As if anyone needed a reminder, John Cena showed the world just what incredible shape he's in when he took the stage at the Oscars earlier this year with little more than an envelope covering his modesty. And now, the 47-year-old actor and WWE star is opening up about his approach to fitness, and how his goals and benchmarks have progressed over the years.
Speaking with People following the launch of his new partnership with the sports performance brand MET-Rx, Cena says that his fitness journey started at a young age, out of necessity, and only continued to evolve from there.
"When I was a young 12-year-old, it was to look muscular so I couldn't get beat up. And then as a late teen, it was to be strong so I could play sports," he explained. "And then as a young 20-something, I wanted to aesthetically look good just to keep myself disciplined."
"At 47 now, my goal is to be physically active until I can't," Cena continued. "I put a number in my head of like, I'd like to be physically active into my late 80s or 90s. To do a parallel squat in my late 80s. My training used to be based on every single day, be the strongest you can for that day. Now I have my eyes set 40 years down the road."
As he nears his WWE retirement, the Fast X star still says he loves working out daily, but keeps his weight training to four days a week with three rest days that he spends focusing on mobility and flexibility training. He also tries to sustain a "physical to-do list" at his age, compared to when he was younger and would go nonstop.
"I know my WWE journey is coming to an end, but fitness was a part of my life long before the WWE journey started," Cena empathized. "Fitness will be a part of my life, hopefully as long as my heart's beating. So the WWE has been a great chapter in my life—it's year 23 for me—and the sun's setting on that chapter in the book, but fitness will never not be a part of my life."
"I can boil it down to just being consistent and making good choices, and I think that's great advice for anybody out there whose focus is fitness," he added. "And without specific goals, it's really tough to go through that process. That just always helped me."
But one thing you won't catch Cena doing is depriving himself to stay fit. During a recent appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, he explained why he eschews the concept of "cheat" days or meals—something his WWE colleague Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has become notorious for.
"The reason I bring up the 'Hey, what's my cheat day?' [idea] in a monogamous relationship is because it makes no sense," he explained. "You should be accountable for your choices. So when someone asks me, 'Hey, what's your favorite cheat meal?' I turn to them [and] I'm like 'Yo, I just don't look at life like that.'"
"I love pizza. I love ice cream. Man, I love all baked goods. If you put a stack of pancakes in front of me, it is gone," he added.
