On Daily Routines, we profile successful leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, executives and athletes to explore their routines, schedules, habits and day in the life.
Roman Reigns’ story is as inspiring as it gets. Born into the legendary Anoaʻi wrestling family — which includes The Tonga Kid, Rikishi, Umaga, and The Rock — he was destined to become a wrestler from the start. Along his journey of making a name for himself in the ring, Reigns also overcame incredible odds and setbacks on his way to become the WWE champion.
Reigns, whose real name is Leati Joseph Anoa’i, started his professional wrestling career in 2010 in WWE’s developmental program, Florida Championship Wrestling. He quickly rose through the ranks and made his main roster debut in 2012 as part of the Shield, a dominant faction that wreaked havoc on WWE’s main roster.
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Although fans were initially skeptical, Reigns’ achievements were undeniable. As of 2020, he had headlined WrestleMania four times, held various versions of the WWE world championships five times, and firmly established himself as a top-tier performer in the crowd’s eyes.
“I’ve had to go through the process of winning them over and earning respect for years at a time,” Reigns said of his early days in WWE, in an interview with The Ringer. “From 2014 to maybe 2018, every single night it seemed like I had to earn their respect. But because it was always different, I always had to stay on my toes, and it was good practice in real time in front of a real audience.”
During the pinnacle of his wrestling career, Reigns was forced to vacate the championship and declare a hiatus from the sport. He shared with his fans that his leukemia had resurfaced after 11 years of battling the disease privately and being in remission. However, the wrestler took this challenge as an opportunity to slow down and reflect.
“Before all this happened, I was maxing myself out and working as hard as I could,” he revealed in an interview with GQ. “This has given me a new perspective. Sometimes you have to be smarter and pull yourself back, and that is what I’ve had to do with my diet and my training. Instead of pushing towards a goal relentlessly, I have to listen to my body, see how I’m feeling and what my energy levels are along the way.”
On February 25, 2019, Roman Reigns made a comeback on Raw after successfully overcoming leukemia for the second time. The audience greeted him with thunderous applause, marking an incredibly emotional and inspiring moment for the sport.
I was nervous last night, though. I don’t even get nervous. I’m fine right now. Main events at WrestleMania, all good. But last night, I think because it was so close to the vest, the perfectionist came out in me, the OCD came out. But everybody was so great. The love through this whole process, the support is what was really overwhelming.
Roman Reigns: ‘I Was So Nervous’ Giving Leukemia Update on Raw | Sports Illustrated
Roman Reigns’ training routine & diet
All you need to do to understand Roman Reigns’ commitment to staying at the top of his game is look at his daily training routine and diet plan. “I train as if i’m in the NFL, the NHL, the MLB, the NBA. I train with that same intensity, that same focus and dedication and time management as any of the top sports stars in the world,” the wrestling superstar told Men’s Health. “But at the same time, we have to do this with our shirts off.”
On a typical day, Reigns eats anywhere between 6 to 10 eggs for breakfast, with some bacon or sausage on the side. While a protein-heavy diet is a no-brainer for an athlete like Reigns, because of his past battles with leukaemia, the WWE champion has to be more mindful of the type of protein he digests — opting for chicken and lighter fish over red meat and shellfish.
“There were a lot of other things I had to address,” he explained to GQ. “I had to increase my water intake. I really had to cut down on alcohol. Like anything else, it’s portion control, and being conscious, so we know that I’m not overworking my body.”
When it comes to Reigns’ training routine, his workout schedule is intense and rigorous as you’d expect, mixing in both cardio and resistance training. He’ll also throw in some high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts like treadmill sprints, battle ropes, ladder drills or ball slams.
I still want to be very strong. I still want to be explosive, and to be able to do everything that I need to do in the ring. But I want to be able to connect to each muscle group. That way, I can feel the muscle working, and I can take advantage where there’s no second in the gym wasted. Every minute that I put in into my training sessions, there’s going to be some kind of production that’s taken out of that session.
Roman Reigns Shared the Workout and Diet He Uses to Dominate the WWE | Men’s Health
After a big wrestling event, most wrestlers would want to just kick back and relax with a big cheat meal, and Roman Reigns is no different — “After SummerSlam, I had three pizzas waiting,” he told Men’s Health — but he also has to be mindful about what he eats, especially with future events closing in.
“Knowing that I have Extreme Rules coming up on Sunday, I stuck to some of my cleaner meals, he revealed. “It was like a poke bowl without all the really really good stuff on it—essentially just rice, ahi tuna, some avocado and some cucumber, with a little bit of like soy sauce in there.”
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