Pain & Gain Exclusive With Mark Wahlberg And Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson

[Nikki]

by Bodybuilding.com Apr 22, 2013
To get ready for starring roles in the upcoming blockbuster Pain & Gain Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson had to prepare their bodies to flex the mass bodybuilders are famous for carrying. In this interview, they talk about their training for the movie and their personal lifting histories.
Wahlberg got his start in music, rapping his way through the 90s, but weightlifting stuck with him through his emerging fame. Johnson grew up admiring his father and uncles, who cut their teeth as professional wrestlers. As he followed in their bootprints, he grew into a Rock so strong, the whole world wanted to smell what he was cookin'.
Pain & Gain ///
Interview With Mark Wahlberg And Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

Watch The Video - 5:15

Rock: My routine for this film was training 6 times per week with George Farah. Many people who go on Bodybuidling.com know who my strength and conditioning coach is. I also have a training coach in Dave Ramsey.
This was a hell of a prep. For a movie like this, that revolves around the world of bodybuilding and the culture of bodybuilding (that we love, by the way, that we grew up on), the prep was a good 8-10 weeks, six workouts per week, training twice per day; I did my cardio in the morning.
Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Mark: I invited Dwayne to do some Jazzercising with me on Tuesdays in South Beach, but he never showed up.
Rock: I passed, for the Wednesday Jazzercise.
Mark: So I brought the Jazzercise to the outside of his trailer, and we started, 5,6 ,7 ,8 and a 1,2,3 ... and he would never come out and join in! But, I know he was inside dancing, because I could see the trailer shaking.
Rock: I was doing other things ... by myself, which is interesting.
Mark: Once I signed on for doing the movie, I was committed to getting as big as possible. That just meant going back to doing what I used to when I was really young, lifting as heavy as possible and eating 10-12 meals a day. I drank 2-3 mass gainer shakes a day and my calorie intake was pretty damn high ... and my gas was horrible to be honest with you.
Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Mark: Oh man, it just gives me ... between my physical fitness and my faith, I have so much discipline in my life. And I have such a positive outlook on life and the opportunities that I have and the things I've been able to accomplish in my life.
But, it starts out when I'm up at 4 o'clock in the morning. I'm in the kitchen making breakfast. At 5 o'clock I'm in the gym. 6:30 I've already had another shake. 7:30 I'm eating a couple turkey burgers, dropping the kids off at school. By 9 o'clock I'm having another meal, and I've already been to church and worked out. I feel like there isn't anything I can't accomplish.
Rock: Certainly not all that by 9 o'clock. Nah ... the training for me has become very defining; it has become part of my life, my life style. It's defined me in many ways. When I was 14 years old, I started training and I thought to myself, "I want to be successful." And the way I know how to be successful, I think, [is from] the men I admire, and those men in my life were pro wrestlers; [they] were my uncles and my dad. Then they were also Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.
Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Mark, to Rock: Who were your favorite wrestlers when you were a kid?
Rock: My Dad, Rocky Johnson, my uncle Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, the Wild Samoans ...
Mark, to Rock: Snuka was your uncle?!
Rock: Yeah.
Mark: Oh, shit ... damn! Wow.
Rock: So these men were like big men who always trained and got things done with their hands.
Mark: Wow, Superfly Snuka ... those were the great days of wrestling.
Rock: Those were the good days.
Mark: Oh man, Tony Atlas, Andre the Giant, Ivan Putski ... that's who I was.
Rock: Polish power!
Mark: Damn skippy, with a little Irish thrown in there.
Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Rock: The smartest thing I ever did fitness-wise was hiring a diet and conditioning coach as well as a coach putting together my training and my workouts, depending on the roles. That was the smartest thing, because it really fine-tunes your details and you just have greater appreciation and education for what you need to do and accomplish. The not-so-smart was probably all the times I would just train heavy, [when I was] younger. Mark will tell you ... it's what you do. You 'ego' train. You throw in way too much weight and you use poor form, then you wind up getting hurt and you regret it later on.

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