Vitamin Daily: Chatting with Stratusphere's Trish Stratus
Photo: Vitamin DailyBy Kelsey Dund
She's teeny, she's bubbly and, despite this picture, former WWE wrestler Trish Stratus doesn't look like she wants to lay the smackdown on me. So we curled up on the couches in the lobby of the Shangri-La, talked about her career as a seven-time WWE champion, her new life as a yogi and the rapid expansion of her Stratusphere yoga line.
KD: I've got to put this out there: when you think Trish Stratus, you don't think yoga.
TS: No? What do you think?
KD: I think of a seven-time WWE champion, a tough, feisty person.
TS: Maybe I'm knocking down preconceived notions of what a yogi is.
I had a herniated disc from wrestling and I was tired of doing physiotherapy without seeing any progress. So I went to my first hot yoga class six years ago and right away my body was like Yes! It was weird at first because I kept thinking I've got to push myself, I've got to go, go, go. I've got to lift weights.
KD: Was that difficult for you, being a competitor at heart?
TS: Yes! There were times when I'd look around the class and say Okay, that guy's 60 and he can do this pose and I can't.
I thought this just wasn't my style. But I couldn't deny how amazing I felt, I was very aware of how it helped me recover. I looked longer, leaner, I almost looked taller in pictures. So my body had really changed.
Then I got approached to do an action flick called Bounty Hunters. I wanted to look a little more fit, tone my arms. So I was training for the film, I was practicing yoga and then I'd hit the gym and it was just too much. I asked myself "How can I do this all at once?"
KD: And that's how you came up with the weighted gloves?
TS: They're non-slip so when you do your downward dog you won't slide and there's one pound of resistance so it's not too much but enough to give you enough resistance that when you're in warrior, you're isometrically training your muscles. You're building it instead of bulking it.
In my DVD I incorporate a lot of the moves you see at the gym too, like squats and curls.
KD: You've got a nutritional angle to your line too, how do you eat well with your busy, active schedule?
TS: I stick with a very basic approach to eating, and that's simple foods and whole foods. Forget the processed food, forget the packaged food.
KD: Do you ever cheat?
TS: Yes! I love fish and chips. And I'm a fan of fair food – the CNE just finished in Toronto – I love mini doughnuts.
KD: Let's talk about fashion for a moment. You've had a bit of a make-under since you retired from wrestling.
TS: The Trish that was wrestling – not that she wasn't me, but I'm not a girly girl, I don't dress up, I'm not a fan of heels, that's just what I did for my role. You'd think that being blonde for so many years, it would feel shocking to be brunette, but no, it felt right at home.
I can now take off my Trish Stratus costume and just be me.
Stratusphere yoga DVD and accessories are now available in Western Canada at London Drugs.
source: vitamindaily.com
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