MB: Rob “Spray” MacIntyre is a strength coach for some top level athletes. Rob, tell me a little bit about your background.

RM: I was born in Georgia, though my formative years were in Massachusetts. I’ve been lifting since I was 14 or 15 years old. I got more and more serious as time went on. I got really into the science behind lifting when I was in high school. I would read and read and then read some more. I’m 6’1” and usually weight about 220–230 lbs. I stay lean, but I try to be strong. My squat would be 630 lbs for a double, I think. My deadlift is 640 lbs and I can bench 485 lbs. All of these are natural—no equipment gym lifts—but I try to keep it legit. I try to go ass to ground for squats. I started working with athletes because I had a good eye for movement and I understood strength. So, here I am.

MB: Where did you get the name “Spray?” Ah, wait. Maybe I don’t want to hear this?

RM: That one only gets told in person. The story really isn’t that great anyway. Spray is just a nickname that stuck in certain circles.

MB: What are you up to currently?

RM: I’m a strength coach who works independently. I spent some time at the University of Georgia as a strength coach. I got into track and field athletes, especially throwers because of the speed and power that it requires. I have been very lucky to work with the best. I have been exposed to training methods from all over the world. I just finished hosting a mini-training camp with two Norwegians, a Croatian, and a Hungarian in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. I really admire the desire to win that Olympians have without the monetary reward. I do consulting with all kinds of athletes and coaches, and as you know, I work with John Cena.

MB: Before this turns into an interview about how cool John Cena is, tell me more about the throwers. How do you take a guy who is already throwing a shot put at an Elite level and make him even better? I mean these guys have been throwing and lifting probably for ten years. Give us some examples of what you do with these guys?

RM: That is a tough question to answer because everyone is so different. Of the top three shot putters in the U.S., one can bench press around 500 lbs, one around 550 lbs, and one over 600 lbs. Yet they can all throw about the same. So you have to look at each as an individual. Also, I usually get athletes after they are already at least semi-established so I can’t build them from the ground up so to speak. The first thing I do is look for weaknesses that are holding them back and see how they are distributing their work load. You would be surprised even at the Olympic level how some athletes have never been exposed to a semi-intelligent strength program. They usually know very little about nutrition as well. This is because they are born great and a stock program can take them very far. I think strength coaches sometimes get the illusion that they have created an athlete, but the truth is they could have been with anyone halfway decent and would be performing the same up to a certain level.

So it isn’t unusual to find a few things to tweak here and there to get some improvement on their lifts. That is all well and good, but big lifts don’t equal gold medals (except weightlifters of course). The other reason I look for weaknesses is for injury prevention. The most important thing is to keep these guys healthy. Or as close to healthy as their event allows. At this level, they are truly taking their body to the edge. Breaux Greer, the American record holder in the javelin, has turned his shoulder to crap. He is so explosive and so hyper mobile that he has literally ripped it apart. Every year, he has to get at least some minor corrective surgery on it. So we try to protect it as much as possible without sacrificing too much time every year getting ready for the season. As he says, “If you have never been injured, you probably suck.”

As the competitive season approaches, I try to get them to be as efficient as possible in the weight room. I have to say that everyone I work with is drug tested so recovery ability is a big concern. If you are out at practice for two hours throwing a heavy implement, sprinting, and jumping and then you have to come in and lift, you don’t want to be spending all day in there because it would be counterproductive.

I try to look at every aspect of recovery. If I am not near the athlete, I try to talk to them regularly and adjust their training based on general life stresses as well. The psychology of it all at that level is pretty interesting, but it would take longer to talk about than this already extended answer. The Olympics are interesting for throwers because when it is all said and done, it comes down to how you handle yourself for about ten seconds every four years. There is a lot of pressure that no amount of training can prepare you for.

MB: What are some basic exercises that you use on most throwers? Give some of the coaches and/or athletes who are reading this some general ideas.

RM: The Olympic lifts are a mainstay of course. The U.S. is pretty crappy compared to Europe at the throwing events, except for the shot put. If you look at European programs, they are very basic. They all contain the squat, bench, and snatch and clean with some variation. I know people with powerlifting backgrounds often are unfamiliar with the Olympic lifts and don’t teach them because they don’t know how to do them. I suck at the Olympic lifts, especially now, but it would be stupid as a coach to deny their efficiency. The hard part is getting athletes to do them correctly.

