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Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson seems to do everything big, and his home gyms (yes, he has multiple) are no exception.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is known for many things, but one thing that allows him to stand apart from many other actors is his work ethic both in and out of the gym. The Rock has created a lifestyle that allows him to work out wherever he is, including home gyms at nearly every one of his houses across the country. The Rock trains in a bodybuilding manner and actually uses Hany Rambod, the trainer of the Mr. Olympia winner Phil Heath, using his FST-7 principles.
There’s no doubt that The Rock knows how to train hard, but when you see his home gyms, you’ll be amazed at the detail and high level of equipment he uses. Although I’ve followed Dwayne Johnson on Instagram for some time, I know many haven’t been able to see his gym. So, here is Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s absolutely, positively, insane home gyms.
The first thing to understand about Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and his home gym is that there isn’t just one. In fact, there’s likely around three or four. I’m not positive because I’ve never been able to see just how many he has. That said, I know for a fact, that there are two he calls Iron Paradise and Iron Paradise #2.
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These home gyms are really quite undeserving of the word “home gym” due to their massive size. Sure they’re at home, but the equipment The Rock fills these places with is often better than any Lifetime Fitness or Gold’s Gym in your neighborhood.
Video Review
The Rock’s Home Gym
The gym that is most often shown is known as The Iron Paradise and is located at The Rock’s Miami House. Now, at first glance, it’s evident that this gym is out of this world, but what you forget is that it’s attached to an absolute mansion, also owned by The Rock.
If you’re like me, the house looks cool, but I’d be spending the majority of my time in the gym anyway. Due to ‘The Rock’ preferring bodybuilding type training, you won’t find your usual “functional fitness” type of equipment. In fact, after going through all the photos and videos available on The Rock’s Iron Paradise, I didn’t see a single squat rack. Now, before you go bonkers, understand that The Rock is striving to keep a trim waist that will look good in front of a camera. Although I believe in the efficiency of the squat, he chooses to stick to mostly machine movements instead (it’s also hard to argue with a physique like his.) He used to say he only did leg press, but he’s since started squatting.
Have no fear though, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson hits his fair share of leg days, in fact, he says it’s his favorite day of the week.
As you can see, whether he’s hitting leg extensions or leg presses on his vertical leg press, there’s no doubt that Dwayne Johnson is hitting the lower body. Many of the machines in his gym are made by StarTrac, including that leg extension. StarTrac has been around for some time and specializes in exercise bikes as well as heavy-duty, made for commercial use gym equipment. Their equipment features oversized rollers, heavy-weight stacks, and premium finishes. There isn’t much better commercial equipment available.
In addition to most of the weight machines being made by StarTrac, The Rock’s Iron Paradise also features a huge functional trainer from StarTrac as his centerpiece. A functional trainer for someone of Johnson’s size would need to have heavy-duty cables, welds, and large stacks; the StarTrac functional trainer features all of these. It’s kind of funny to see this type of equipment outside of a commercial gym because it’s just so large and overdone, but then again, so is The Rock. Another big piece of any gym, and especially The Rock’s Iron Paradise are dumbbells. The Rock has chosen some of the most popular and well-rated dumbbells available which are made by Iron Grip.
When his dog Hobbs isn’t chewing them, The Rock is lifting them. Most gyms have dumbbells that go up to 100 lbs, but once again, as is the theme for The Rock and the Iron Paradise, his dumbbells go up to 150 lbs. Not only are these dumbbells super high quality, but they’re also costly.
In addition to Iron Grip Dumbbells, Iron Paradise is also filled to the brim with Iron Grip Plates. These plates have a 12-sided design that is pretty annoying for deadlifts, but seeing as Dwayne Johnson doesn’t deadlift, they’re perfect for him.
The Rock
Kabuki Strength Transformer Bar
Product Highlights
- Feels like 3 bars in 1
- One of the only specialty bars on the market that weights similar to an Olympic barbell
- Knurled handles
- High-density foam padding
- Easily disassembled for easier transportation
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Highest quality and feature-rich safety squat bar on the market
- Feels like three different bars: Duffalo Bar, cambered bar, traditional safety squat bar
- Weighs 20 kg/44 lbs
- One of the only specialty bars on the market that weights similar to an Olympic barbell
- Knurled handles
- Fits Olympic plates
- High-density foam padding
- Pad cover is a durable synthetic leather
- Easily disassembled for easier transportation
- Made in Portland, Oregon
- Black oxide finish that prevents corrosion
Cons
- Pricey at over $600.
