As noted, Mensjournal.com has an interview interview up with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins talking about CrossFit and the program’s benefits.
Rollins talks about how it helps him as a wrestler compared to other athletes, how workouts are more fun, if he thinks this will be more popular than bodybuilding, and more. You can read a few excerpts below:
Seth Rollins Talks Crossfit, If It Benefits Wrestlers More:
That could be the truth, yes. The only experience I have to go off is what I do. I know the New Orleans Saints have started to use CrossFit a little bit. For me, it’s tailored specifically for what we do. The intensity level is constant and high, and there’s variables you can’t foresee in our in-ring action. And having to work at a high level while you’re under duress is something we’re accustomed to, so training like that really helps us. It carries over very well into the ring.
Rollins on Crossfit Making Workouts More Fun:
I would say so. Before I discovered CrossFit, I was really just doing regular bodybuilding, didn’t understand athletic training and movements. I didn’t even know how to squat, necessarily. I just knew I wanted to get bigger and train for a pump and all that stuff, but I found myself getting hurt a lot, and it was boring. Once I found CrossFit, I started to enjoy fitness, and once my body adapted and I started to become more mobile, it was a game changer as far as injuries were concerned. So it definitely has become a passion of mine. I enjoy being in the gym and sweating and watching other people push themselves. It’s nice to have two different passions instead of focusing all your energy on one.
Does He Think ‘Pumping Up’ Is Outdated?
“I think it’s a little antiquated, especially considering the evolution of professional wrestling. If you look at the wrestlers in the ’80s and ’90s compared to what we do today, I think training in that lifestyle is just asking for injuries. Using limited range of motion to move light weights a bunch of times just to get a pump so you’re aesthetically pleasing, I feel like you’re begging to hurt. In the ring, we move so fast. We take so many more bumps than those guys did, and we do so much more high-risk stuff. We’re athletes now. We’re not cartoon characters anymore. To do what I do 250-300 nights a year, if I didn’t train like this, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do at this level. So for me, yes, I think bodybuilding is slowly drifting out as a placeholder for athletic training, and I think slowly but surely, people understanding they have to train functionally to do this well for a long time.”