I tend to have throwers do a good bit of posterior chain work with all the typical exercises including good mornings, glute ham raises, Romanian deadlifts, and other similar movements. Usually, they are pretty quad dominant. I use chains and bands, though mostly bands because they are easier to get. I think they are one of the best innovations in the last 20 years, and they are so simple. This really helps with being able to squat and bench with decent speed and weight close to a competition without getting too sore or stressing the joints.

I teach box squats when someone has weak glutes. I just had this situation recently with a European. Over there, many athletes box squat, but they bounce off of the box and don’t really sit back. So I’ll have them box squat for a few months until they get to a decent level of both weight and speed. In the off-season, I basically build strength and power. Speed becomes more of a focus as the season approaches. I’ll add more plyometric jumps between sets of squats. I’ll decrease the number of heavy days and increase the number of dynamic days. In a way, this is the conjugate method but definitely not the powerlifting method that people think of. If you are coaching at a high level and follow the conjugate powerlifting method, remember that your athletes already have a great deal of speed. That is why they are Division I or professional or whatever. You shouldn’t leave it out, but assess exactly what they need and don’t just do tons of dynamic work because that is what strong powerlifters do. Different strokes for different folks and sports.

It isn’t just the exercises that make a good program but the planning. What happens on a given day isn’t as important as where that day is taking you. Always know where you are going with something. Where is the athlete going to be in one month, six months, one year, or four years? Don’t just throw something together that looks cool at the time. There should be a thought to everything. If a professional athlete trusts you with their body, you should put in the time and effort to really build an efficient program. If you work at a university and you get a bunch of freshmen, you basically have partly molded clay. There is a lot you can do with that so make an outline. Be ready to adapt but have a general idea.

Just a general observation that I’ve made over the years…the best athletes aren’t always the best lifters. But it is VERY unusual to have an athlete who is good at the snatch but isn’t one of the best athletes. In fact I have never seen it.

MB: Do you work with the champ? The WWE champion, John Cena? The guy who…wait a second. Wait a damn second here. John Cena, the 250-lb WWE world champion has a trainer? Why the hell does he have a trainer?

RM: For the same reasons that any other athlete has a coach. John knows training very well compared to the average athlete, but the higher up you get in any athletic endeavor, the more you need to know. His strength had suffered over the years as a result of higher rep training. I believe athletes need to be strong not only for performance but injury prevention. He was also unbalanced in certain areas, which set him up for problems. Wrestling is an incredibly tough business as you know. You really have to be able to take punishment, and when you do get hurt, you need to be able to bounce back quickly. Those guys don’t have an off-season. I have to give him credit because he is a great athlete to train. He’s very compliant and willing to try new stuff that may be uncomfortable to anyone who is used to a certain routine.

MB: I have lifted with John Cena, and as a matter of fact, I have pinned him. More than once. Tell the readers what kind of strength John has.

RM: That is something that is changing rapidly. As you know, John is a big guy, not just muscle but big bones and joints. He is designed to hold lots of muscle. He has very few weak points, and it would suck to fight him because his hands are the size of grapefruits. As of writing this, he can bench 440 lbs and squat 545 lbs (high bar ass to ground). He trains with 130 lbs plus for dumbbell shoulder presses and dips with body weight plus 170 lbs for reps. Everything is done with very strict form. There are no suits or anything. By the time you publish this, he will be stronger because he isn’t showing signs of slowing down yet. He has spent the last eight months recovering from a pec tendon tear so I am really proud of his bench. Only recently have we really been able to start pushing the weight. It says a lot for the power of wanting to get better and sticking to your rehab. Plus, we had a little extra time training together because we have been in New Orleans filming a movie called, “12 Rounds,” which should be out sometime next year. That’s “12 Rounds.” See it. And then see it again. Besides weight room numbers though, he has put the biggest wrestlers on his back and thrown them to the ground. He is the type where his weight room numbers don’t necessarily represent his strength…yet.

MB: I know that you and John Cena picked up the “Never Enough” DVD series from www.elitefts.com. What did you guys think of the DVDs?

