A WWE superstar, a former rapper, an actor and now, an undying internet sensation, John Cena is people’s champ. Stars like Cena usually leave an indelible mark on the industry they function around.  Of course, not to mention that he’s one of the fittest WWE superstars of all time as well. Bet you’ve never seen him out of shape in a single match! The man’s a champ inside the ring and outside of it. However, his beginnings in the world of fitness are not really talked about. Here’s a deep dive into Cena’s ‘bodybuilding past’ that’s really worth checking out.

Before putting on those denim shorts and smashing chairs on the heads of his rivals in the ring, Cena was busy spray-tanning for bodybuilding competitions.

It’s no wonder why his arms and entire upper body are always insanely vascular, every damn time!

A brief look at Cena’s competition pictures and you will realize that he’s genetically blessed. Superior aesthetics packed with bull-like strength, Cena could have been a bodybuilding force to be reckoned with, had he continued. His lifts include mind-blowing amount of loads: a 418 lbs bench, 611 lbs squat and a 400 lbs Mark Henry. That’s way too much even for most bodybuilders. It’s pretty evident that he takes his strength training and dieting extremely serious all year round.

In the image above, Cena is only 21-years-old and in super condition by all means, for local amateur competitions.  Cena is absolutely blessed with vascularity. Only a few can diet down to such low levels of body fat, and fewer will have this physique. You can see he’s at sub 10% body fat with veins creating maps all over his ripped abs, chest, shoulders and arms. Conditioning like this takes months of dieting and dedication. Had he been in the bodybuilding game today, he’d surely be one of the most conditioned bodybuilders out there.

3D Delts are known as gems in bodybuilding. Even on stage, under depleted conditions his shoulders are not just striated but have that 3D round look. His boulder-shoulders are accompanied by monster traps which make him stand toe to toe with some of the best bodybuilders. Without a doubt, Cena looks like an absolute beast in this pose.

Here comes the game changer, though Cena’s legs look humongous and thick in this side chest pose, it isn’t as appealing as his upper body. Even at such low body fat, separation between hamstrings and quads, and the shredded glutes is definitely missing. From the front, his quad separation and tear drop in the lower quads is phenomenal, but width in the upper thighs isn’t there.

Weak Chest And Biceps

While his arms are definitely huge (to give you an idea: he wears a freaking head band around his arms!). Unfortunately, his biceps have long insertions, which make his front double bicep pose very weak. The peak isn’t there. Also, his chest loses the structure in this pose and looks quite flat. His lower pecs aren’t as thick as the upper and middle. His chest was probably his weakest muscle group.

A Great And Very Well Thought Out Move To Wrestling

Here, we can see his shoulders are overshadowing the chest. Had he been gifted with decent chest and bicep genetics, we would have had a world renowned pro-bodybuilder named John Cena today.  Considering his rugged features and charming smile, he could’ve done great in modern physique and fitness modeling shows as well. But since physique divisions weren’t in the picture during his bodybuilding period, he made a great call switching to pro-wrestling. Also, if he was a bodybuilder today, I wonder how the judges would have judged him if they couldn’t see him!

Yash Sharma is a former national level Football player, now a Strength Coach, Nutritionist and Natural Bodybuilder.  He also runs a YouTube Channel Yash Sharma Fitness via which he aims to educate  all the fitness enthusiasts to maximize their gains by methods that are  backed by science and applicable easily.  Connect with him on YouTube, [email protected], Facebook and Instagram.