The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) made waves on the web when he revealed the exact “12 Labors Diet” and Hercules workout plan he followed for the movie Hercules.
Should you seriously consider joining #TeamHercules?
Maybe…maybe not.
I’ll get to the pros and cons of this routine in just a second. But first, in case you missed it, here are the details of his routine:
The Rock’s Morning Routine
The Rock got his day started off with a bang:
- Wake up at 3-4 am (after about 5 hours of sleep)
- Do 30-45 minutes of cardio (6 days a week)
- Lift weights for 90 minutes (6 days a week)
- Get in costume and spend the day shooting
There might have been a meal in there between the cardio & lifting, but no matter how you chalk it up: this is a demanding routine. Doing cardio AND intense lifting 6 days a week, with only 5 hours of sleep, is a recipe for overtraining.
On top of that, after this he would spend all day shooting a movie—which adds up to a lot of extra activity and calories burned.
How did he get the energy for all this exercise? Well that leads us to…
The Rock’s Hercules Diet
These are the pics that Dwayne posted on Twitter of his “12 Labors Diet.” He ate about 7 meals a day, which works out to one every 2-3 hours.
While shooting the film, he actually had his own chef prepare all 7 meals inside a container so he could easily microwave them before shoveling them into his mouth.
He even had the meat pre-cut to make it as fast & easy to eat as possible.
The Rock’s Hercules Workout Plan
Here are the pics Dwayne posted of his workouts. By all indications, he lifted weights for 90 minutes or so, 6 days per week. Yikes.
Leg Day:
Back Day:
Chest Day:
Arm Day:
Shoulder Day:
What’s He Doing Here?
First of all, let’s put this into context: this is a routine that Dwayne did for about 6 months for a movie. This isn’t meant to be a sustainable, lifelong routine. The guy just wanted to look jacked for Hercules.
And wouldn’t you?
So the fact that he slept only 5 hours a night wasn’t a choice. Instead, he had to spend all day shooting—and the only way to get in his workouts was to get up at the buttcrack of dawn.
As mentioned, 5 hours of sleep is not even close to sufficient for a routine like this. So he made up for this lack of sleep by getting his energy elsewhere:
From his diet.
My guess is those 5,000 calories per day are helping to make up for an exhausting day and a big sleep deficit.
Both the workout routine and the diet remind me a lot of your typical bodybuilding routine:
- Lots of calories, and LOTS of protein (like 500+ grams)
- Eating frequent smaller meals (every 2-3 hours or so)
- High-volume workouts with very specific splits
What’s GOOD About The Rock’s Hercules Workout & Diet?
Here are a few things I like about this routine (specifically, the diet):
It’s clean.
In fact, it’s almost 100% paleo. The Hercules diet consists almost entirely of lean meats, veggies, and rice.
It’s low-fat.
Only 18% of his calories came from fat; 38% came from carbs and 44% from protein.
I’m not saying that fat is bad. In fact, I think fat is a very healthy macronutrient (especially when it comes from good sources like EVOO, coconut oil, avocados, etc.). Recent research is pretty clear that fat, even saturated fat, is NOT the artery-clogger we used to think it was.
But when you’re training hard and trying to stay (or become) lean, then fat is usually the macronutrient that needs to go. It’s the first macro on the chopping block, as it were, because when you’re working out intensely then your body needs more protein & carbs than it needs fat.
You still need some fat (like for hormonal reasons), just not as much. And keep in mind that while this is a low-fat diet percentage-wise (18%), he’s actually eating quite a bit of fat. Almost 1,000 calories’ worth.
It’s focused.
Here’s how Dwayne Johnson describes his experience working at at 4am:
I start working out pretty early, around 4 a.m. When I’m filming, I do cardio and I lift before going to set. I train about six days a week, and even when I’m not filming I get up between 3 and 5 a.m. just to train. I love training when the sun is coming up because it allows me to put on my headphones and step off the crazy treadmill that is everyone’s life… Working out anchors my day. For me, training is my meditation, my yoga, hiking, biking, therapy all rolled into one.