RM: We got those when we were in New Orleans. John knows about powerlifting but had never seen bench shirts and squats suits in use. The idea of pulling a bar down to you to bench was totally foreign. It blew his mind. The other thing was seeing that you had put on about 100 lbs. I love to see the team atmosphere. I think that can improve training so much. Plus it shows not only huge lifts from people such as you but the improvement of the more novice lifters and what an environment like that can do for people. If lifters or coaches are unfamiliar with a way to implement the conjugate method, I think it is a great place to start, not only because of the format of the workouts but the exercises as well. We actually went around quoting from it for a few days. “I squatted and deadlifted. I didn’t just bench so give me some respect.” —Hossington T. Biggenswolt

MB: Who the heck is Hossington?

RM: I’m not at liberty to make his alias known. If anyone wants to know, they’ll have to buy your DVD to figure it out. We just decided one of your lifters had the wrong name so we renamed him. The only way to possibly describe him is big and swolt.

MB: Not to be gay, but to be totally gay, it has always amazed me how big, lean, and well-conditioned John is. Do you have other athletes like this or is he just a mutant?

RM: I’m lucky enough to work almost exclusively with mutants. Humans need not apply. John is very genetically gifted for size. I completely believe all people are not created equal. You are dealt certain cards and you play the best you can with them. However, his drive and work ethic are part of those gifts. John has been lifting for over 15 years, and he has never had more than five days off I think. And that was only because he was in the hospital with the pec issue. Once he was home, we were in the gym moving very light weight for the lower body. Although I have worked with some large individuals, they haven’t necessarily had the lean muscle size that John has, but they have strength and speed, which is very impressive and mutantish. I’m constantly reminded of how lucky I’ve been to have worked with the caliber of athletes that I do. John isn’t the strongest, but he is the most naturally muscular athlete that I’ve seen. He has been that way since I met him when he was 16 or 17-years-old.

MB: I think it’s cool that you work with a variety of different athletes. What type of training program do you have a professional wrestler follow? I understand it is dependent on the person. So give me an example of what you set up for John.

RM: John has been an interesting project because of the dynamic of what he does, his schedule, and his own training beliefs. Training at first was a compromise of what he was willing to do and what I thought was best. As time has gone on, he has become more compliant because he realized what his weaknesses were and how much benefit he could get from strengthening them. People don’t realize how brutal a professional wrestler’s schedule is. You are on the road almost all the time and in a different city every day, which of course means a different gym every day. We try our best to schedule the heaviest stuff like squats on days when he will be in town, but you have to be able to adapt to anything. During the filming of the movie, we were going five days straight because that is the only way we could get it done due to the schedule. I’m about to change things around because filming has concluded.

His training is like some kind of meathead sports performance bodybuilding hybrid. I don’t use Olympic lifts with him, although I usually do with others. We stick to heavy basic movements with strict form. I can’t really say what we do per day because it has to change because of his schedule. The workouts are always changing anyway. I use bands and chains for accommodating resistance, and he just had his first foray into the world of weight releasers. Recently, a typical chest or bench day looked like this:

Bench press

Restricted range incline with isometric holds

Fly then right to an upper back movement

High rep press to an upper back movement

1–2 bi exercises and/or 2–3 core exercises

It looks like a lot of exercises, but after the first two exercises, we move pretty fast. Sets and reps vary almost every training session. Exercises are rotated every 2–3 weeks, but the basics stay the same. We start heavy and end with a little bit higher reps. We really push strength every time and we will leave out the pump stuff at the end.

Lower body this week was as follows (we just finished heavy singles in the squat last week):

Squat (purple bands), sets of six working up to the most weight you can handle with good form

Romanian deadlift, 4 X 8–10

Leg extension, 3 X 15

Leg extension 2 X 15

Lunge walk across the gym to the hex bar and then hex bar deadlift 2 X 12 (keep excessively upright with focus on the legs)

Leg curl 1 X 15 to wall, sit for 20 seconds, walk to hex bar, deadlift 1 X 20

The result of this was a failure to walk. Workouts are about one and a half hours including the warm up. If we are in a hurry, we are done in 45 minutes. Rest periods change due to weights and reps. Core work is done three times a week, and everything else is once a week except for upper back, biceps, and triceps, which may end up being 1.5–2 times a week if we throw them in on more than one day. John really loves to workout so his frequency of training is too much for optimum recovery, but it helps keep him sane so that is what we do. Although I have to say his recovery ability is pretty phenomenal. We train together, and I can have the same diet, the same sleep, and the same training and he will progress faster than me every time. He is meant to be big. Our goals for him in the near future are a 600-lb squat and deadlift and a 500-lb bench without specific powerlifting training. We can’t put a timeframe on this, but it will be sooner than later. If he didn’t have to travel, he would be there already.

