For many of us, getting to the gym is a crucial part of our week.
Getting a sweat going and working on your exercise objectives provides a healthy balance between our work and personal lives. It helps prepare us for the rigours of the working week and provides a productive way to let off some steam, all while keeping you trim and healthy.
Most of us try and siphon off two, maybe three days each week to work out — but what about someone like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Hollywood’s most prominent action star whose career relies (in part, at least) with maintaining his musculature.
As reported by Men’s Health, getting his workout in regardless of his personal schedule is one of the constants in his life.
“No matter how many hours I’ve flown, no matter how many miles I’ve traveled, regardless of what country it is, the first thing I need to do to get ready for the work day is I gotta find the gym,” he said last year. “Life is so crazy and busy for me… like we’re on this treadmill that just doesn’t stop and continues to go, so I do need working out to anchor my day. It helps me balance myself.”
A recent post to Instagram by the former professional wrestler detailed his “fly, train, work, repeat” mantra and he says that this motivation stems from the influence of his father, who was also a professional wrestler.
“Every morning my dad was up at 5 a.m.,” said Johnson. “He’d have his coffee and then hit the gym, regardless of whether he was at home or on the road.
“Other dads took their kids to the playground,” he continued. “Mine took me to the gym, and the gyms he took me to were very hardcore. Weight rooms? Really? But it was important bonding time for us, and it was there that I learned at a very young age that there’s no substitute for hard work.
“My dad and the other wrestlers would train for hours and hours every morning, just like all of the top bodybuilding stars of the day—Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbu, Frank Zane, Albert Beckles. It was all he knew, and it was all I knew back then. And it worked.
“It occurred to me that all of the men I knew who had achieved success were all men of great physical stature,” he said. “And I knew that they all got that way through sweat equity—putting callouses on their hands. So in my mind, the key was simple: I’d continue going to the gym and work harder than before, and then I’d follow their path to greatness.”
And even despite his undoubted success in every single field he has set his mind to, Johnson says that he still takes inspiration from the time before he was a star when his primary concern wasn’t which blockbuster he should sign up to next, but whether he would be able to pay his rent.
“As crazy as it may sound, in my mind, I’m always a week away from getting evicted, and that’s what keeps me motivated, not the material things,” Johnson said. “You can strip them all away — strip them away today. Strip away the glitz and the glamour of Hollywood. Strip away the red carpet, the big box-office global hits, the cars, the homes. Strip everything away to me going back to being dead broke, evicted with seven bucks in my pocket, and you know what? The one thing that’s absolutely guaranteed is that I will still be training when the sun comes up.”
So, what’s your excuse?
