To be the colossal, demigod-like figure that is Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, you have to spend a significant amount of your time working out. While some of us do our best just to get in a 15 minute workout on a busy day, The Rock is so regimented with his training that all other work and family commitments fall around it. Given that he’s made a successful career out of his perpetually ripped physique, it’s not hard to see why either. But this we already knew. Something we weren’t aware of however, was that when at the gym, the Rock prefers to repurpose empty water bottles when needing a bathroom break.
In a recent interview with Esquire, the Rock opened up about this rather unusual gym habit that was first revealed during an Instagram video in 2017. The video showed a water bottle full of transparent yellow liquid. “I just realised you all just saw my big bottle of pee,” Johnson said in the video. “Look, I go hardcore when I train. I don’t have time to go to the bathroom. I find a bottle, I pee in it, and I keep training like a beast.”
Makes sense, we guess? Perhaps understanding the public’s fascination with this bewildering bathroom arrangement the Rock has going for him now when it comes to needing to pee when working out, he clarified things further with Esquire. While the Rock revealed he was indeed 100 per cent serious about relieving himself into water bottles, he said context was everything and that in doing so, he’s able to pump metal more efficiently. “Well, yeah, the headline is actually true, I do pee in my water bottles,” the Rock admitted. “But let me give context to that, because everyone’s leaning in now to what this means.”
To begin with, the Rock ensures there’s no mix up between the bottles he pees in and those he actually drinks out of. “It’s not a water bottle that I’ve actually purchased solely for water that you wash and clean when you’re done using it,” he explained. “These are just bottles that I’m no longer using.” In the 2017 video, the bottle pictured with the pee was a disposable VOSS one.
The Rock then went on to add that he drinks a lot of water while exercising and his gyms are hardcore operations equipped with weights and machines, but no restrooms. “I usually stay pretty hydrated. I need to go to the bathroom a lot. Not a lot, but probably a couple of times during every workout I have to go to the bathroom. So I break out the bottle,” he admits. “Usually the gyms that I work out in don’t have a bathroom, ‘cause they’re the Iron Paradise and there’s no bathroom there. It’s just hot, sweaty and dirty.”
It goes without saying that hydrating during a workout is a must and also beneficial overall. Your cells require water to convert nutrients like fat into energy that powers your muscles. Staying hydrated also keeps your blood volume up, which is essential for proper functioning of the cardiovascular system and body temperature regulation. Pausing to sip water throughout a workout is always a good idea, with experts warning that feeling thirsty is the first indicator you’re starting to become dehydrated. If the Rock is taking down some serious amounts of liquid, it’s understandable that he’s going to need to pee. As he said though, his workouts are intense and sometimes when you have to go, you just have to go – even if it means reaching for a bottle on stand by.
