Dave Rienzi, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s strength-and-conditioning coach, stated that Johnson’s physique for his leading part in DC’s “Black Adam” required nearly a year of rigorous training and nutrition.
Rienzi, who is also the cofounder of Johnson’s energy-drink brand ZOA, stated that for an already-ripped athlete like The Rock, gaining muscle while being thin requires time, a massive amount of calories and protein, and smart, tough exercises.
“Everyone wonders, ‘He’s already so fit, what more can you do?’” Rienzi told Insider. “He’s the only actor out there that, in real life, looks like a superhero.”
“We put a lot of emphasis on his proportions and symmetry, and we certainly wanted to add more muscle to his physique to achieve a comic-book appearance with three-dimensional muscle.”
The ‘Black Adam’ metamorphosis of The Rock took 18 months.
Johnson’s preparation for the film includes an entire year devoted to gaining mass, as muscle requires time to develop, followed by six months of muscular definition and leanness training. Rienzi did not state the desired increase in muscle mass.
Rienzi explained that Johnson’s desire to maintain his appearance while filming other films necessitated modest, steady growth in order to get an enormously muscular appearance without gaining excessive body fat.
“We can’t have wild volatility, so I took a longer-term view,” he explained.
His fat-burning phase included interval training and fasting cardio.
In order to enhance muscle growth, it is essential to consume more calories than you expend. While a result, it is nearly inevitable that you will gain some body fat as you grow muscle.
Rienzi had the Rock perform “fasted” cardio and use the StairMaster before breakfast in order to maintain his physique.
Closer to filming, he increased the intensity of his program by include 30-second sprint intervals followed by two minutes of steady work.
“That significantly increased fat burning,” Rienzi claimed.
He consumed between 4,000 and 6,000 calories each day during the process.
Johnson has previously stated that he consumes up to 6,000 calories per day on average. According to Rienzi, the final fat-burning phase of his diet for “Black Adam” featured over 4,000 calories and nearly 500 grams of protein per day to assist him maintain muscle mass while shedding fat.
The Rock required 5,000 calories per day to maintain his body while filming, and according to Rienzi, he rigorously monitored his caloric intake to stay on track.
According to Rienzi, Johnson consumes approximately seven meals per day in addition to post-workout supplements like as creatine.
“He often has a protein shake when leaving the gym, followed by a whole-food lunch approximately an hour later,” he said.
Johnson worked out nearly every day to build and preserve muscle mass.
Since The Rock is already enormous, according to Rienzi, the primary objective of his training was to give his muscles the correct proportions for a superhero, employing a workout split that devoted each of his six training days to a separate muscle group.
“When you look at a superhero in a comic book, they always have broad shoulders, a broad back, a small waist, and a round chest,” he explained. “We did a great deal of heavy back training to achieve the desired width and V-taper.”
Rienzi utilized static holds, negatives, and pause repetitions to enhance the difficulty and muscular strain in order to challenge an accomplished athlete like Johnson.
Maintaining his physique for filming presented the most difficulty.
Rienzi stated that the most difficult aspect of “Black Adam” training was maintaining The Rock’s size during filming.
“We did all that work in advance and had five to six months of filming to preserve his physique, which was really difficult given that he works 12-hour days,” he explained. We were in constant communication, adjusting his workouts and monitoring his diet.
In most cases, the shredded physiques you see on actors and bodybuilders are just for a brief “peak” period during filming or competition, as a super-lean and muscular appearance requires intense discipline that cannot be maintained for extended durations.
Johnson’s shirtless sequences in “Black Adam” were shot six weeks apart, according to Rienzi, needing him to look his best throughout. Despite the difficulty, the effort was profitable.
“Seeing the transition on-screen, the scenes are iconic, and I was blown away,” he stated.