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Cesaro on Putting Greater Focus on Rest & Recovery for His Workouts

July 17, 2021 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris

Muscle and Fitness recently interviewed WWE Superstar Cesaro, who discussed his workout routine and more. Below are some highlights.

Cesaro on how much he can lift in the gym: “I go a little lighter these days, because I may have aged a little bit. But I still go heavy. I mean, I just did another heavy day two days ago, and I’m feeling it today! But I still like lifting heavy and I still like to train for functionality. But because I’ve matured a bit, I know to pick my lifting days a little bit wiser. The young kids just walk into the gym and start squatting heavy, and I’m like ‘I gotta warm up a bit’ (laughs), but I’m definitely still lifting heavy. I’m still a big fan of the single-arm snatches, and if there’s something at the gym like the Atlas stones, or something that I’ve never done, I’ll always give it a try. They had the peg boards at a gym the other day. I just love trying new stuff. The fitness industry is really evolving so fast.”

His favorite exercises: “I love bodyweight exercises. People always ask me what I would recommend for anyone starting out [with training]. I always say the same thing. It’s pushups, squats, and situps. That’s the bread and butter. And then you can start adding pullups, you can add lunges. I love bodyweight stuff because we travel a lot, and we beat our bodies up in the ring, so sometimes it’s really good to work out without extra weights on your joints, and on your muscles. Bodyweight exercises build cardio, they build endurance, and good form. You still get such a good workout.”

Cesaro on focusing more on rest & recovery: “I’ve been doing that for quite a while. It’s maybe a little bit more in focus [these days], but I feel that ever since I had shoulder surgery, I started stretching more, and then stretching became a big part of my daily routine. I always try to find new ways to help with recovery and help with longevity. I have a fitness tracker that tracks my sleep and that helps me. I feel like the world is now doing a better job in making ‘recovery’ more of a common word and something that people do, and are aware about the importance of it. Because it used to be, that people would just lift heavy and then things like physical therapy was something that people only had after an injury, but no, these are things you should do all the time. Last year I got these air compression sleeves, and they help you to recover your legs and hips. Injury prevention is very important. I’ve always trained for functionality rather than looks.”