MB: Coach Spray, is this stuff recorded? Are the workouts written out? Or do you have more of a blue print for what he supposed to do and then you just interject assistance exercises on the fly?

RM: Yes, I don’t record every single exercise result, but I know what we did on what day. The numbers for the big stuff is recorded as well as anything that may be significant during a given period of time. I recommend to anyone who tracks their workouts to make notes of stuff beyond the weight room, otherwise your records may tell an incomplete story. If you look back and see a good program with no progress, you might throw it out. However, if a note you made said, “went through divorce, lost kids, dog died, and job was taken over by a more capable machine,” then you know it might have had nothing to do with your program.

I write out everything during certain periods, but after a little training cycle, there might be a week or two that is more on the fly. Then I will just text him his workouts when he is on the road. But there is always a goal in the background. Even during the higher rep type days, I’m getting him ready for what the next phase has in store. There is always logic to it. It is never guess work. Assistance exercises may be chosen on that day out of necessity because of what a gym offers where he is at or to take advantage of Hard Nocks, but they will always be addressing a concern I have.

MB: What is John’s diet like? When I first met John, he was like 260 lb or so and about five percent body fat. His diet at the time was steak, eggs, pizza, ice cream, more steak, more pizza, and expired protein powder and bars. Oh, did I mention he ate a lot of pizza?

RM: Back in the day, he was quite strict. Every time you see him, he eats something like that. There are meals consisting of just protein shakes going on, too. I think if you have been in the game long enough, it doesn’t feel like dieting but you follow a certain diet. He eats what he wants pretty much, but what he wants to eat is high protein food. He gets a little softer sometimes and a little leaner others. He can tighten up quick if he needs to. Again, he is very disciplined so when it comes to cutting out extra calories he can do it without a problem. His road diet isn’t great, but once he is home, he might only have 1–2 solid meals a day. It’s just the way he has found to do it. It certainly isn’t the best way, but it is what works for him. He does have phases of say a pint of ice cream a day, but after a few days, it is back to normal so it is like a subconscious high/low calorie diet cycle. Also, he tends to not carry too much abdominal fat, which helps him look even leaner. Even on a college diet of cheeseburgers, he has never been fat. Just a little softer. As much as he can get it, it is high protein every three hours or so, but he isn’t going after it like a bodybuilder.

MB: A few more questions on John’s workouts. You have mentioned on the phone some random conditioning or finishing type of movements. Give us some examples of that and tell us what the objective is.

RM: Again, the goal with John is size as well as strength. I have a tendency to keep the reps pretty low during primary movements, which is all pretty calculated. Beyond all the science, we come from a background of just going to the gym and kicking your ass until you can’t walk out so sometimes we have to go old school and torture each other. We are close in strength, but he can take me with high rep stuff. I hang on as much as I can. Also, it is a way to hit a muscle group that maybe hasn’t been worked as hard that day. John’s hamstrings are weak in comparison to his quads. Or at least they were. So our lower body work has involved more hamstring movements than quad work. A workout might include the squat, glute ham raises, single leg Romanian deadlifts, and high rep leg extensions. I usually don’t go heavy on those because of the knee ligament strain. Functionally, they are kind of dumb.

To finish this off, we do dumbbell squats for 15 reps, lunges up and back across the gym for three sets with increasing weight per set, and high bar close stance squats for 12 reps. We don’t take any rest between exercises. It is very difficult, and you have to take a little break before you can drive home. John loves this stuff. He is a big fan of lower body torture.

MB: Does John’s training change depending on who he fights? Like if he is wrestling big show as compared to Ray Mesterio?

RM: No, just make him ready for anybody, anytime. He often doesn’t know who he is going to fight until the day of the fight. It would be very hard to plan for that. So at anytime he needs to be able to FU Big Show. Remember, he is wrestling 3–5 days a week. It isn’t just what you see on television.

