Former Heavyweight Champ Opens Up About the Workouts, Diet, and Mindset Shift That Led to His Impressive Weight Loss
If you’re a wrestling fan, you’re likely familiar with Tyrus, the towering heavyweight who dominated the ring for years with his size and strength. For much of his adult life, his identity was built around lifting heavy and training hard to maintain his force as a professional athlete. But when he retired just a few years ago, it sparked a weight loss journey characterized by wisdom, acceptance, and a new approach to fitness focused on longevity.
During his days as a professional wrestler, Tyrus trained four days a week with sessions lasting about three hours. But a couple of years before retiring, Tyrus began to notice changes in his body and performance, recounting how he had "lost a step."
"I would bench, and let's say I'd finished 405 for 15 reps—when I was in my prime, I didn't really have to rest after that," Tyrus told Men's Journal in an exclusive interview. "The next day, I would just do my regular lift. Doing that now? It would take me two days just to recover from the fatigue, the joint aching, the shoulder, and the back hurting. Everything started to hurt."
Now almost 53 years old, the former NWA World Heavyweight Champion and current host of Planet Tyrus continues to shed weight, transforming his health and fitness, but most importantly, his mindset around it all.
Post-Retirement Weight Gain
For someone whose identity had long been tied to brute strength in both gyms and wrestling rings, adjusting to retirement was a humbling process. Tyrus describes this period as full of doubt and frustration from not feeling as powerful in the gym.
Without the structure of heavy lifting, he lost motivation to train. When compounded with his regular appetite as a strength athlete, he gained about 75 pounds in a year, eventually reaching his heaviest weight at 489 pounds.
"I went through a period where I would just kind of be there. I was kind of lost. I had some insecurity issues with the gym," he explained. "So I found every reason [to skip the gym]. I mean, literally would pull up in the parking lot and see one extra car. 'It's crowded. Can't go today. I'll go tomorrow.' So I kind of went through all that, trying to rediscover myself."
Getty Images/Bryan Winter / Contributor
Health Scares and Turning Point
Tyrus experienced a couple of wake-up call moments that eventually pushed him toward change. First, he began noticing physical signs: feeling softer and less muscular, getting smaller in ways that didn’t feel healthy, and becoming winded just walking up the stairs.
He was also shaken by the deaths of former teammates with similar body types who passed away in their late 40s and early 50s from heart issues.
"I have young children, and I would like to be there for them," he said. "I found something to train for. Before I trained for sports, I trained for the glory of being a 500-pound bencher and all that good stuff. And now I'm training just to have more days."
Weight Loss and Mindset Shift
Tyrus credits much of his success to the guidance and support of his wife, who helped him rethink his training and approach to food. He still trains four days a week, but the focus is now on functional strength, cardio, and mobility. The big lifts like bench and squat remain part of his routine, but he focuses more on keeping the movement pattern strong rather than lifting the heaviest possible weights. Workouts feature high-rep work with lighter weights, rope and band exercises, cycling, and thorough warmups and stretching.
His diet is simple, built around two protein shakes and one whole-food meal each day, which is usually steak and vegetables, paired alongside intermittent fasting. Once he lost his cravings for highly satiating foods, sticking to such a straightforward diet became much easier. Tyrus describes battling his urges as confronting the “400-pound gorilla” inside, aka the part of him that wants sugar and fast food. Over time, he learned to acknowledge these impulses and even “argue” with himself to stay focused on his long-term goals.
Within a month of sticking to this new approach, he lost 27 pounds and, over time, dropped to just over 300 pounds while maintaining muscle. Beyond the numbers, Tyrus says the biggest revelation was realizing just how miserable he had been at his heaviest, and how much better life feels now.
Related: Jelly Roll’s 275-Pound Weight Loss: How He Reached His Fitness Goal and What Worked