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'I tried The Rock's insane 50-set workout and it took me over 1.5 hours to finish'

training like the rock
'I tried The Rock's insane 50-set workout'

She's the workout trying YouTuber who doesn't shy from a challenge and one of Lucy Davis' biggest accomplishments is smashing Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's 50-set back and biceps workout. Woof. When you take into account that most strength training workouts are between 12 and 24 sets long, 50-sets is, in a word, madness.

And, while we know Dwayne Johnson loves to throw the heavy stuff around (thinking here of course about his famous mantra of always being the 'hardest working person in the room') Davis' task is no small feat, something she recognises at the beginning of the video, asking herself, 'Am I looking forward to it? Not really.'

However, not one to let a little thing like nerves stop her, Davis headed into the gym, equipped with her tripod, camera, mic and pre-workout supplement, and set to work.

Getting started

Jumping straight in, Davis gets going with the back portion of the workout – this is done before the bicep-focused second half.

A mix of rowing and pulling back exercises Davis works through V-bar lat pulldowns, a variation of single-arm rows (with different positioning), low cable rows, lat pulldowns and back extensions.

As she nears the end of the back section, she's met with a 7-set superset. To put that into context, you would normally repeat a superset (two exercises) paired together three to four times.

'7-sets [superset] of 8-10 reps of lat pulldowns into back extensions with the last three sets to failure. That is 14-sets. That's basically a whole workout,' she half laughs, half grimaces.

Popping back on camera halfway through she gives herself a mini-pep talk, asserting that she's 'gotta [sic] do what The Rock's gotta do.'

Starting to flag

Finishing the back portion of the workout, Davis says she's been exercising for 65 minutes total so far, anticipating that the entire workout will take her 1 hour 40 probably to wrap up.

Then, it's time for the bicep work. Multiple curls (free weights and gym machine), all designed to target the bicep muscle from different directions. Davis, starting to flag, changes some of the double-arm exercises to single-arm unilateral exercises because she's fighting to get both weights up towards the end of the movement.

Wrap up

'I got really lethargic after the back [portion]', she says afterwards, visibly exhausted and speaking from her car and displaying the total workout time which ended up being 1 hour 36. 'I am so freaking tired, this is why he eats so much as well, obviously.'

Would she try the workout again? She doesn't say. What is for sure though is that The Rock's training schedule is super, super serious.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's 50-set back and biceps workout breakdown

Here's the full breakdown of the workout Davis sweat all the way through. It is long. If you're going to attempt it, break it down into 3, maybe 4, different workouts. Proceed with caution.

Back

  • Exercise 1: V-Bar Lat Pulldown (4 sets x 8–12 reps)

  • Exercise 2: Barbell Bent-Over Row (4 sets x 8–12 reps) Hold the bar for 2 seconds at your belly button for the last 4 reps

  • Exercise 3A: Single-Arm Dumbbell Row to Lower Hip (2 sets x 8–12 reps)

  • Exercise 3B: Single-Arm Dumbbell Row to Upper Ribcage (2 sets x 8–12 reps)

  • Exercise 4: Low Cable Row (3 sets x 8–10 reps use a V-bar)

  • Exercise 5A: Lat Pulldowns (7 sets of 8–10 reps)

  • Exercise B: Back Extensions (7 sets of 8–10 reps) Do the last 3 sets to failure

Biceps

  • Exercise 6: Low Cable Curls (7 sets x 8–12 reps) Rest 30 seconds between sets

  • Exercise 7: Machine Preacher Curls (3 sets x 8–12 reps Do 4 partial reps at the end of the last 2 sets

  • Exercise 8: Front Double Bicep Curls - 3 sets x 10–15 reps

  • Exercise 9: Preacher Curls - 3 sets x 8–12 reps

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