What Does Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Eat Every Day?
Here’s how the Black Adam star keeps his superhero physique on — and off — screen.
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Six to eight thousand — that’s the usual number of calories Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson eats in a day. To the average individual, that might seem like a lot, but when you take into account his rather vigorous exercise routine — the former pro-wrestler typically works out 5 to 6 times a week for about 3 to 4 hours daily — it totally makes sense. It’s also why his casting as the title character in the brand-new motion picture Black Adam is just about as perfect as it gets.
Set to hit theaters on Friday, October 21st, the film is already receiving a ton of buzz for "ushering in a new era of the DC universe." Described by the film’s director, Jaume Collet-Serra as a "Dirty Harry-kind of character" who deals out his own "sense of justice and morality," Black Adam isn’t your typical superhero. In fact, most people, including Johnson himself, would say he’s more of an anti-hero. The film, which took about 10 years to make, also gives movie-goers the first-ever glimpse of the Justice Society of America, which consists of Atom Smasher, played by Noah Centineo, Hawkman, played by Aldis Hodge, Cyclone, played by Quintessa Swindell and Doctor Fate, played by Pierce Brosnan, respectively.
While we’ll leave the movie's overall plot as a surprise for you, we will say this: The Rock’s commitment to, and passion for, the project is truly something to be commended. In an Instagram post from last year, Johnson revealed he wanted to "raise the bar" in terms of Black Adam’s overall physicality. In another one, he shared that he’s been "training and conditioning unlike any other role of [his] entire career." If the movie’s newest trailer is any indication, he’s certainly gone above and beyond achieving that goal.
If you’re wondering what one eats when they’re busy transforming into a larger-than-life superhero, we might have some insight. One of our editors even ate and trained like The Rock for an entire day! After digging through numerous articles, interviews and social media posts, here’s what The Rock might be eating during this time.
A Breakfast of (WWE) Champions
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As we already mentioned above, The Rock typically eats between six to eight thousand calories a day. In terms of food consumed, that can range anywhere from five to seven different meals. Though we can’t say for certain what The Rock is cooking (OG WWE fans will know exactly what we mean by this), we do feel confident saying his go-to "power breakfast" consists of some combination of eggs, plain oatmeal or cream of rice cereal, grilled bison and English muffins smeared with a overly generous amount of peanut butter. Something you won’t find listed on The Rock’s breakfast order — coffee. He instead chooses to chase his first meal of the day with his own line of Zoa energy drinks. The brand’s cherry limeade flavor seems to be The Rock's new go-to fav.
So Nice, He Eats It Twice!
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Since he exercises so many times a day, The Rock burns calories faster than your average person. Hence, he needs to eat more in order to stay adequately charged, energized and fueled. Enter: the "second breakfast." According to this 2021 article from Men’s Health, it’s very likely that this meal consists of "fast-acting carbs," like white rice or sweet potatoes, as well as a vitamin-rich protein, like chicken breast.
Lunch, Dinner and Beyond
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The Rock’s third meal of the day is pretty identical to his second, and often consists of even more white rice and chicken breast, though he sometimes subs out the chicken for bison steaks. He also enjoys a servings of hearty mixed greens on the side.
For his fourth, fifth, sixth, and sometimes even seventh, meal, The Rock relies on fish to keep him going. Though he admittedly hates salmon, the actor and businessman eats quite a bit of it when he’s bulking up for a role like Black Adam. When he's had his fill of it, however, The Rock turns to cod to round out his nightly meals, at one point suggesting that he ate around 36 ounces of it daily! In case you’re wondering, that’s A LOT of cod...
Gallons, Upon Gallons of Water
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Apart from his ZOA energy drinks, The Rock also uses water to keep his body properly hydrated throughout his routine rounds of push-ups, downs, planks, cable curls, dumbbell raises and more. According to this PEOPLE interview from 2016, The Rock estimates that he drinks anywhere from 2 1/2 to 3 gallons of plain ole water a day. Or, you know, just under 23 bottles of water...
Treat Yourself, Don’t Cheat Yourself!
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Those who follow The Rock on social media platforms, like Twitter and Instagram, know that as disciplined as he is when it comes to his strict fitness plan and diet, he also believes in rewarding himself every week with a cheat meal of epic proportions on Sunday. In fact, the self-professed "Cheat Meal King" takes a lot of pride in the over-the-top creations he puts together with his family chef, Racquel Rockquemore-Breiz, often encouraging fans to "cheat" along with him. Though every cheat weekend features a new assortment of towering goodies, coconut-banana or chocolate chip pancakes, bacon cheeseburgers, tequila and cinnamon-flavored French toast are some of The Rock's recurring favorites. We also have a sneaking suspicion he'd be a fan of some of these over-the-top recipes too.
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