Kellie
05-10-2010, 02:05 AM
For John Cena, life can’t get much better.
After all, he’s one of the biggest superstars in the WWE. He’s become the industry’s next big movie star with movies like 12 Rounds filmed right here in New Orleans.
But first and foremost, Cena is an athlete.
"I train like an athlete," Cena, 33, told FOX 8 Sports. "I train to perform like an athlete."
And to help him do that, Cena travels across the Crescent City Connection to Westbank Athletic Club in Terrytown. It’s a small locally owned facility that really doesn’t look like much on the surface but has a very unique style. Here they specialize in training methods not seen many other places in the world.
"The guys at Westbank Athletic Club are just brave enough to say this is a tried and true method that works," Cena said. "And that’s what I like about this place. I train at gyms all over the world and they are so lackluster that I even built my own gym at home, because I want to go that extra mile. This place not only has the mix to show someone the introduction to fitness, it has a vibe about it where I can walk in here and push myself knowing that I want to be stronger than when I came in here."
And when he’s here, other members said he’s not John Cena the WWE superstar. He’s John Cena, another athlete trying to get himself in shape.
"He came in here like a regular Joe," Westbank Athletic Club member Efren Ramirez said. "He didn’t expect any special treatment."
"He was really just like an ordinary guy," said Justin Watson, WAC employee, "He came in here just like anybody else would talked and had normal conversations."
And those talks usually led to the training called traditional Olympic style lifting.
It’s a throwback method that replaces shiny new age machines with boxes, chains and bans.
"The platform with the Olympic plates, multi-joint movements is considered one of the best ways to develop overall explosiveness, overall strength," said Cena, who’s been with the WWE since 2002.
Strength and explosiveness is key, according to strength and conditioning specialist and west bank native, Bum Jin Lee. Lee believes athletes should always train as hard as they perform.
"When we do things, we do them fast. When things happen on the field they happen fast," Lee, who recently purchased the facility, told FOX 8 Sports. "Even in wrestling you have 250 pound guys pretty much they are making contact with each other. In order for them to bounce back up and go again, you have to train that way."
It’s a style Lee said not seem in many other gyms for one simple reason.
"It’s high risk but it’s also high reward," said Lee. "If you could do it under a controlled condition there’s so much benefit to it."
Cena is glad to take that risk, because he feels this type of training will actually prevent injuries, not cause them.
"I’m known for my strengths in the WWE and training like this not only ups my strength, but it keeps me healthy," Cena said.
And in an arena where the show must always go on, staying healthy is the key to survival.
"We don’t have 16 games a year, we don’t have even have 81 games a year; we don’t have 160 games a year," We do 300 shows a year so it’s gameday every day of the week for us."
fox8live.com
After all, he’s one of the biggest superstars in the WWE. He’s become the industry’s next big movie star with movies like 12 Rounds filmed right here in New Orleans.
But first and foremost, Cena is an athlete.
"I train like an athlete," Cena, 33, told FOX 8 Sports. "I train to perform like an athlete."
And to help him do that, Cena travels across the Crescent City Connection to Westbank Athletic Club in Terrytown. It’s a small locally owned facility that really doesn’t look like much on the surface but has a very unique style. Here they specialize in training methods not seen many other places in the world.
"The guys at Westbank Athletic Club are just brave enough to say this is a tried and true method that works," Cena said. "And that’s what I like about this place. I train at gyms all over the world and they are so lackluster that I even built my own gym at home, because I want to go that extra mile. This place not only has the mix to show someone the introduction to fitness, it has a vibe about it where I can walk in here and push myself knowing that I want to be stronger than when I came in here."
And when he’s here, other members said he’s not John Cena the WWE superstar. He’s John Cena, another athlete trying to get himself in shape.
"He came in here like a regular Joe," Westbank Athletic Club member Efren Ramirez said. "He didn’t expect any special treatment."
"He was really just like an ordinary guy," said Justin Watson, WAC employee, "He came in here just like anybody else would talked and had normal conversations."
And those talks usually led to the training called traditional Olympic style lifting.
It’s a throwback method that replaces shiny new age machines with boxes, chains and bans.
"The platform with the Olympic plates, multi-joint movements is considered one of the best ways to develop overall explosiveness, overall strength," said Cena, who’s been with the WWE since 2002.
Strength and explosiveness is key, according to strength and conditioning specialist and west bank native, Bum Jin Lee. Lee believes athletes should always train as hard as they perform.
"When we do things, we do them fast. When things happen on the field they happen fast," Lee, who recently purchased the facility, told FOX 8 Sports. "Even in wrestling you have 250 pound guys pretty much they are making contact with each other. In order for them to bounce back up and go again, you have to train that way."
It’s a style Lee said not seem in many other gyms for one simple reason.
"It’s high risk but it’s also high reward," said Lee. "If you could do it under a controlled condition there’s so much benefit to it."
Cena is glad to take that risk, because he feels this type of training will actually prevent injuries, not cause them.
"I’m known for my strengths in the WWE and training like this not only ups my strength, but it keeps me healthy," Cena said.
And in an arena where the show must always go on, staying healthy is the key to survival.
"We don’t have 16 games a year, we don’t have even have 81 games a year; we don’t have 160 games a year," We do 300 shows a year so it’s gameday every day of the week for us."
fox8live.com