One Man's Journey to Eat and Train Like the Rock for 30 Days

I love this, thank you for your story, I'm on a similar journey to transform from skinny to...monster.

That link doesn't really say much besides the fact that some highschool footballers, actors, and wrestlers take steroids.

> He probably will gain muscle, but with that amount of food, he will gain quite a bit of fat.

That's the strategy. Bulk and then cut.

He isn't doing this thinking he will become The Rock.

From http://rockingfor30days.com/why-im-eating-and-training-like-...

"I admire that level of discipline. And want to see if I can do it myself, if only for a month. This isn’t about the physical results a schedule like this might deliver. I have no grand plans to become huge or bulk up like The Rock. This is about testing whether I have the will and discipline to spend a month walking in the shoes of “the hardest worker in the room.”"

I like this thinking, it's good to challenge yourself sometimes, even in ways that might seem a bit crazy.

People have to lie about steroid etc (gear) use because it's illegal. It's dumb to admit to doing something illegal, especially if you're a celebrity and it'd be front page news. The world's best and biggest body builders publicly say all the time they don't use gear - it's just an accepted aspect of the community that you lie but everyone knows you're lying. No one who's ever read the smallest bit about body building actually believes they aren't using many substances. I am sure they are unhappy about having to lie, but they are asked constantly, even in TV appearances by people who should know better, whether they are using steroids etc. They have no choice.

You can also get a fairly decent gauge of what is possible without the use of steroids etc when you've been in the community long enough. Part of this is just through anecdotal experience of people you know to be truthful and part of it can be see in the "natural" body building competitions. They still have cheaters and people have used in the past, which skews what's possible to the slightly too-big side, so take the average of "slightly below average" professional natural body builders and you're looking at what's possible without steroids for the vast majority of people.

However, if Dwayne doesn't use gear he's a very gifted and dedicated bodybuilder. I would say his body is absolutely attainable without gear, but it's a ton of hard work and good genetics. He's big, but he's not huge, and he doesn't have any of the characteristic signs or muscle imbalances of a long term steroid etc user.

Being Samoan might help with size :)

But you're absolutely right, The Rock (and associated celebrities) are on gear. They also put in A LOT of work, time, blood, sweat and tears...but for that to translate into the types of results you see at the pace you see them at, you probably have to short circuit the natural process. They can put in extra effort and have it translate to results because the body is recovering unnaturally fast.

As big as The Rock, yes. His mom is Samoan. They are huge. If he didn't exercise like he did, he'd be as big as a sumo wrestler.

I feel like this kind of attitude stops people from achieving more, "Oh, I can never be like The Rock, so why bother, clearly he has more going for him, whatever..."

But don't let the lack of his genetics stop you! You are in control of your body and yes, your limits may not get you biceps as big as a thigh, but you will get stronger and more fit and be proud of your accomplishment. You will have more self-confidence for no other reason than believing in yourself enough to do it and succeed.

Like all things that are hard, people just give up. They don't have the vision to see it through.

Don't measure yourself by the achievements of Dwayne Johnson. He's a primo genetic specimen, physically and mentally, not all of us can be like that, but you can put in some hard work and become a better person, be more fit, stronger, and more powerful.

    > It's still hard work, of course

I think the hard work angle has a lot of mystique attached to it as well. Take a well-known study[0]:

10 week period:

    No exercise, no gear: no changes
    No exercise, on gear: 7 lbs of muscle added
    On exercise, no gear: 4 lbs of muscle added
    On exercise, on gear: 13lbs of muscle added

So it turns out that you can basically double the effects of working out really hard by just juicing. The whole "I juice, but I work out enough I'd be almost this big anyway" thing is unfactual.

[0] http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199607043350101

That's not honesty, it's assumption. Yes, they make huge amount of moneys, so there may be an incentive to "cheat". But there is also an incentive not to cheat. Getting caught cheating in that way destroys reputations and careers.

I used to bodybuild. I worked out 60-90 minutes 4-5 days a week. I ate around 3500 calories a day. My starting physique is naturally slim. I got up to 230 pounds with 9% body fat in about ten months. That was about half the working out and 70% of the eating that The Rock is doing.

With his workout and diet I could make 260 pounds. It's probably even easier for him as he's four inches taller than my 6'1".

IMO, not surprising at all. Note that he wasn't some random couch potato, but someone who had already been putting in the work of getting into good shape for (at least) two years prior according to the article. So for this guy, he was "just" adding a high-intensity subcycle to his existing training, a cycle which his body was able to adapt to. This is hardly an unusual pattern for those doing serious strength training.