MB: Let’s say Smelly (also known as me) came out of retirement to bring the pain and leave a stain on the WWE champ, John Cena. In detail, what would a week of preparation look like? Keep in mind that I beat that hump 11 out of 10 times.

RM: I totally forgot about the “bring the pain, leave a stain.” That’s one of the best tag lines ever. If you wanted to get back to your fighting weight, you might need to lose like 80 lbs. Or maybe you could come back as, “the revolting, smelly blob.” Honestly, your strength is obviously not a problem. I would work on your mobility and flexibility to make sure you aren’t going to hurt yourself. Because there is no real time for that in a week, the week would look like this:

Day 1: squats, plyos, promo class

Day 2: bench, arms, walkway entrance class

Day 3: arms, extreme promo class

Day 4: self oiling up lesson, arms, avoiding getting burned by own pyro class

Day 5: tanning bed for ten hours straight

Day 6: in hospital as result of tanning bed fiasco

Day 7: arms, arms, mega extreme ultimate warrior promo class, arms

Then you would have your match. Honestly, I think it would be an enhancement match for one of you, but we won’t mention names.

MB: No, you moron. How would John prepare for me? I’m not the one who needs special training. I could destroy that milk chicken anytime.

RM: My bad. In that case, I would have to alter his diet as well. He has wrestled big dudes but never anyone as bloated as you. So I imagine it would be like trying to fight a water balloon. To match your diet, we would need to up the Twinkie intake severely because they tend to stay cheap. We would buffer that with having him wear a bench shirt 24 hours a day, seven days a week and sleep in a squat suit. Unfortunately for you, I have seen your Supertraining tapes so I would mimic some aspects of your training such as heavy breathing and excessive sweating. But what would ultimately defeat you is having Hoss come over as his manager to lay the Biggenswolt down on you.

MB: Has John Cena ever told you about our clear toilet invention? We were actually thinking about having a clear floor and pipes so you can watch your poop ship out.

RM: Yes, he has and believe it or not we may have found someone who can make you one. I’ll keep you updated. Also, we had an idea for a camera in the bathroom that focuses on the face while you are on the toilet. It would take a picture like on a rollercoaster so you could see your expression during your most trying times. When you are done, you could buy your picture and have it framed or something for memories sake.

MB: Tell me more about the gym. How big is it? Where is it located? What kind of equipment have you got?

RM: The gym we have is called Hard Nocks South, as a nod to Hard Nocks, which is a gym owned by the legendary Dave Nock in Massachusetts. It is about 2500 square feet. It is located in a place that exists in Florida, but that is all I can say. It is NOT open to the public. It is possibly the best place on earth. It’s equipped with a combination of my experience with athletes and John’s experience training all over the country. Elite Fitness helped out a lot with big stuff like power racks, benches, platforms, and other equipment. There was quite a bit of shopping around, but they seemed to have the sturdiest equipment and we have been super pleased with it. Now, we are spoiled trying to workout in other gyms. I have to say that Jim Wendler was very honest with me in terms of what he thought was good and not so good. We have almost the entire line of hammer strength back equipment, but other than that, it is mostly weights and bars. They are Eleiko Olympic plates and bars for anyone who knows Olympic lifting. I have to admit, a Smith machine was bought, but it is now a coat rack. It has never been used.

MB: In closing, what does John Cena and the other world class athletes have in common that separates them from the pack?

RM: Well, chosen parents, obsessive work ethic, and a nonstop desire to be the best. I would also add luck and/or skill to avoid a carrier ending injury. They have “it,” which is hard to describe but you can almost feel it and definitely tell when it isn’t there. You could have a guy or gal who puts in all the time and has all the desire, but there is something about them where you know they will be good but never the best. That top one percent is tough to crack.

MB: Well, I think that’s about it. Do you have anyone you’d like to thank or anything else to add? Any cool sayings to share or words to live by?

RM: I think I have talked your ear off enough. I don’t have many cool sayings. To any strength coaches out there, don’t forget the basics. It is easy to get wrapped up in cool detail and the latest trends, but step back and look at your athlete as a whole. Will that trend or piece of equipment really help them develop more force? Focus more on programming, exercise selection, and—what I think is overlooked a lot—how an athlete is performing an exercise. This tells you a lot about strengths and weaknesses. Forget the trends.