Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is one of the cast members of Disney’s new animated movie “Moana.” He lends his voice to a legendary demi-god Maui, who helps young girl Moana during the adventurous journey and who is brawny, just like The Rock is. Now let’s think about how the actor actually manages to maintain his powerful physique. We’ll try to make this clear by presenting what the average person’s diet looks like compared to The Rock’s diet.
The Average Person’s Diet
According to U.S. Department of Agriculture, moderately active men who are 41-45 years old are supposed to consume 2,600 calories per day. The National Agricultural Library suggests that an active man 44 years old (just like Johnson) should consume around 3,000 calories per day diet, including 60 grams of protein, between 65 and 114 grams of fat and between 331 and 478 grams of carbohydrates. When it comes to how much an average person spends on food, a 2012 Gallup report suggests that the average American needs around $600 per month.
The Rock’s Diet
For Dwayne Johnson, the amount of food recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is not enough if he wants to preserve his 50-inch chest and 20-inch biceps. According to FiveThirtyEight, he needs around 800 pounds of cod every year, which means that he consumes 1,000 calories of fish every day, which is, of course, only in addition to other groceries. Overall, he eats seven meals a day, which amounts to more than 5,000 calories (let us remind you – the average person needs 3,000). Muscle & Fitness reports imply that “Johnson eats 8 ounces of chicken, 8 ounces of steak, a 10-egg white omelet, 12 ounces of sweet potato and a 12 ounce baked potato every day”. Johnson’s intake is similar to that of the average man in only one area – the consumption of fat. More precisely, The Rock consumes 109 grams every day, while the average person needs 107 grams a day.
The Cost of Johnson’s Diet
In order to see whether it is possible for an average man to eat like the famous actor, FiveThirtyEight followed the progress of a person who tried to do so, and they came to the conclusion that it would be both “exhausting” and “expensive” to try something like that. Here’s why: the person imitating The Rock’s eating habits spent $1,262 in a month just on food, which means that he needed around $42 per day, and we said the average person normally spends around $600 a month. You do the math. And don’t forget Johnson sometimes takes some expensive supplements, if need be.
Furthermore, we should also take into account the fact that the former wrestler increases the unbelievable 5,000 calories to 6,000 when he needs to bulk, which was the case when he gained extra 22 pounds of muscle for the role in “Fast 8”.
However, let’s not forget that, after all, he is only human. In spite of his great dedication to his diet, he has admitted he sometimes cheats. For instance, having trained for four months for the part in “Central Intelligence,” he had to take a day off. His “cheat meal” included cinnamon buns and peanut butter brownies.
Finally, we should also mention that, apart from the strict diet, Johnson also spends a lot of time exercising, including around an hour of weight training and one hour of cardio.
