Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Shares His Secrets For Monstrous Shoulders

"Honestly, I wound up having one of the best workouts."

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Shares His Secrets For Monstrous Shoulders

Image: Under Armour

They don’t call him ‘The Rock’ for nothing: former wrestler turned Hollywood A-lister Dwayne Johnson is renowned for his boulder shoulders, amongst a whole host of perfectly trained and toned muscle groups. Here, he lets us in on a late-night secret to demi-god delts.


He may be juiced beyond all doubt and have a worrying case of ISLAD (“I Skipped Legs Again” Disease), but there are two very good things we can say for certain about Hawaii’s foremost leading man: he’s got good taste in watches and a formidable pair of shoulders.

The latter was proved once again this week via the star’s Instagram, where he treated fans to a video of a late-night workout where he spilled the secret hack for killer shoulders.

Clearly coming off the back of a rough day, Johnson opened his Instagram with the following comment:

“2:30am Saturday night training… Not my usual workout time, but it was just one of those long, long days where all kinds of unexpected s*** gets thrown at ya.”

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

WATCH: The Rock Shares His Workout Philosophy

But, as all the real gym rats out there will know, regardless of how hard the day has been, you’ve just got to get into the Iron Paradise and do what needs to be done. The Rock puts it more eloquently than I ever could:

“Body didn’t want to go train in the middle of the night – but that one tiny voice in my gut said you may not want to, but after a day like today, you sure as f*** need to.”

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

True to his word, Johnson got into the gym and, by the looks of things, smashed his workout. Shortly afterwards, he took to Instagram and revealed a must-have superset for inflating those deltoids.

The superset is simple but devastatingly effective and goes as follows: 20 reps of a close-grip seated row, followed immediately by 20 reps of seated lateral raises, followed by (and this is an educated guess) a 1-2 minute rest.

Notice his form on the rows. He leans forward, allowing his back and shoulders to fully stretch, before drawing back, sitting straight, and pulling the handles as far back as he can: that’s what full range of motion looks like. In his own words: “stretch and elongate those lat fibres”.

Just so you can see them front-on… those are some hefty shoulders. Image: IronMan Magazine

Despite catching a lot of flack from his followers over the size of his legs which, admittedly, look shockingly slender in the video, the workout was clearly a successful one: not only do Johnson’s back and shoulders look suitably pumped, but his mental health took a boost too:

“Honestly, I wound up having one of the best workouts. Completely rejuvenated and able to clear my head and energy. My adrenals were already at a 10, so in a way, this was all very calming for me.”

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

Clearly, there’s a lot more to a good workout than just a champion superset. It’s about drive, it’s about hunger, we… Know where this is going.