AJ Styles Discusses How He Stays Fit as a 40-Year Old Competitor

WWE Champion AJ Styles was recently interviewed by Men’s Health, where he discussed a number of topics. Among them were staying in shape as a professional wrestler, his diet, how to avoid injuries and more.

Styles is currently slated to defend his WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania 34.

The two came face-to-face on “Smackdown Live” this week, and you can see a clip of that below:

AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura come face to face ahead of WrestleMania: SmackDown LIVE, March 13,..

Below are some questions, along with the “Phenomenal One’s” answers:

MENSHEALTH.COM: HOW DOES STAYING IN SHAPE AS A PRO WRESTLER DIFFER FROM ANY OTHER ATHLETE?

AJ Styles: Well, first and foremost you got to look the part. If you’re in the ring, obviously your shirt is off, you got to look like you could beat somebody up. But the problem is trying to get there. There was a time where young AJ Styles tried to lift 95 and it bounced off his chest because he didn’t know how heavy it was. It was then I realized, “Oh shoot, man, I got to work out.” I think I was in eighth grade when that happened. I’ve been working out since then, and figuring out ways that my body reacts. Different workouts that make it easier on me, especially as I get older.

THE WWE SCHEDULE IS A CONSTANT GRIND. HOW DO YOU KEEP UP WITH A CONSISTENT DIET?

Intermittent fasting. For me, it’s easy. It’s not hard at all. Truthfully, I don’t eat that clean. Sometimes, like last night for instance, it was 11:30 before I got to eat. I got a quesadilla from Taco Bell. It sounds terrible, but it was delicious, and it was in my 8-hour window. So it works for me.

IS THERE SOMETHING YOU FOUND THAT’S PARTICULARLY BENEFICIAL TO HELPING WITH MUSCLE RECOVERY, AND AVOIDING INJURIES?

DDP Yoga is always a helpful thing. It’s helped a lot of guys, and it’s certainly helped me. Over time, you will have an injury that will pop up every now and then, but it’s not because you’re hurt, it may be because a muscle is trying to protect something. So you have to stretch that muscle out.

It’s crazy to think that the worst thing on me is my butt. Because my hamstring is pulling on my butt, and my butt pulls on my back. So I’ve got to stretch all that out before it gets too bad, where it really bothers me. But that’s just part of the wear and tear that happens to our bodies over the years. I’ve been doing this for 19 years. It was nice when I was 25 and didn’t have to worry about any of this stuff, but as you get older, you have to take care of yourself or you’ll be in trouble the next day.

They also discuss WrestleMania and more.

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