Rock on, The Rock.
I love this. So many people treat working out like a chore. They “HAVE to go to the gym” and “FORCE themselves to use the elliptical for half an hour.”
It shouldn’t be like that.
At its best, working out should feel like meditation. You’re 100% focused. In the groove. The outside world barely registers. You’re in touch with your body at a very primal, physical level. And all your effort goes into every rep.
What’s BAD About the Rock’s Hercules Workout?
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Here’s what I don’t like about this routine:
It’s a 5-day split.
A 5-day split like this (back, chest, arms, shoulders, and legs x2) means that you’re in the gym almost every day. And each workout absolutely BLASTS that muscle group, so much that many natural lifters out there will have a hard time recovering from such muscle fiber devastation.
Advanced lifters like the Rock can make gains on these kinds of workouts, but that doesn’t mean you should try it at home. I recommend using no more than 3 splits. For example:
- Beginners – 1 split (full-body workouts)
- Intermediate – 2 splits (upper body & lower body)
- Advanced – 3 splits (push, pull, & chest)
This is ESPECIALLY true if you’re keeping calories low to lose bodyfat.
It’s high-volume.
A chest day with 18 sets?
That’s what you call high-volume.
The problem with uber-high volume workouts like this is that your chest will be fried before you’re even halfway done with the workout. And the last half of your workout won’t give you much benefit, because you won’t be able to lift heavy enough weights.
High-volume routines like this work for bodybuilders (with the help of massive calories and steroids), but for natural lifters like you and me it’s just too much.
Instead, focus on fewer sets—and go heavy with them.
This will build that dense, hard muscle that makes you look lean & ripped (not bloated and squishy).
It’s not sustainable.
To be fair, the Rock’s Hercules workout was never meant to be sustainable.
But that doesn’t mean that thousands of ambitious guys around the world won’t “join Team Hercules” and try to make this part of their way of life.
There’s even a story out there of a guy who tried copying the Rock’s routine. He ended up spending:
- $1,262 on food
- 2 hours & 20 minutes per day eating
- 90 minutes per day prepping food
- 2 hours working out per day
That adds up to $42 and almost 6 hours per day.
Can you imagine?
“The biggest thing with the eating is the interruption of your day,” Mark Webster (the guy who tried eating like the Rock) said. “Every few hours, you have to stop and eat again.”
Kudos to Dwayne for having the discipline to stick with this routine for a full 6 months (although you’d be disciplined too if you were making millions as a movie star), but even he found this to be a strenuous program.
In fact, this 6-month program was so strict that Dwayne ended it with an epic cheat meal:
Should You Follow The Rock’s Hercules Workout & Diet?
In a word, no.
The Hercules workout was made for one very specific purpose: to help an already-jacked actor look his best for a role.
In the end, it’s very similar to the bodybuilding routines that have been proven, time and time again, to be ineffective for 99% of natural lifters.
But while you shouldn’t be in a rush to join Team Hercules, you can learn a few things from this routine:
Bulking does not include Doritos.
How many guys use “bulking” as an excuse to eat whatever they want?
(I’ve been guilty of this myself. For sure.)
But Dwayne ate 5,000 calories a day…of 100% clean food.
THAT’S how you get jacked.
Temporary diets & routines DO have a place.
Just because the Rock’s Hercules workout & diet isn’t a sustainable program, that doesn’t mean you couldn’t come up with a similar routine to get you in shape for an important event:
- A wedding
- A beach vacation
- A sports season
- A photo shoot
With discipline & focus, you can achieve some impressive things.
Can we just stop for a second and recognize what this man accomplished?
5 hours of sleep… 2+ hours of exercise… 5,000 calories… Daily… For over 6 months…
All while shooting a major Hollywood action movie.
So if there’s one thing you should take away from the Rock’s “12 Labors Diet” and workout plan, it’s not the exact plan that he followed…but rather the focus and determination that allowed him to achieve such a lofty goal.
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