Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – Pain & Gain
(as reported in Muscle and Fitness Magazine)
Day 1: Shoulders
Machine Press - 3 sets of 21 reps
DB Lateral Raise ss w/ Front DB Raise - 3 sets of 8 reps
Cable Bent Over Reverse Flyes - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Bent Over Rows - 5 sets (12-10-8-6-4 reps)
Hammer Strength Shrugs - 5 sets (12-10-8-6-4 reps)
4-Way Neck Machine - 4 sets of 12 reps each direction
Day 2: Back
Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns - 5 sets (12-10-8-6-4 reps)
Close Grip Lat Pulldowns - 5 sets (12-10-8-6-4 reps)
One Arm Machine Row - 4 sets of 12 reps
Hyperextensions - 4 sets (15-15-12-12 reps)
Day 3: Off
Day 4: Legs
Leg Press - 4 sets (25-20-18-16 reps)
Smith Machine Lunges - 4 sets of 8 reps
Leg Curls - 4 sets (12-10-8-6 reps)
Standing Calf Raises - 6 sets of 6 reps
Day 5: Arms
Dumbbell Curls - 5 sets (12-10-8-6-4 reps)
Machine Curls - 6 sets (12-10-8-6-21-21 reps)
Cable Tricep Extensions - 5 sets (12-10-8-6-20 reps)
Overhead Cable Triceps Extensions - 4 sets (12-10-8-20 reps)
One Arm Reverse Grip Cable Tricep Extensions - 2 sets of 15 reps
Day 6: Chest
Incline Dumbbell Presses - 5 sets (12-10-8-6-4 reps)
Dumbbell Bench Presses - 5 sets (12-10-8-6-4 reps)
Cable Crossover ss w/ Pushups - 4 sets of 12 reps
Pushups - 4 sets of 15 reps
Day 7: Off
THE DIRECTOR’S “CUTS”
L et’s fa ce it...th e “R oc k” is a b east in th i s mo vi e...an d has cl early ta ken
his d evelo p ment to l ev els h e has NEVER di spla y ed b efor e. No w, do I thin k
that this r ep ort ed ro utin e is 100 % r esp ons ibl e for th e n ear ly 50 lbs o f
mus cl e h e ad d ed? U mmm...no. L et’s just say I w oul dn’t ex p ec t th ese
typ es o f g ains fro m di et and tr ainin g a lon e. Tha t sai d, what ever your
thoughts on his trans for mation may b e, t her e is n o d en ying t hat th is guy
trains his ever lo vin g ass o ff ev ery ti me h e wor ks out. You s i mp ly cann ot
mat ch h is int ens ity a nd c ertain ly c annot a ppr eciat e it fro m l oo king at
ex er cis es writt en on a p i ec e of pa p er ! F o r exa mp le, any on e c an d o 5 s ets
of du mbb el l b enc h pr ess es in pyra mi d fas hion...but ho w man y can tru ly
treat ea ch one as i f it’s th e l ast s et th ey ’ll EVE R do in a g y m? Th e
“Ro ck ” d o es. An d to me, it’s th is l ev el o f ani ma list ic int ensit y that
transfor ms t ex t into tremen dous g ains. I t’s this ty p e o f fo cus tha t I
al ways try to en cour ag e fro m my athl et es and th ose fol lo win g th e
A THLE A N-X progra m, kn ow ing th at th e tra deo ff o f vo lu me for i ntens ity is
al ways goi ng to pro du ce more c onsist ent a nd reli abl e g ains and tru mp th e
min utes you can sp en d in a gy m.
In ter ms of th e sp lit itsel f, I ’ m a ctua ll y a fan o f in di vi dua l mus cl e
group tra inin g...as lon g as th e ex er cis es r ema in fun ction al and pu ll
mu lti pl e mus cl es into a ct ion (at least as stabil iz ers or in t he r ol es th ey
are meant t o p la y) an d h er e I th ink it fa ll s a bit short. For instan c e, th e
“Ro cks ” reli an ce on ma chi ne cur ls o ver b a rbel l curls an d l eg pr ess es o v er
squats or s ingl e l eg s quats sho ws more o f a “bo dybui l ding ” int ent th an an
athl eti c on e. Wh at h el ps h im ho w ev er is that his “ oth er” job as a
wrest l er d emands fun cti on...and h is in -ring ski ll wor k co mpl i ments wh at
ma y b e l ac kin g in th e gy m t o for m a co mpr eh ensi v e atta c k. Prob l em is... we
aren’t al l W WE wrest l ers!!
Also w orth not ing, ev en t hough his s et v o lu mes ar e a bit on th e h igh si d e
for my pr efer en c e...the “Ro c k” is c arefu l to stil l r esp ect th e i mport anc e
of r est an d r ec ov ery (s ch edu lin g 2 off da y s a w eek o f train ing and onl y
training eac h musc l e grou p at this h igh in tensit y just on c e per w eek).
Can’t und erstat e th e i mp ortan ce o f this enough.
