WWE SuperstarJohn Morrison and trainer Jeff Carrier, NASM-CPT, have trained together for many years. As Morrison’s wrestling career grew increasingly busy, he needed a more efficient way to meet his diverse training needs. His impressive strength, dexterity and flexibility are off the charts, and since his background includes so many different disciplines — kung fu, gymnastics, breakdancing, parkour — the duo began fitting movement from those activities into a gym environment.
The results suited Morrison’s needs perfectly, but the workouts tend to be very advanced and require substantial strength. Because they saw potential in their program for people who might not be so physically gifted or aren’t yet at an advanced level, they’ve adapted it for mere mortals.
“Most people can’t do these moves, so we started regressing them,” Carrier says. ” We now have several regressions for each movement, which means anybody could come up with a starting point from which to work up to that movement.”
Take the flagpole, for example. You grasp a pole and hang parallel to the floor, arms fully extended. One regression would be to hook your feet in the cable crossover with the pulley set at the top. Carrier says you actually do the flagpole in this position but you’re slightly assisted because the cable relieves some of the pressure.
Scroll down for a closer look at this dynamic and innovative approach to training.
Attach a rope handle to a cable station and hold an end in each hand. Extend your elbows, pushing the handle down and away from your body.
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A hard core
“My core is essential to what I do,” Morrison says. “A lot of sports entertainers have lower back problems because when you fall, the impact shoots through your hips to your back. If you don’t have a strong core, your whole body is going to be thrown out of whack. For that reason, I try to do abs 4- 5 days a week.”
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Low row
Sit on a bench in front of a cable pulley with a straight bar attached to it. Press feet against the machine and pull the handle to your stomach, feeling your entire back contract. Then lower the weight back down.
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Dumbbell Snatch
Place your feet wider-than-shoulder-width apart to better recruit your hip and hamstring muscles. Pull the dumbbell out of the bottom position with your hips. Explode. Instead of simply getting the dumbbell over your head, pretend you’re trying to throw it through the ceiling.
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Lying skull crusher
Lie back on a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Hold the weights over your chest, palms facing each other. Bend your elbows and lower the weights to the sides of your head.
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Bench dips
Place two flat benches — or, in Morrison’s case, a bench and an exercise ball — parallel to each other, spaced at a width slightly greater than the distance from your waist to your feet. Put your feet on one bench and support your weight with your hands on the other, with your legs parallel to the ground and your torso upright. Bend your elbows and descend until you feel a stretch in your chest, then extend your arms to return to the start position.
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Get back up
Morrison incorporates a lot of flips into his wrestling regimen, and sometimes it doesn’t go as planned. But even when he sticks the landing, there’s still going to be aches. “You can fall perfectly and it’s still going to hurt for days,” he says.
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Motivation
“Find your purpose and train to meet it. That’s what I do every day in the gym,” Morrison says.
