“I ruptured my Achilles on the set of The Game Plan in Boston. I was playing a quarterback and popped it right on the field. They took me over to Fenway Park. Luckily, they were playing a game so all the surgeons for the Red Sox were there. After they did the tests, they said I had no Achilles. So I called renowned surgeon John Uribe, who has done all my stuff. I flew down to Miami and had it put together. The next day I was in the gym with my crutches, and since you can’t use a cast right after surgery because of the swelling, I just had gauze on it. I was training chest and having my buddies bring me weights. I was super-setting and I looked down and there was blood everywhere. Everyone was like, ‘;Are you okay?’ I was just said yeah and finished the workout. Two things happen when an athlete gets injured. Some guys say, ‘;F–k it, I’m going to wait it out 3-4 months.’ But with me and lots of other athletes, you find your eighth or ninth gear – a gear you’ve never gone to before – and say, ‘;I’m going to come back.’” – Dwayne Johnson
“Training for me is a metaphor for life, period. The dedication, the determination, the desire, the work ethic, the great successes and the great failures – I take that into life.” – Dwayne Johnson
“The one thing The Rock did above others was he never missed a day of training. It would be in the middle of the afternoon and we were supposed to be at the venue, and he would say, ‘;Hey, you want to come train with me?’ And I’d say, ‘;Hell yeah.’ I knew that when you worked out with Dwayne you got a good workout, but I also knew he paid for the gym fee, the parking ticket and the protein shake afterward.” – Kurt Angle, former WWE champion and 1996 Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling
“I was working at Bally’s doing contracts. People would come in and I’d give them a tour of the gym. But then I said to my manager Bo, a big guy who held some natural powerlifting records: ‘;I want to train some people; get out there on the floor.’ He said okay. He was wonderful. And then I started training people even though I didn’t know how. I just trained them like I’d train myself. Women too. And then they would complain after the first workout, saying, “This guy is f–kin’ crazy!” That’s when Bo said I couldn’t train anybody anymore. I said, “Okay, thanks anyway.” (laughs) – Dwayne Johnson
“My first impression of Dwayne is that he was blessed genetically with his body structure and with having a father who worked with him at a young age. He’d always been around weights; that was always part of his life. When I got him as a freshman, he had a phenomenal build. For an 18-year-old kid he looked extremely toned and lean, and he was already blessed with a quality workout ethic.” – Brad Roll, former strength and conditioning coach for the University of Miami, current strength and conditioning coach for the Oakland Raiders
“Dwayne was much more health-conscious than everybody else. It was late ’80s/early ’90s and he was much more in tune with macronutrients and low-glycemic carbohydrates than other players. I’m not trying to tickle his balls or anything, but I’m telling you he thought outside the box before a lot of guys knew what the box was. In my opinion, he’s successful because he has always had a consistent work ethic, and even as a freshman or sophomore he was always more accountable and responsible than the other players.” – Brad Roll
