When I first started wrestling in 2002, I was 230 lbs and only had a little bit of muscle on me. I am 6 ft. 2 in. tall, so 230 is not bad at all for that height. Over the years, I have struggled with trying to put muscle on, but also take weight off. In 2009, I broke my left ankle and needed to have surgery on it. The time off from my ankle sucked ass. I put on so much weight, that I actually got all the way up to 285 lbs. This was the heaviest I have ever been. In recent months, I have sat around 265-270 lbs., but it is still way too heavy for me.
Coming back from the ankle injury was probably the hardest thing that I have ever had to do in wrestling. Not only was it tasking physically, but many of the promoters who were using me before the injury kind of just forgot about me and put someone else into that spot. I still feel that this injury was a contributing factor as to why I do not wrestle for many of these places anymore, but I have realized lately that a lot of it probably had to do with my weight as well.
Seeing the pictures of myself and what I have looked like the past few years, it disgusts me now. One of my only goals left in this business is to be a top guy in certain promotions, and I know that I cannot do that looking the way that I did. I really do not care if I ever work for WWE or TNA. I have done the extra thing at WWE and it was not my cup of tea personally. The only way that I am going to become a top guy in the places that I currently wrestle for is by getting into shape, working on my in-ring skills more and more, and setting an example of how someone should carry themself and how they should work in the ring.
Over the past month, I have lost 15 lbs and feel great. I am down to about 250, but it is still not enough. 230 is my goal, but I am honestly shooting for like 225-220. I am not really that worried about the actual weight itself, it is more about just how I feel overall I guess.
The only things that I have really changed is what I eat. Before, I would go to the gas station everyday to get a coffee and some sort of nasty-ass breakfast sandwich. Now, I make a protein shake first thing in the morning to speed up my metabolism and make my own coffee at home. My mid-afternoon snack before would be 2 hotdogs from the place down the road, but now I try to eat something better, like beef jerkey, nuts, or fruit. I still go out to eat every now and then, but I have just tried to pick something a little bit better for me to eat instead. Usually, I will let myself eat Taco Bell whenever I have show also, but that is only about twice a month right now.
So the next step is to cut out the rest of the shit and take things to the next level. I would like to start getting up around 6 in the morning to either lift or do yoga, on top of doing 60 minutes of cardio at night. My biggest issue overall is the fact that I CANNOT get up early in the morning. I have tried EVERYTHING to get up. I have gone to bed at 9, I have tried sleeping pills, and nothing works. I'm just going to keep at it and hopefully I eventually fall into the rhythm.
It took me until about my third year in the business to realize how important working out is. I started with mostly guys that I had never touched a weight or a treadmill in their entire life, so it was not something that was taught to me or anything like that. I eventually just started to feel like shit and that my body was hurting 24/7. So I started working out a little here and there and it felt great. I worked out VERY hard during high school, but I think I just got burnt out on it and that is why I did not do it much when I started wrestling.
Over the years, I have figured out what type of workout are important to being a pro wrestler and have started to focus on them more. Currently, I am trying to get into Yoga more and more, but I have been doing a very basic workout with resistance bands on top of 60 minutes of cardio 3 nights a week.
Yoga is something that I always thought was for girls, until I tried it. Holy shit! It is hard! Honestly, I think Yoga is the single best thing that any wrestler can do for themselves. It stretches you to no end and somewhat aligns your back and shit as well. Anytime that I do yoga, I feel like a million bucks the next day.
The basic workout that I do right now is because I do not really need much more size put on, I just need to cut up. I start out by just stretching out really good and do some random stuff for getting my heart rate up. The workout itself is a very basic, full-body workout. I do pushups, situps, hindu squats, then use resistance bands for everything else. Super easy, but also effective. The reason that I am doing this workout is just to do something while I try to cut down. Once I get to the point that I want to be at, I plan on getting back into the gym and actually lifting weights again. I really do love lifting, I just do not have the time to most days.
Cardio is something that I feel everyone needs to work their way up to a certain point. If you are just starting out, then only do like 15-20 minutes or something like that for about 2 weeks, then bump it up to 30-40 minutes after that. Continue to do this until you reach 60 minutes. I highly recommend the elliptical, just because it won't screw up your knees like a treadmill will. Matt Mason (wrestler from OH) also gave me the advice to switch up your cardio here and there, and it has really helped out a lot. I will do like 20 minutes on one thing, 20 minutes on another, then the last 20 on something else. It keeps you body guessing at what is coming next.
I guess the point of this entire blog is to let everyone know that if you are in the wrestling business, working out is the biggest part of it. Your body is everything; not only for looks, but for flexibility and whatnot as well. If your body feels like shit, then you are going to wrestle like shit. Take my story for example. I felt like shit in the ring when I was overweight, but now I am starting to feel good again. Your body is your main tool in wrestling, so make sure it is at a level that will work best for you.
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