Hack your way to your best physique with the Joe Rogan diet and training plan.
Learn how Joe Rogan stays so ripped with his diet and workout routine!
Someone who is too uptight about their approach, not accommodating to advice and feedback, and unwilling to experiment will probably have shallow knowledge about a subject. It is best to learn from someone open to varying opinions, beliefs, and experiences. This is precisely where Joe Rogan shines. Heck, even his podcast is called ‘The Joe Rogan Experience.’
You will never hear Joe endorse a diet program because he read about it in a fitness magazine. Rogan is the podcasting world’s guinea pig. His podcast covers a plethora of topics and has found a cult following. Joe’s conversations with the world’s top scientists, doctors, artists, athletes are so deep and meaningful that Spotify paid him $100 million for exclusive rights to his podcast.
Joe Rogan has had the world’s best nutritionists, dietitians, and fitness trainers on his podcast. While these podcasts might not be as interesting as the one where he smokes pot with a billionaire, there surely are a ton of concepts to wrap your head around.
Joe Rogan Stats
| Full Name: Joseph James Rogan | ||
| Nickname | Weight | Height |
| Joe, JR | 185lbs (93kg) | 5’8″ (172cm) |
| Age | Date of Birth | Birthplace |
| 56 years | 11 August 1967 | Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
The Joe Rogan Story
Joe Rogan gravitated towards martial arts at an early age. He took up Karate at age 14 and, a year later, started Taekwondo. At 19-years-old, he won the US Open Championship taekwondo tournament as a lightweight.
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Rogan was a Massachusetts full-contact state champion for four consecutive years and became a Taekwondo instructor. He also held a 2-1 kickboxing record but retired from competition at age 21 as he began to suffer from frequent headaches and feared he might sustain worse injuries.
“Martial arts were the first thing that ever gave me hope that I wasn’t going to be a loser.” – Joe Rogan
Outside his podcast, Rogan’s areas of interest include stand-up comedy, acting, writing, and MMA.
Joe Rogan Diet Program
Joe Rogan’s podcast with James Wilks (producer of hit vegan documentary “The Game Changers“) and Chris Kresser turned many heads. After the podcast, many people wanted to know about Joe’s personal diet program and what he thought worked the best.
Joe Rogan Diet Principles
Rogan does not like to complicate his fitness regimen. He abides by the following simple diet principles:
- Eat lots of meat, preferably wild game
- Keep it spicy, add some jalapenos
- Drink lots of fluids
- Eat your veggies
- Sneak in some healthy snacks
Joe Rogan Nutrition Plan
The stand-up comic follows a strict diet plan and prefers eating simple food that is free from grains and refined sugars. He usually has four small but protein-rich meals every day.
1. Breakfast
- Eggs
- Vegetables
2. Lunch
- Chicken breast
- Quinoa
- Kale
3. Dinner
- Elk meat
- Jalapeños
- Potatoes
4. Snack
- Fruits
- Eggs
- Oatmeal
Joe Rogan Diet Staples
Joe depends on the following food items to meet his daily nutritional goals:
1. Elk Meat – If you follow Rogan on Instagram, you probably already know that elk is his favorite kind of meat.
2. Wide Game Variety Meat – Rogan is a huge proponent of eating what you kill. Most of the meat he eats is of wild-game variety that he hunts himself.
3. Salmon – Salmon is loaded with protein, fats, and essential nutrients.
4. Eggs – Joe Rogan is a fan of harvest free-range eggs. He believes there is a big difference in his eggs as compared to the eggs you can get at a grocery store because they are “prisoners”.
5. Jalapenos – Jalapenos are Joe’s favorite side. He eats them in several different ways – raw and sliced up, or whole and roasted in his Traeger grill while cooking his elk roasts.
6. Asparagus – Rogan gets greens into his diet for their overall health benefits.
7. Kale – Kale is rich in fiber, nutrients, minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. Why wouldn’t you eat kale every day?
8. Zucchini Noodles – Joe Rogan substitutes pasta with homemade zucchini noodles.
9. Broccoli – You were expecting broccoli to be on the list, weren’t you? It is a staple in most fitness diet regimens.
10. Morel Mushrooms – The earthy and nutty-tasting mushrooms are a part of Rogan’s side dish menu.
11. Avocados – Loaded with potassium, fiber, and healthy fats, avocados are a part of Joe’s salads.
12. Coconut Oil – Joe Rogan usually cooks his veggies in coconut oil as it gives the food a delicious flavor.
13. Almond Butter – Almond butter, made from ground up almonds, is a great source of healthy fat.
14. Olive Oil – It is rich in antioxidants, Omega 3, and Omega 6 fatty acids. Rogan uses it when cooking or on his salads.
