If you want inspiration to build functional strength that endures, look to Seth Rollins. The 37-year old has endured some of the most grueling matches in WWE history: In May 2023, he wrestled three times in a single night to earn his World Heavyweight Championship belt. And in 2018, he battled for 65 minutes straight in the longest televised WWE match in history.
More impressively, Rollins performs night after night, wrestling more than 100 matches in 2023—all while working around stress fractures in his lower back, and with a three-year old daughter bouncing around the home he shares with his wife, fellow WWE Superstar Becky Lynch.
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Ahead of Royal Rumble 2024, Rollins told Men's Journal he credits his training for his long run of uninterrupted performance and ability to endure and thrive in marathon matches. Instead of absolute strength, which provides the power to lift a weight or make a move just a few times, he focuses on strength-endurance, which improves the ability to express strength again and again.
That’s not just useful for body slamming behemoths over and over. If you play basketball, hike with a loaded pack, or need to pick your kid up and put her back down 40 times on a rainy Sunday, strength-endurance can help you be stronger for longer.
Rollins at WWE Fastlane 2023.
Courtesy WWE
The WWE legend has been training this way for years, using modified CrossFit workouts that typically have longer rest and avoiding heavy Olympic lifts for his joints’ sakes. Today, Rollins says, he does five to six training sessions per week, most lasting less than an hour. Each starts with a short metabolic conditioning warmup, like five minutes on an Assault bike, jumping rope, or running. He then performs resistance band warmups for the muscles and movements he’s about to target, and then does around 30 minutes of functional bodybuilding training, rotating between push and pull days.
But the key to his training, and what ensures he maintains strength all match long, night after night, is his high-intensity, 15-minute finisher. Below, he shares his favorite variation—a wall ball and bike interval session.
“It’s such a challenging workout in the sense that you look at the clock and think, ‘it’s only a minute,’” he says. This workout is humbling—and effective—for WWE legends and regular guys alike.
Rollins' training often resembles CrossFit WODs.
Courtesy WWE
Try Rollins’ Two-Move, 15-Minute Finisher
For one minute, perform as many wall balls as possible (instructions below). At the end of that minute, hop on an air bike that combines arm and leg action—like an Assault Bike or Rogue Echo—for another all-out minute, trying to burn as many calories as possible on the bike’s computer. You’ll then rest for a full minute before repeating the entire sequence four more times: Wall balls, bike, and then rest.
In each round, try to match the number of wall ball reps you did in the first minute, and try to maintain the pace and calorie burn on the bike as you did in the first round.
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The finisher is simple, but deceptively devious, the WWE vet says.
“You’ve got a full minute to recover, which seems really nice,” he says. “But I am so sore after this workout. My legs are just gassed.”
Try incorporating this after your next strength training session, Rollins says. And listen to your body: Don’t go so hard on the first round that you collapse, he says. Find a pace you can maintain and repeat five times, and try to increase it the next time you do the finisher.
Rollins fighting Finn Bálor during Raw on vember 14, 2022.
Courtesy WWE
How to Do Wall Balls
1. Stand with your feet between shoulder- and hip-width apart in front of a tall wall. Hold a soft-sided medicine ball in front of your chest with elbows bent.
2. Push your hips back to squat, and bend your knees to at least 90 degrees. Keep a proud chest as you descend.
3. Stand up out of the squat explosively and throw the ball up at the wall to a target about 10 feet above you.
4. Catch the ball and immediately squat again. Repeat for as many repetitions as possible for one minute.
