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The Rock trains at home in his Iron Paradise, but he has more than one home. And in fact, even his temporary homes, when filming another movie, get their own Iron Paradises. Let’s explore The Rock’s gyms and what makes them so unique.

1. THERE’S MORE THAN ONE IRON PARADISE.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has two permanent home gyms, a.k.a. Iron Paradises, the first at his Miami mansion and another at his Virginia farm. The latter, built in a barn, he calls his “Country Iron Paradise.” He offered a tour of it on Instagram.

2. ONE GYM TRAVELS WITH THE ROCK.

There’s always an Iron Paradise. When The Rock does extended film and TV shoots, some 50,000 pounds of gym equipment is trucked or shipped to the location, and a huge crew assembles the new workout space to the superstar’s specifications.

Iron Paradise
A temporary Iron Paradise. / Facebook

3. THE ROCK’S GYM HAS TO BE CONSTRUCTED A SPECIFIC WAY.

The traveling Iron Paradise is always set up the same way. When he wrapped shooting Skyscraper in Vancouver, Dwayne Johnson publicly thanked his gym construction crew and said, “This is a lot of s**t to move around and set up. Plus, I’m a pain in the ass, because I’m like, ‘The energy has got to flow this way. You can’t keep your head that way.’”

4. SOME IRON PARADISE THINGS NEVER CHANGE.

There’s always a black “Iron Paradise” banner. There’s always a bull head. (“The Brahma Bull” was one of his wrestling nicknames, and he considers the muscular bovine something of a spirit guide. “We all have mana. Our strength. You just have to find it,” The Rock wrote on Instagram of the symbol.) There’s always an American flag. There’s always loud music, sometimes rap, sometimes rock, sometimes country. And as for the temperature, he prefers it, as he says, “hot as Satan’s balls.”

The Rock's gym
American Flag, Brahma Bull, and heat in a temporary Iron Paradise. / Facebook

5. COMMERCIAL GYMS WERE IMPRACTICAL FOR THE ROCK.

Fifteen or so years ago, The Rock trained daily in Gold’s Gym in Venice, California. When he’s in Southern California, he might still grab workouts there, where he’ll seldom be bothered. But, as his movie career exploded, it became impractical if not impossible to find a commercial gym on his lengthy travels where he could both train balls-to-the-wall and not be pestered by selfie-happy fans. This is compounded by the fact that The Rock’s days are so busy now that he often trains at 5:00 AM, sometimes earlier, and sometimes at midnight or even later. To be assured of working out when and how he wants to, he needed his own gym—even if it has to move with him.

6. THE ROCK’S GYMS ARE LOADED.

The Rock’s home gyms likely have more unique equipment than your commercial gym. There’s a Pit Shark for belt squats. There’s a shock-absorbed bench just for hip thrusts (on the left in the photo below). There’s an iso-lateral leg press. There’s a GHD (glute-ham developer). There’s even a tibia dorsi flexion machine to pump up his shins (photo: lower right). And we’ve only talked leg day. It has everything you’d need for a hardcore routine. More importantly, it has everything The Rock wants.

The Rock's gyms
A loaded Iron Paradise. / Facebook

7. THE ROCK NEVER HAS TO WORK IN.

Most of the time, The Rock sweats alone. No trainers. No partners. Typically, the only encouragements are his thoughts (and maybe the lyrics of the very loud music). “I don’t use hype men anymore while I train,” Johnson said. “It was cool, but then I was like, ‘Will you shut up? Stop yelling and let me concentrate on my set!’”

8. THERE ARE NO MIRRORS IN THE ROCK’S GYMS.

One could argue that monitoring a set of, say, dumbbell laterals in a mirror helps with form. However, The Rock would argue reflections are distractions. His gyms are mirror-free-zones, so he can focus entirely on how his muscles feel and not what they look like.

9. THERE’S A KITCHEN IN THE ROCK’S GYM.

Can you smell what The Rock is cooking? Maybe you can if you’re in one of his permanent Iron Paradises. They have kitchens, so he can eat just before or after his workouts.

The Rock's gym
Cardio next to the Rock’s gym kitchen. / Facebook

10. IRON PARADISE IS THE ROCK’S ANCHOR.

The Rock posted this on Facebook, regarding Iron Paradise, wherever it is:

The Rock's gym

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