15. Dried Chile Mangos – Chile Mangos are dried mango with some added chile spice on top.
16. Kimchi – Kimchi is a great probiotic. It is an integral part of Rogan’s diet since he cares a lot about his gut health.
17. Mushroom Coffee – Rogan is a fan of the Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee. It comes mixed with Lions Mane mushrooms that support cognitive ability and focus without the crash of traditional coffee.
18. Kombucha – It is a drink that consists of powerful antioxidants, probiotics, and health benefits.
19. Coconut Water – Coconut water is packed with electrolytes that help keep you hydrated throughout the day.
Joe Rogan’s Different Diet Plans
Rogan is known for experimenting with new diets. He cycles between the following diets to ensure he never hits a plateau:
1. Carnivore Diet
For a month at the beginning of 2020, Rogan only ate meat, eggs, and cheese and avoided vegetables, fruits, or carbs.
“My energy levels were amazing.” – Rogan, on the carnivore diet
Rogan had learned about the ‘only meat’ diet from a JRE podcast with Jordan Peterson. Peterson’s daughter had seen massive improvements in her auto-immune disorder, rheumatoid arthritis, from the diet.
Rogan also has an auto-immune disorder called vitiligo that affects his hands and feet. By the end of his month-long diet program, he reported an improvement to the vitiligo on his hands.
Rogan later explained that the biggest benefit of the carnivore diet was that his energy levels remained the same throughout the day. He says, “When you have no carbohydrates, one of the things that’s most amazing is there is no crashing.” – Joe Rogan
To cover his micronutrient needs, Rogan relied on supplements like vitamins, amino acids, and fish oil.
2. Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting (IF) is currently one of the most popular health and fitness trends. It is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating.
Following are the three most popular IF methods:
- The 16/8 method: It involves skipping breakfast and restricting your daily eating period to 8 hours. You then fast for the next 16 hours.
- Eat-Stop-Eat: It involves fasting for 24 hours, once or twice a week. Example – not eating from dinner one day until dinner the next day.
- The 5:2 Diet: In this method, you consume only 500-600 calories on two non-consecutive days of the week but eat normally for the other five.
Joe relies on IF to shed extra calories. Depending on his schedule, he does fasted cardio or fasted yoga in the morning after not eating for 14 or 16 hours.
3. Low-Carb Diet
The low-carb diet is Rogan’s go-to diet program. He eats a low carbohydrate diet and avoids sugars. He does not have a fancy name for the diet, but he notices a significant impact on his leanness and energy levels when he avoids carbs and processed sugar.
Joe Rogan is a sucker for sustained energy levels throughout the day. He finds himself coming back to the low-carb diet because it helps him maintain his conditioning and aids in avoiding energy crashes.
The low-carb diet requires you to cut out all processed sugar and carbs, including bread, pasta, tortillas, chips, refined sugar, sodas, alcohol, candy, high fructose corn syrup, etc. At the same time, you will not be eliminating veggies and fruit from your diet.
“I just don’t think that your body is meant to eat that much sugar and that many processed carbohydrates.” – Joe Rogan
Have you ever noticed Joe Rogan’s weird gut? Are you worried that you might get a similar abdomen if you follow his diet plan?
Don’t worry, you won’t. Joe Rogan uses additional enhancers like testosterone and human growth hormone which he injects into his body every week to improve his health. He also likes to use the focus drug, Nuvigil to keep him focused and energetic throughout the day. On top of this, he also consumes dimethyltryptamine a.k.a. DMT.
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Joe Rogan Supplements
If you are someone like Joe Rogan who is constantly switching diet programs, you need a solid nutritional foundation. Rogan relies on supplements to fulfill his daily nutritional goals. Here are the must-have supplements according to Joe:
- Pre-Workouts
- Multivitamins
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin D3
- DHA Fish Oil
- Alpha Brain
- CBD
- Glucosamine Chondroitin
- Creatine
- Whey Protein
Joe Rogan Training Program
Thanks to his MMA fascination, Joe trains and eats like a professional fighter. While he does not plan on entering the octagon, he believes staying in shape helps him in performing at optimal levels and keeping up with his busy schedule.
