Dave Rienzi, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s strength-and-conditioning coach, stated that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s physique for his leading role in DC’s “Black Adam” was “taken to a whole other level” with intensive sessions meant to pack on muscle.
Rienzi told Insider that he utilized certain ways to create muscular stress throughout each workout in order to maximize Johnson’s development.
Rienzi, who is also the cofounder of Johnson’s energy-drink brand ZOA, stated that techniques such as slowing down each movement, holding a muscle contraction, and stretching the muscle can assist grow muscle while preventing injury.
“The mentality I have now isn’t about lifting the most weight; it’s about how I can stress the muscle maximally with a specific weight while attempting to minimise the load on the joints,” he explained.
Pause reps increase muscle tension, resulting in superior growth.
In order to make The Rock even larger, Rienzi instructed him to pause at the peak of each lift, compressing the muscles to generate stress and stimulate additional growth.
“Contracting as arduously as possible at each peak allows you to advance to the next level,” stated Rienzi.
Progressive overload refers to the notion of continually straining the muscles during strength training.
According to Rienzi, you can raise the difficulty of an exercise by adding more weight or repetitions, but that is not the only way to achieve results. According to him, slowing down an activity might make your muscles work harder, causing them to expand. To maintain proper form, you may need to lift somewhat less weight, but the workout should feel at least as difficult.
“Lifting a bit lighter weight with slower, more controlled movements can actually make the muscles work harder and reduce joint pain,” he explained.
Negative repetitions accentuate the extending or lowering phases of a workout.
A crucial component of The Rock’s “Black Adam” training, according to Rienzi, was an undervalued exercise technique known as negatives.
Negatives involve the component of the exercise in which the muscle lengthens, also known as an eccentric contraction, which, according to research, is optimal for muscle building.
Examples include the descent portion of a pull-up or push-up, or extending your arm by your side when the weight is lowered during a bicep curl.
Rienzi stated, “I enjoy negatives. The mental aspect of negatives is that you’re thinking about controlling the weight or fighting the weight on the way down. You’re expending more effort.” According to me, this is one of the most effective strategies.
Static holds assist in safely increasing the difficulty of a movement.
Rienzi also put The Rock to work by having him perform static holds under tension, a type of muscle contraction known as isometric exercise in which a weight is held in a fixed position while battling gravity.
For instance, a set of bicep curls could consist of alternating sides with one arm curling and the other arm gripping a dumbbell at a 90-degree angle.
A key advantage of isometric or static exercise is that it can be easier on the joints because the joint angle does not change during the movement. However, according to Rienzi, you should still do full-range-of-motion workouts for other benefits, such as mobility.
Using a range of workout options can help you achieve the best outcomes for your body and your goals, as long as you maintain the appropriate intensity, he said.
“The key to achieving results is to exert as much effort as possible within the rep range you’re working,” Rienzi added.