Bull Star MacKenzie Meehan in Workout Gear Says "We Texased So Hard"

Professional cheerleader and wrestler Gabi Butler is giving a shoutout to her Navarro College cheer team. Butler, 26, shared a video of herself wearing gray shorts and a black sports bra, getting tossed into the air and doing a handstand and flip. Seriously impressive! “Something about them Navarro boys 🔥😮‍💨👏🏽 ,” she captioned the post. “The most talented girl 🤩,” commented Liv Morgan. Here’s what the Cheer star’s training and wellness routine looks like.

1. Food As Fuel

Butler refuses to diet, focusing on strength and endurance. “It is very common in the cheer world for girls not to eat as much … it’s very sad,” she told Muscle & Fitness. “They will not feed their bodies in the way that they should, because they are afraid of being too big to get into the air, or won’t be lifted, or become a top girl. I personally feel like I’m strong, confident, and feel very powerful with my body. To me, if you have strength, then it doesn’t really matter about being super, super tiny.”

2. Cheerleading Practice

Butler’s practice sessions go on for hours, twice a day. “A normal practice runs for about three hours, and sometimes we will have two practices per day,” she told Muscle & Fitness. “On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we’d normally train from noon to 3.30 p.m., and then we would also go again at night from 7 to 10 p.m.”

3. Strength and Endurance Training

Butler’s workouts are heavily focused on plyometrics and strength training. "Competitive cheerleading puts a lot of stress on the body," her trainer Marc Bowron tells Shape. "That's why I structure Gabi's workouts to target key principles such as strength, power, and endurance. It's important for everyone to enjoy their workouts, be creative, and have fun with it with a specific purpose in mind. Too much structure can lead to boredom and loss of enjoyment."

4. Sleep and Recovery

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Butler knows how important sleep is for an athlete. “I say that recovery is so important, and I feel like I’m terrible [at making the most of recovery time], but recovery is key for a great athlete because it’s just as important as training,” she told Muscle & Fitness. “I feel like my best recovery is getting a good night’s sleep. Also, feeding your body good things. I treat my body like a car, so I make sure I’m getting the right nutrients and that I’m eating enough.”

5. Hard Work and Discipline

Butler is dedicated to her training routine and never skips a session if she can help it. “Gabi is a fantastic athlete to work with,” Bowron tells Shape. “During the exercises, she is focused and locked in, and during her rest or after the session, she is always laughing and having fun with me or others around her. Her energy is always extremely high, positive, and she's always committed to doing better at each session.”

Professional cheerleader and wrestler Gabi Butler is giving a shoutout to her Navarro College cheer team. Butler, 26, shared a video of herself wearing gray shorts and a black sports bra, getting tossed into the air and doing a handstand and flip. Seriously impressive! “Something about them Navarro boys 🔥😮‍💨👏🏽 ,” she captioned the post. “The most talented girl 🤩,” commented Liv Morgan. Here’s what the Cheer star’s training and wellness routine looks like.

1. Food As Fuel

Butler refuses to diet, focusing on strength and endurance. “It is very common in the cheer world for girls not to eat as much … it’s very sad,” she told Muscle & Fitness. “They will not feed their bodies in the way that they should, because they are afraid of being too big to get into the air, or won’t be lifted, or become a top girl. I personally feel like I’m strong, confident, and feel very powerful with my body. To me, if you have strength, then it doesn’t really matter about being super, super tiny.”

2. Cheerleading Practice

Butler’s practice sessions go on for hours, twice a day. “A normal practice runs for about three hours, and sometimes we will have two practices per day,” she told Muscle & Fitness. “On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we’d normally train from noon to 3.30 p.m., and then we would also go again at night from 7 to 10 p.m.”

3. Strength and Endurance Training

Butler’s workouts are heavily focused on plyometrics and strength training. "Competitive cheerleading puts a lot of stress on the body," her trainer Marc Bowron tells Shape. "That's why I structure Gabi's workouts to target key principles such as strength, power, and endurance. It's important for everyone to enjoy their workouts, be creative, and have fun with it with a specific purpose in mind. Too much structure can lead to boredom and loss of enjoyment."

