“FLEX magazine is very cool because they stay up to date with what’s going on with bodybuilding; they stay up to date with what’s going on with nutrition. If you are into health, into fitness, into training the body to work hard, into the sport of bodybuilding, into the history of bodybuilding, FLEX is the magazine.”

Click the link above to continue this article.

This article was sent in by Walt Wolansky:

Life Lessons ROCK SOLID BODY in MEN's HEALTH Magazine

The Rock's Rules for Reinvention
Want to become a better man? Find out how The Rock's revelations can help spur some of your own

By: Mike Zimmerman

You'd expect to learn a lot of fascinating things from a man like Dwayne Johnson: his favorite exercise, say, or maybe how to brain someone with a two-by-four. But what about how to become a better man? Find out how The Rock's revelations can help spur some of your own.

The Rock wants you to ignore his guns. To The Rock, you see, it's what's inside that matters, regardless of how imposing the outside might seem. And when a guy like him gets all touchy-feely, well, we think you ought to listen up. Johnson's metamorphosis from brow-raising wrestler to curtain-raising actor wasn't easy, and his five rules of reinvention can help you change your life for the better.

RULE #1: BUILD ON YOUR STRENGTHS

When I went to Hollywood, the only material I had was from wrestling. My ace in the hole was the monologues. I didn't care about being the biggest, strongest, or loudest wrestler. I wanted to be the most entertaining. Sometimes the monologues killed. Sometimes it was like somebody farted in church. But that's how I convinced executives -- in very small increments. Suddenly I'm getting ready to host Saturday Night Live. Then The Scorpion King to The Rundown to Walking Tall to Be Cool, playing a gay, country-music-singing cowboy. Increments, you see? That's the process. Be on time. Work overtime. That's it.

RULE #2: FIND THE RIGHT MENTOR

I was arrested nine times by the time I was 17. Theft, assault, fighting -- by all means, I should have been in prison. But a guy, my childhood football coach, cared about me enough to say, "Hey, I want you to come out for the football team." He changed my life. Sean Porter, the character I portray in The Gridiron Gang, was just like my coach. Porter was a probation officer at a prison. He knew the staggering figures: 74 percent of the 97,000 kids who are locked up across the country will get out and end up right back in jail. The system was failing, and the kids didn't respect themselves, one another, authority, anything -- so he created a prison-yard football team. He literally changed lives. That moved me because, see, in real life, I had been that kind of kid.

RULE #3: TELL BRUTAL TRUTHS

Clarity is king: being very clear on what your intention is, on what your goal is. Just being clear with everything -- and that carries over to being clear about my wife, my baby girl, my friends. I believe in clarity and communication. And when you have that, the truth shall set you free -- and I know I sound like Preacher Johnson, but I'm tellin' you, those are the most powerful tools we have in life: truth and knowledge. A lot of times the truth can hurt, the truth sucks, it can crush your ego. But it's freeing just to know it. Make sure that everyone is very, very clear on things.

RULE #4: SAVOR YOUR FAILURES

Life is beautiful; life is tough; life is meaningful; life is sh--. I laugh a lot about this because I've failed a lot more than I've succeeded. It just happens that my big successes are recorded for public viewing. I'm an ambitious guy, because I've got great resources around me. Win, lose, or draw, my family has always been there to give me a soft landing: my wife, my daughter, my mom, and my dad. And so I always try to improve. The pace of life is fast -- we're on this treadmill that rolls every day, 24 hours a day, nonstop. And I don't get a chance to think about things until I fail, and I have to figure out what happened.

RULE #5: KNOW WHEN TO SAY NO

My director once quoted a basketball player who said, "When you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you meet him, he will win." I think I jumped up and threw my table across the restaurant, it connected so well with me. But a lot of times you have to dial it down a bit. And I'll give you a prime example. I'm shooting this movie here in Boston, and I took a red-eye out here Sunday night. I land Monday at 6 a.m., and already I've scheduled everything, a full day. At 8 a.m., we're already working. Time to make the doughnuts, right? So I said slow down, because at this rate, going without sleep is counterproductive. At some point, you just have to get off that treadmill. 

HOW THE ROCK STAYS FIT

"I get solicited by trainers from all around the world, and it's very flattering, because these guys are well read on their line of work," says Johnson. "But my answer to them is always, 'If the day comes that I can't kick my own ass more than you can, then that's the day I'll stop training.' "

His favorite exercise: SWISS-BALL PIKE PUSHUP

Get into pushup position, resting your shins on a Swiss ball. Raise your hips as high as you can as you roll the ball toward your body. This is the starting position. From here, bend your elbows to lower your chest toward the floor, pause, then push yourself back up. "You can do so many variations," says Johnson. "Lift one leg, come down slow, isometrically hold the pushup, with your face 6 inches off the ground. It works your core, shoulders, triceps, chest, balance, everything."

His secret superfood: LARGE CHEESE PIZZA

My favorite meal is chicken breast with brown rice and steamed broccoli. It's clean and it's simple. But believe it or not, a large plain cheese pizza is my secret. Why is that vital? Eventually your body gets used to everything. When you eat clean for such a long period of time, you need to break that up. For me, that's a large plain cheese pizza every 2 weeks or so. Eat well, but have a pizza, a cheeseburger, or a shot of whiskey and a six-pack once in a while -- you're gonna be great.