All Elite Wrestling stars Adam Copeland and Christian Cage are far from the spry athletes they once were when they were world and tag team champions at the height of their careers.
Copeland, 51, has dealt with neck and leg injuries in recent years, while Cage, also 51 and whose real name is Jay Reso, has battled his own share of injuries. To be able to do normal day-to-day activities and prolong their own careers, something had to change.
Copeland and Reso, longtime friends, developed and launched Pure Plank, creating a way "to revolutionize the planking experience, making it comfortable, functional and engaging for everyone."
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Copeland said he came to a realization when he was having a perfectly normal interaction with his children.
"I have two kids, and it wasn’t until one day I was carrying them up the stairs, and we’re probably talking 60 pounds. And I got to the top, and I was exhausted," Copeland told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. "’Oh, that’s no good.’ I hadn’t really been watching my diet. I hadn’t really been working out the way I used to. I slacked, I got lazy. But then I realized I need to get in better shape for these girls because they need me around. They need dad for as long as possible.
"I decided to start with exercises that I thought were a good starting off point, not to get demoralized by going, ‘Man, I used to be able to do way better than this.’ That kind of thing. So, I started planking. I’d done it before, and I realize how effective it is for your core. And if your core’s strong, then chances are everything else will follow suit."
Reso told Fox News Digital he was working on getting in shape for his wrestling comeback during the coronavirus pandemic and was building a small gym in his garage trying to find small pieces of equipment to work out with.
He said he talked to Copeland about planking, previously dismissing the workout. He said once he tried it, he couldn’t hold a plank for even 30 seconds.
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"I was by myself in the garage, and I was still embarrassed that I was supposed to be this high-level athlete, and I couldn’t even hold a plank for 30 seconds," Reso said. "So, the way my mind works is if I’m not good at something, I become obsessed with it until I am good at it. From that moment on, I became obsessed with planking.
"I started to do it every day, and I saw, as my core started to strengthen, I was able to hold a plank longer. And that, along with changing my eating habits, I saw my body transform like it never had in the past. At 47 years old, I had a six-pack which I never had before."
Reso said planking became something he does daily, and it turned into a business idea.
"Living in Florida in the summertime, working out, you sweat like crazy," he said. "So, I found myself losing the position of the exercise. So, I started to think to myself there had to be a better way to hold the position that when you get sweating and your elbows start to slide out from underneath you, and to me not having to stop resting, that takes away some of the effectiveness of the exercise. That’s where the idea for the handles came in to hold you in the position at all times and to pretty much put you in the proper position right away.
"That was the goal of Pure Plank, to make it just put people in the proper position to be able to hold right away."
Since Copeland and Reso had been friends for so long, there was no hesitation about getting into business together.
The other bright side was being able to have a pro wrestling career again.
"What I think it did is it got our careers back," Copeland told Fox News Digital. "And that, to me, is the biggest thing. I was retired for nine years. Jay was retired for seven years. And we found ourselves both back in the ring. It was the gateway I like to think. Starting the planking was the gateway to getting the diet back in check, to feeling better, to having more energy, to just waking up and feeling like you want to conquer the day instead of letting the day conquer you."
Reso added that with all the punishment the body can take in pro wrestling, the comfort of the board itself "doesn’t make it impossible to plank" if the user has shoulder or back problems.
"I do believe planking helps and will prolong our careers, especially at our ages," he said. "It’s good for everybody for everyday life and to get that core as tight as you possibly can. Everything else kinda follows suit, and that’s what’s so kind of great about planking. It’s a whole body exercise."
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