Various celebrities have their own quirks about working out, with custom regimes to suit their needs. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson happens to be a bit unique in that case since from wrestling to Hollywood hasn’t changed his intensity of workouts. Dr. Mike Israetel recently came across his leg day video and dissected it to understand his routine.
Johnson had recently uploaded an uncut and unedited version of his leg day workout where he went through every single exercise for the camera. Dr. Israetel primarily wanted to see his techniques, the kind of exercises he had included, and how the intensity would work for him.
Given that Johnson was 51 years old, he was already impressed by his physique and strength while performing exercises. However, the lack of range of motion in several instances made Dr. Israetel curious about the possibility of an injury history.
Leg Circuit
The first exercise was on an Arsenal leg press where Johnson took alternate turns with his legs to press weights. The exercise scientist immediately pointed out that while he wasn’t against alternating, Johnson could use some greater pressure by positioning his legs lower on the machine.
The next exercise machine was where Dr. Israetel lost his cool since he thought the vertical leg press machine, intended to improve back posture, was not useful for a good pump to the legs.
Lunges
Once again, he disapproved of Johnson’s technique during lunges since he refrained from going all the way down for a good burn. He guessed that the former wrestler may have sustained knee injuries that were preventing him from going deeper, and while he may obtain some benefits, the maximum potential would show up only if he did it correctly.
Belt Squats
Johnson moved on to performing wide-legged belt squats where he positioned his legs far apart while working with heavy weights. Although Dr. Mike Israetel wasn’t opposed to this technique, he firmly believed that one could achieve better results if the feet were placed closer, toes pointed outwards, and one could go for a deeper squat.
“They’ve done multiple studies recently on which part of the range of motion grows more muscle. They’ve had studies that have taken the top half of a range of motion…compare that to a full range of motion…and typically, full range of motion beats top half by a mile.”
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Dr. Mike Israetel reveals how to put on size
Amidst Johnson’s intense circuit training, Dr. Israetel realized that one might benefit more from a better training plan if one did not have a physique or genetics like the former wrestler. He suggested a plan to help with muscle growth as the ultimate goal.
- Pick 1-2 exercises/muscles to work on
- Keep performing those exercises by including multiple sets
- Increase reps/load slowly, subtracting if necessary for timely recovery
The two sides of fatigue
Going through an intense workout has to tire an individual out, even if it is someone like ‘The Rock’ who is used to it. However, the results of exercising and pushing beyond fatigue hold great results. Both he and Dr. Israetel agreed upon the notion that if one could take a break and hit the metrics of the workout, the results would be promising.
“Tired is not a cutoff for your workout unless you actually think you’re so tired you can’t hit the weights for the reps for the sets that you need. And then hey! Day off, recovery day.”
All in all, Dr. Israetel wasn’t completely against Dwayne Johnson’s workout since it seemed to be functional for him. However, he wanted fitness enthusiasts to focus more on technique and posture to get good results.
