With the re-opening of gyms across England today, four elite athletes from WWE NXT UK (Nina Samuels, Amale, Wolfgang and Oliver Carter) share their personal approach to returning to the gym after the lockdown shutout.
The video features their experiences and tips as professional athletic performers on how to safely return to the gym and get the most from rebooting workout sessions when a full range of equipment is available, instead of bags of rice and a Joe Wicks workout!
What would you recommend as the most effective move?
Nina Samuels – “I love an overhead press, it makes me feel super strong and powerful.”
Amale – “My go-to and first move I’ll do when I’m back in the gym? A deadlift. I love going heavy.”
Wolfgang – “My job is to throw folk around in the ring. To train for that, I use medicine balls to build strength.”
Oliver Carter – “A bench press was the first thing I did when I started in the gym and has remained my favourite. That’s where I’ll be heading to.”
Home workouts are something I’ve steadily had to get used to for sure. At the start of lockdown, I started off lifting wine bottles for weights and buying gallon water bottles and using them as kettlebells.
How has lockdown affected your fitness regime?
Nina Samuels – “Home workouts are something I’ve steadily had to get used to for sure. At the start of lockdown, I started off lifting wine bottles for weights and buying gallon water bottles and using them as kettlebells.”
Oliver Carter– “I’ve been using 5kg rice bags at home! You just do what you can to stay healthy and fit.”
When you’ve been out of the gym for so long, you can’t go as heavy as you used to.
Your advice on heading back to the gym?
Nina Samuels – “It’s really important to listen to your body. Don’t focus on the numbers, focus on how you’re feeling.”
Amale – “When you’ve been out of the gym for so long, you can’t go as heavy as you used to.”
Wolfgang – “You’re no longer just going to be lifting cans of beans and bottles of milk. Instead there will be proper weights in front of you – you can’t dive right in. Ease into it, do the things that you enjoy doing. For me, it’s shoulders and bench. Enjoy also being in the mindset and being back in that environment again.”
NXT UK is available to watch on the WWE Network. Photos and videos courtesy of credit WWE UK
