Hard Body, Hard Work: For Lita, Training for the Divas Shoot is no Walk in the Park
To prepare for this year’s WWE Divas shoot, Lita had to do much more than her usual workouts. Not only did she have to ready herself for the all-important photo shoot—which she’d missed the previous year due to her neck injury—she also had to knock off almost two years’ worth of ring-rust in preparation for a return to action.
“This past year was a unique situation for me,” Lita says. “I was off of TV entirely [when the shoot took place], and I was getting ready to come back for not only the photo shoot, but also to wrestle. On a regular Divas shoot, I’d start training for it about a month out, but, this time, after being with injury, it was a year long process.”
“The good thing about being off TV while getting ready for the shoot was that I was able to have a much different training schedule than I do when I’m on the road,” she says. “When I was home, I would try to do something every single day, whereas on the road, you can have a 12-hour travel day when there just isn’t an opportunity (other than being in the ring) for you to do anything.”
In order to look her very best in front of the camera, Lita put herself through an intense, exhausting routine.
“I did a lot of Bikram Yoga,” Lita says. “That’s a special kind of yoga that is done in a room that’s over 100 degrees. I’d do that for about an hour-and-a-half—sometimes twice a day.
Also, I’d do cardio in the morning, then train with weights at night. The yoga was a staple, but, other than that, I would just always switch things up, because I get bored easily.
Some days I might for a jog, then another day I’d use the cross-trainer. And I even went kayaking with my friends—that’s a killer upper-body workout with cardio.
Basically, I just had to challenge myself to stay interested. Working out is fun, but it can get boring.”
While the hours of cardio and toning one must endure to look picture-perfect in front of the camera can be very intense, many Divas also put themselves on strict diets.
“The other good thing about being at home was that I got to eat a lot healthier than I usually do when I’m on the road,” Lita says. “I had more control over what I ate, as opposed to eating at Denny’s at midnight after a show. I’m not a fan of the whole no- or low-carb crazy, because I love carbs, and I’m not really into high-fat meats—I eat a lot of fish.”
“I think that one should be conscious of what they are eating, but without going overboard, because all that will do is make them miserable, and it’s no fun,” she says. “I love working out, and I’d rather train harder and eat sensible than go crazy with my diet. I’ll just get grumpy that way.”
Why lying in the sub can take its toll on one’s body, Lita doesn’t feel that there’s any comparison between posing for pictures and in-ring action.
“A match is much more difficult,” Lita says. “People always try to say that a photo shoot is so tough, but it’s really not that hard. I mean ,with our whole crew, pretty much everyone knows everyone, so you actually forget that you are working, and you enjoy yourself while you are there.”
“Training for the two is also very different,” Lita says. “I think that staying in shape for competition is just an ongoing process—it’s something that you’re always training for—whereas getting ready for a Divas shoot, is just a matter of gritting your teeth and committing to it.”
While not posing in front of a camera at the beautiful Copacabana Beach Resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico, Lita decided to treat herself for her months of hard work.
“Stacy was my dessert partner all week long,” Lita says. “We said to ourselves ‘Screw it, we already worked so hard to get here, why not enjoy ourself while we’re not working?’ It’s not like a millimeter of fat makes a difference; it’s more about the vibe or the attitude. I don’t look at the pictures to try and make my body look better, I just like to try to find creative new ways to be in a bikini.”
After all is said and done, one of the nicest things about being in the Divas 2004 magazine and Divas: South of the Border DVD is the satisfaction of looking back at a job well done.
“I was really happy with how everything turned out,” Lita says. “It’s always fun to see it because there are so many girls now, and they have to spread them evenly throughout the magazine and the DVD.
We’ll always pose in like 20 different suits, and then we’ll see just five of them, but our favorite ones are never in there, and the ones that we are looking for are never in there.”
“The good thing is that they will eventually turn up in a trading card, or a magazine article down the road,” she said.
“And, by that time, I’ll have forgotten all about them. It’s always really cool when you see those pictures that you’ve forgotten about. It’s just exciting, and it really shows how your hard has paid off.
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