Pro Wrestling and Bodybuilding: Brothers in Pain and Iron.
"The sports of pro wrestling and bodybuilding are in a league of their own. Truly popular in North America and around the globe, both have been laughed at, not taken seriously as sports and humiliated in the media. But, the two behemoths still pulled it off by becoming the cornerstones of the American sport-entertainment culture."
The fact that pro wrestlers are on the road all year long has also a huge impact on their training routines. Wrestling is a time consuming business so wrestlers tend to plan their workouts around the bodybuilding basic exercises.
Wrestlers like Triple H, who sees bodybuilding as an asset to his career and well being, can hit the gym 4 to 5 times a week. On the other end, those who train more to stay in shape for wrestling and don’t want to be hardcore wrestlers/bodybuilders, may get to the gym 3 times a week.
Most do a fair amount of cardio on their off-nights, about 30-40 minutes, to keep their cardio-vascular capacity high. Stamina is very important in wrestling, since matches can go as long as 30 minutes non-stop. WWE superstars wrestle in the ring 3 to 4 times a week, so the actual matches are indeed the core of their cardio training.
But wrestling that many times a week sometimes makes it difficult for the wrestlers to get proper rest between workouts. Frequent injuries also put a hold on their training. That’s why many stay away from super heavy movements. Some don’t do heavy squats, saying that it has a devastating effect on their vertical leap.
You probably won’t see WWE guys pumping 200 pounds dumbbells ala Ronnie Coleman. Simply because wrestlers can’t let their workouts alter their performance in the ring. Nonetheless, Triple H likes to put his body to the test by performing sets to failure. High-flyer Rob Van Dam on his part, goes heavy once a week for each body part, doing bench presses with 385 pounds for 6 reps and 405 pounds squats for 6 reps.
When you’re always on the road in a different gym everyday, the more simple your workouts are, the best results you get. Most wrestlers train each body part 1 or 2 times a week: 4 exercises for the major muscle groups (back, chest, legs) and 3 for the smaller muscles ( biceps, triceps, shoulders).
The tricky part for pro wrestlers is always to train as heavy as they can during the day, without affecting their agility and ability to compete in the ring at night.
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