- Angle bracket and design isn’t the easiest to change
- Edges of the 12-point bracket aren’t rounded and could lead to you cutting your skin
Bottom Line
There's little doubt that if price isn't factored in, the Kabuki Transformer Bar is the best safety squat bar on the market. However, when the high price is considered, the bar becomes less attractive. We love that you can adjust the angle of the sleeves and use it often, however, if you don't plan on using the feature, we don't suggest the bar. If you like nice things and expect a high level of quality, this is about as good a safety squat bar as can be made.
A newer piece of equipment The Rock has added to his gym is one of our personal favorites and that’s the Kabuki Transformer Bar.
The Transformer Bar is an extremely high-end and versatile safety squat bar that has a rotating sleeve to allow the muscles to be worked in a different manner than the typical camber on an SSB. It was pretty cool to see Dwayne post this photo on Instagram as I had no idea he was this into equipment. The Transformer Bar is still somewhat underground as far as popularity, but he obviously knows his stuff.
In addition to the StarTrac equipment, The Iron Paradise also features Hammer Strength machines which are the most popular plate-loaded pieces of equipment on the market. Hammer Strength equipment is made to take anything you can throw at it and allow you to load up an insane amount of weight.
As you can see, The Rock loves Hammer Strength Equipment and has his gym filled with it. Everything from their ever-popular Lat Pulldown to their hardly seen GHD can be found in the Iron Paradise. It must be said that these pieces of equipment are NOT cheap, and also incredibly heavy. In most of our featured gyms (check out Jocko Willink’s gym here) we see a lot of squat racks and barbells, but it’s cool to see The Rock’s take on the situation.
Now, don’t let what we’ve shown you so far fool you. Dwayne Johnson lifts a lot of weight, but he’s no stranger to cardio equipment. In fact, based on his social media, it seems he starts almost every day with some sort of cardio.
The cardio equipment that The Rock most often uses is the elliptical and stair climber. The ones he uses are made by Precor, once again, a commercial gym equipment company specializing in outfitting gyms like Lifetime Fitness and Gold’s Gym, not your average home gym.
Don’t worry, although The Rock doesn’t squat (at least he didn’t use to, he’s since started to as evidenced by his use of the Kabuki Transformer SSB) or have much use for a Power Rack, he does bench and uses the same one I have in my garage, the Rogue Westside Bench 2.0.
This is about as stout as a bench can come and is able to take anything you can throw at it. In addition to the bench, the bar that The Rock most often uses on the bench is the Rogue MG-3 Multi-Grip Bar (another piece of equipment I have in my gym.) Rogue Fitness makes quality equipment that focuses more on Powerlifting, Olympic Weightlifting, and Crossfit, but can still be greatly utilized by someone who focuses on Bodybuilding-type training.
Everything from the equipment to the white brick walls is unique and makes for an environment that is conducive to getting up and putting work in. This is the biggest takeaway I think most people can get from Dwayne Johnson’s Iron Paradise. Sure, most won’t be able to afford the space or equipment that The Rock uses, but you can create an environment that makes you want to be a better you.
I find The Rock to be very motivational. Not only does he run a crazy schedule, but he’s gone from a football player to a professional wrestler, and now a big-time celebrity in one lifetime. For most, this is the equivalent of three separate lives, but I’m most excited to see what he does next. With his work ethic and drive, the sky is the limit. Finally, the last feature of the Iron Paradise that we would be remiss not to mention is the full kitchen at the back end of the gym.
For most of you reading this. If this were in your gym, you’d never leave, and I’m sure The Rock never wants to either.
The Rock’s Traveling Iron Paradise
Although the Rock has, arguably, one of the greatest home gyms of all time (I still think mine’s better…) he doesn’t stop there. No, due to Dwayne having to travel all over the world for various movie shoots that are extended stays, he does what any normal person would do: Packs up an 18-wheel trailer worth of gym equipment and sets up a gym called The Iron Paradise EVERY. WHERE. HE. GOES. Crazy.Sidenote: imagine the ability to take a full, commercial size gym everywhere you go. What a life.
Here’s how it’s looking lately:
The traveling Iron Paradise features pretty much all of the same equipment as what he has at his home gym. Meaning, high-end commercial level equipment from the likes of Star Trac, Rogue Fitness, Nautilus, Free Motion, and Hammer Strength, like this Iso-Lateral Row:
Recently, the Rock has said he’s enjoying equipment from a new company and even had this to say on Instagram:
“Slowly but surely Arsenal equipment is taking over my 50,000+ lbs of iron and ego destroyer in my gym.”
Check out his custom Leg Press with the Project Rock Bull near the seat:
It’s obvious that The Rock likes to train both by his physique and the various shows he’s a part of and produces like The Titan Games. But, having a traveling weight room is something on a whole other level. We’ve shown you Jocko Willink’s Gym, Rich Froning’s, and even Joe Rogan’s Studio Gym, but all pale in comparison to Dwayne’s.
Further reading
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