Al l in al l, as I sa id...a bit too “bo dybui l der-es qu e”, but co mp ensat ed for
w el l by th e extremely phys ic al n atur e o f t he “ oth er” stu ff h e is r equ ired
to do eith er in th e r ing or on th e s et o f y et an oth er a ction mov i e.
Becaus e o f t his, it ’s just not th at pr act i ca l o f an ap proa ch or ev en th e
most str ea mlin ed or effi ci ent a p proa ch fo r those loo k ing to mast er the
blen d o f athl et ic mus c l e A N D p er for man c e with out ha vin g to worr y about
what n i ckn a me you’r e goin g to us e an d wh at attir e y ou’r e go ing t o wear
wh en y ou g et ca ll ed out t o th e ring ! An d esp eci al ly n ot wh en you c an d o
both in just th e t i me you sp en d d oing you r wor kouts with A THLEA N -X!
Mark Wahlberg – Pain & Gain
(as reported in Muscle and Fitness Magazine)
Day 1: Legs, Back and Biceps
Dumbbell Lunge - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Leg Curls - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Squats - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Bent Over Rows - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Pullups - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Barbell Curls - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Day 2: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Bench Press - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Incline DB Bench Press - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Skullcrushers - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Cable Triceps Extension - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Seated Arnold Press - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Cable Crossovers - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Push Ups - 3 to Failure
Day 3: Legs, Biceps
Dumbbell Lunge - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Leg Curls - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Squats - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Barbell Curls - 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Day 4: Off
Day 5: Off
Day 6: Repeat Day 1
Day 7: Repeat Day 2
Day 8: Repeat Day 3
THE DIRECTOR’S “CUTS”
I ha ve to a d mit...I r ea ll y don’t get this on e! I mean I lo ve cr eat iv e
training sp lits an d esp eci al ly li k e to un d er stand th e rat iona l e b ehin d th em
but this on e h as me c o mp letely puzz l ed !
First o f al l, in t his s et u p, M ark wou l d be hitting his legs an d bi c eps 4
times ev ery 8 da ys! That means h e is trai ning th es e musc l es 178 ti mes a
year! Th ank Go d for th ose “o ff “ da ys hu h??
Th en, on “shou ld er da y”...outsi d e o f th e 4 sets o f Arno ld Pr esses, wh at
els e is b eing don e for th em dir ectl y? It’s the cl assi c “ p ecs affecti on”
wh en it co mes t o push ing mus c les that fi nds hi m ju mpin g ba ck into 7
mor e s ets o f ch est tra ining (a ft er th e 8 h e di d to ki ck o ff th e w ork out)
just in c ase h e d idn’t pu mp th em u p enou gh!
Thro w i n th e fa ct that h e avo ids ba ck tr ai ning on th e s econ d o f h is t wo
“L egs /Ba c k an d B ic eps” days...an d it w on’t be long b efor e th e front t o
bac k i mb alan c es start t o p il e u p an d thos e shou l ders b eg in to feel t he
brunt of th is p ostura l mis mat ch !
No w it’s not a ll b ad news h ow ev er, as I d o li k e th e “ push” / “ pul l”
group ing o f mus cl es as this sh ows mor e of a fu nct iona l a ppr oa ch to
training. As you kno w, to mini miz e o vertr a ining you’ d want t o grou p
simil arl y pur pos ed musc l es tog eth er (or a t least not on ba ck to ba c k
days) s in ce t he a mount o f c arryo v er fro m one t o th e oth er is high. In
other wor ds, wh en y ou’r e train ing your ba ck...y our bi c eps are h eav il y
invo lv ed in assist ing with al most ev ery ex ercis e. I don ’t c are i f it’s
chinu ps, b ent o v er ro ws or on e arm rows. Exp ecting that you’ ll b e abl e
to turn aroun d th e n ext da y an d hit your b ic eps w ith a v engan c e (pro vi d ed
you l eft it a ll in th e g y m th e d ay b efor e) i s li ke assu min g that you’ v e got
the r ecov er y abi lit y o f “ TE D” fro m a wi ck ed hang ov er !
Botto m lin e, whi l e I c erta inl y d on’t b el i ev e that this s ch edul e is on e that
Mar k Wah lber g us es CO NS IS TE N TLY, as a year l ong a ppr oa ch to tr ainin g,
I c an't d eny th e r esul ts wh i ch l eads me t o beli eve t his progra m is eith er
sort of wh at h e d id or it w as cr eat ed by someon e wh o ha d d et er min ed in
adv an ce wh at Marks ' exist ing mus cu lar i mb alan c es wer e and t ai lor ed a
progra m t o suit t hem. Th is w ork out DOE S hi ghl ight a n i mportant po int
though. Wor kouts li k e this grac e t he r ac k s of magaz in es stan ds
ev er ywh er e. An unin for med read er ma y r ea d this an d thin k h e sho ul d train
that w ay t oo. Th e resu lts wou ld be l ess than i deal ho wev er as a n
unbalan c ed pro gra m su ch as th is wi ll cr ea te an u nbal anc ed bo dy. W ith
Athl ean-X w e stri v e for tota l bo dy d ev elo p ment an d o v eral l at hl eti c is m.
