Wrestling legend tackles obesity through yoga

SMYRNA, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - In case you haven’t heard, “WWE’s Smackdown Live” is coming to FOX on Fridays starting in October.  And to help us get in the mood for the weekly live two-hour event, we decided to pay a visit to a local guy who knows a thing or two about professional wrestling!

Diamond Dallas Page is a professional wrestling icon, starting his career as a manager in the late 1980s and entering the ring himself shortly thereafter. 

DDP was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017 and remains an all-time fan favorite, but years of smacking down (and occasionally being smacked down) in the ring led to some life-changing injuries for the athlete. 

Because of those injuries – including the rupturing of his L4 and L5 spinal discs – DDP began searching for a fitness program to help keep him active and mobile; that search led to the development of his own program, DDP Yoga.

So what is it?  Well, as DDP says, “It ain’t your mama’s yoga!”  DDP Yoga combines elements of traditional yoga with dynamic resistance workouts and calisthenics, along with movements learned in sports rehab therapy. 

DDP says the goal is to help increase fitness through muscle growth and fat loss, while never placing too much stress on the joints. 

Today, DDP Yoga is headquartered in a state-of-the-art facility and studio in Smyrna, where DDP and his staff lead classes in-person and through video technology. 

And that’s where we spent the morning, learning more about the fitness program and looking back on Diamond Dallas Page’s legendary career as a professional wrestler.