip x 3 sets of 12-15 reps
D. Incline Cable Crossover x 3 sets of 12-15 reps
E. Leaning Single-Arm Lateral Raise x 4 sets of 10 reps (each arm)
F. Shoulder Press x 4 sets of 10-12 reps
G. Bus Driver x 3 sets of 12 reps
H. Tricep Extension x 4 sets of 10-12 reps
I. Tricep Pushdown x 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Is it worth trying?
By the end, I could definitely smell what The Rock was cooking. My shoulders, in particular, felt like they’d been on the receiving end of the People’s Elbow, having taken a beating across most of the nine exercises.
The damage really set in during the middle of the session. After decent front-delt activation from weighted dips and incline cable crossovers, the leaning single-arm lateral raises were where things started to get truly uncomfortable. It’s an exercise I both loved and hated. Stripping away momentum forced me to lift purely through the middle delt, which had even more work to do thanks to the leaning position. As someone who often struggles to feel lateral raises in the intended muscle, this was a genuine game-changer.
Shoulder presses then piled on the pressure. With my front delts already pre-fatigued from chest-focused movements, every set became a grind. And that was before tackling the bus drivers. They’re an interesting alternative movement, but only for the first few reps. By reps eight, nine and ten, simply holding your arms straight out in front of you feels punishing, even before adding the rotational element.
That focused assault on the delts followed four exercises aimed primarily at the chest. Personally, I would’ve liked to see a slightly different exercise order. I think I’d have got more out of the push-ups if they were placed later in the workout, rather than at the start when three sets of 10 felt fairly comfortable. I also didn’t have access to an incline hammer press machine, so I substituted a standard chest press instead. It worked well enough and targets a similar pattern, though it’s not exactly what The Rock uses to build his chest.
The weighted dips, meanwhile, took things up another notch. It’s a lift I’ve always enjoyed, thanks to the mechanical tension you can generate when controlling the movement properly. Stretching the chest at the bottom while also hitting the front delts and triceps made them a real standout, with the incline cable crossovers adding a nice finishing touch for the upper chest.
Rounding things off with additional arm work felt welcome, even though the triceps had already been heavily involved throughout. I did have to make one more substitution here, swapping the hammer MTS machine extensions for lying dumbbell tricep extensions, simply because my gym didn’t have the right equipment.
Overall, this is a workout I’d recommend trying. Just be prepared to set aside some time. If you’re looking for a quicker session, dropping the push-ups or one of the tricep isolation exercises will help speed things up. And if you don’t fancy declaring war on your front delts, removing one shoulder movement won’t hurt, given how much work they already do during pressing exercises.
How to do the movements
Push-Up
Begin in the high plank position with your hands a little wider than your shoulders. Focus on keeping your shoulders away from your ears with your core engaged and your entire body locked. Lower your chest towards the ground with your elbows below your shoulders, creating an arrow shape with your body. Explosively push the floor away from you until you fully extend your arms. Repeat.
Incline Hammer Press
With your back firmly pressed against a chest press machine, grip the handles and engage your core. Press the handles to extension as you exhale but keep the shoulder blades tight. Repeat.
Weighted Dip
Jump up on two parallel bars or gymnastics rings with your palms facing inward and your arms straight. Place a dumbbell between your legs or use a weighted dip belt to add extra weight. Slowly lower until your elbows are at right angles, ensuring they don’t flare outward. Drive yourself back up to the top and repeat.
Incline Cable Crossover
Attach stirrup handles to the pulleys of a cable crossover machine, at a low height. Take one in each hand – your arms should be outstretched in line with your thighs. Place one foot slightly forward, brace you core, and pull the handles upwards, crossing in front of your face. Then return to the start position and repeat
Leaning Single-Arm Lateral Raise
Hold a dumbbell in one hand at your side. With the other arm, hold onto a rack or something solid for support and lean sideways away from the rack. Avoiding momentum from the hips, raise your dumbbell laterally until parallel to the ground. Pause here before slowly lowering the dumbbell back to your side. Repeat. Perform equal reps on both sides.
Shoulder Press
Stand with feet hip-width apart, glutes lightly engaged, ribs stacked. Bring the bar or dumbbells to shoulder height with forearms vertical. Think: elbows slightly forward, knuckles to the ceiling. Lock the ribcage over the pelvis – don’t let your lower back arch. Move your head slightly back to clear the bar, then return to neutral as the weight passes your face. Fully extend your arms overhead, with biceps close to ears, shoulder blades rotated upward. Think: grow tall at the top. Bring the weight back to the shoulders without collapsing posture.
Bus Driver
Stand upright with your body braced and holding a single plate with both hands. Raise your arms so they’re parallel to the floor, straight out in front of you. From there, rotate the plate as far clockwise, then as far anti-clockwise, as you can manage. That’s one rep. Continue in this motion for the desired number of reps before slowly lowering the plate back to the start.
Tricep Extension
Lie flat on a bench or the floor with a pair of dumbbells locked out overhead. Bend at the elbows, slowly lowering the bells towards your head while keeping your upper arms locked in place. Stop just short of the bells touching the floor before extending back up explosively. Repeat.
Tricep Pushdown
Attach a bar or rope to the high pulley of a cable station. Bend your arms and, if using a bar, grab it with an overhand grip and so that your hands are shoulder-width apart. Tuck your upper arms next to your sides. Without moving your upper arms, push the bar or rope down until your elbows are locked. Slowly return to the starting position.
This article originally appeared on Men’s Health UK.
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