Joe Rogan has a little bit of everything in his training program. While he focuses on weightlifting, he also enjoys MMA training, cardio, and yoga and makes them a part of his fitness regimen.
Joe Rogan Workout Regimen
Rogan schedules his workout program every Sunday.
“I say ‘I have to do yoga two times this week’ and ‘I have to lift weights three times this week’ and ‘I have to run twice this week.’ And however I fit that in, I fit that in.”
I. Weightlifting
Joe Rogan usually lifts weight thrice a week. He practices the Pavel Tsatsouline protocol, limiting his reps to about half his max. He uses the following equipment to build functional strength:
- Kettlebells
- Battle ropes
- Maces
- Dumbbells
Day 1 Weightlifting Routine
1. Superset
(a) Dumbbell Pullover: 4 sets of 10 reps, no rest
(b) Pull-Up: 4 sets of 10 reps, 60-second rest
2. Seated Row (supinated grip): 4 sets of 15, 10, 8, 6 reps, 30-second rest
3. T-Bar Row: 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 reps, 30-second rest
4. Behind Neck Pull-down: 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 reps, 30-second rest
5. Superset
(a) Deadlift: 3 sets to failure, no rest
(b) Cable Pulldown: 3 sets to failure, 60-second rest
Day 2 Weightlifting Routine
1. Superset
(a) Leg Extension: 4 sets of 10 reps, no rest
(b) Leg Curl: 4 sets of 10 reps, 60-second rest
2. Walking Lunge: 3 sets of 10 reps, 30-second rest
3. Squat: 4 sets of 15, 12, 10, 8 reps, 30-second rest
4. Superset
(a) Pistol Squat: 3 sets of 10 reps, no rest
(b) Bodyweight Squat: 3 sets of 10 reps, 60-second rest
5. Superset
(a) Leg Extension: 3 sets to failure, no rest
(b) Leg Curl: 3 sets to failure, 60-second rest
Day 3 Weightlifting Routine
1. Lat Pull-down: 3 sets of 15, 12, 10 reps, 30-second rest
2. Deadlift: 3 sets of 15, 12, 10 reps, 30-second rest
3. Seated Row: 3 sets of 15, 12, 10 reps, 30-second rest
4. Muscle-up: 3 sets to failure, 60-second rest
5. Cable Fly: 3 sets of 15, 12, 10 reps, 30-second rest
6. Incline Dumbbell Press: 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 reps, 30-second rest
7. Flat Bench Press: 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 reps, 30-second rest
8. Superset
(a) Decline Smith Machine Bench Press (reverse grip): 3 sets to failure, no rest
(b) Push-Up: 3 sets to failure, 60-second rest
9. Pec-Deck Fly: 3 sets to failure (drop set)
II. Cardio
Joe Rogan did not take cardio seriously until a few years ago. He performs 20-30 minutes of fasted cardio every morning since it helps him burn off excess calories and stored body fat.
Whether running through Runyon Canyon with his dog or performing various routines at the gym, cardio helps keep his blood flowing.
Wondering if you should be including cardio in your workout routine?
Check out the benefits of cardio before making the final call:
- Improves cardiovascular health
- Helps regulate blood sugar
- Lowers blood pressure
- Reduces chronic pain
- Aids sleep
- Regulates weight
- Strengthens immune system
- Potent mood booster
III. Yoga
Joe Rogan ensures that yoga is a part of his weekly fitness regimen. He is an advocate of both regular and hot yoga. Here are the benefits of yoga:
- Can decrease stress
- Relieves anxiety
- Improves heart health
- Promotes sleep quality
- Improves flexibility and balance
- Increases strength
IV. MMA Training
Rogan is an experienced MMA fighter and is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. He also loves Muay Thai and works hard on heavy bags.
Conclusion
Joe Rogan is a busy guy. Just thinking about his daily work and fitness schedule can make a person want to take a nap. If you were looking for an easy-to-follow 12-week transformation program, this fitness regimen is not for you.
To train like Rogan, you need to know your end game. You will have to reassess your goals and progress every week. Get comfortable putting in the hard work, and you are bound to reap your desired outcome.