4. Sleep and Recovery

Gabi Butler/Instagram

Butler knows how important sleep is for an athlete. “I say that recovery is so important, and I feel like I’m terrible [at making the most of recovery time], but recovery is key for a great athlete because it’s just as important as training,” she told Muscle & Fitness. “I feel like my best recovery is getting a good night’s sleep. Also, feeding your body good things. I treat my body like a car, so I make sure I’m getting the right nutrients and that I’m eating enough.”

5. Hard Work and Discipline

Butler is dedicated to her training routine and never skips a session if she can help it. “Gabi is a fantastic athlete to work with,” Bowron tells Shape. “During the exercises, she is focused and locked in, and during her rest or after the session, she is always laughing and having fun with me or others around her. Her energy is always extremely high, positive, and she's always committed to doing better at each session.”

WWE star Zelina Vega is showing off the impressive results of her intense training routine, on social media. Vega, 33, posted highlights of her life recently, including a stunning snap of her posing in gray sweats and a matching sports bra, looking strong and toned. “Thank you all for the bday love yesterday. Means more than you know. Never know what helps fuel a person to keep fighting. Or just to simply not feel alone. Love you guys. Now, back to work💪🏽,” she captioned the post. Vega works hard to stay strong and ready for the ring—here’s how she does it.

1. HIIT and Muay Thai

Vega does plenty of HIIT workouts mixed up with martial arts. “I workout probably, like, six days a week,” she told Muscle & Fitness. “My husband [Malakai Black] likes to make these, like, powerlifting routines for me and then we also mix it up with Muay Thai. So, it’s a lot of different things that I feel like helps me a lot in the ring, whether it’s strength-wise, speed-wise, so yeah, it’s tough but you gotta fit it in.”

2. Diet Advice From The Rock

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Vega enjoys a vegan diet, and brings her own food on the road. “It is very difficult to eat though, I will say that, because you are just so busy running around all the time,” she told Muscle & Fitness. “Like even with [media calls], I completely forgot to eat, but I learned this from Dwayne Johnson: He had a timer on his phone that showed ‘OK, it’s time to eat’ and he would stop what he was doing and he’d make sure he gets his meals in, and then he would continue doing what he was doing.”

3. Video Game Star

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Vega appeared in the Street Fighter 6 video game as a commentator, and would love to expand to other games. “I've always loved Mortal Kombat and Tekken 2,” she told Screen Rant. “I think what's cool about the fighting game community is that I think we just kind of support all games. It's not even just after one, that's all you can ever be. But also, I would love to be a part of something that has to do with Naruto or Demon Slayer or something like that, because I'm such a big anime head that I'd love to kind of blend those two. Because obviously, I've played Naruto and Ninja Storm, stuff like that. So in some ways, I'd like to find a way to blend the anime gaming space there.”

4. Puerto Rico Pride

Vega is thrilled about the increased diversity in the wrestling world. “It has always been important to me. I’m Puerto Rican from New York,” she told TV Insider. “We’re all very proud of who we are. My family, I’m proud of them and feel like I’m representing them. I’m also representing the culture while I’m doing what I’m doing. I want that to reflect well on all of us as Latinos and Latinas. You think of Eddie [Guerrero] and Rey [Mysterio], but I wanted people to initially, especially in NXT, to think of me. That was a huge thing for us.”

5. Pre-Fight Ritual

Vega has a moving ritual before she gets in the ring for a fight. “I have a moment where I talk to my dad,” she told HOLA! USA. “I call my guardian angels. I go through my list: my dad, my uncle, my grandfather. I mean, even my little puppy that I lost. So I get to talk to them and tell them to be there with me because, without them, I wouldn’t be where I am. And even though they’re gone, I feel them making sure that I’m safe in the ring. I always say, ‘Make sure I’m safe, make sure I remember everything, make sure that the fans love it.’”

Brazilian MMA champion Mackenzie Dern’s whole fitness (and fighting!) philosophy seems to be “never give up.” The 30-year-old UFC strawweight fighter shared a picture of herself wearing black leggings and a blue sports bra, soaked in sweat and glowing with pride. “You become unstoppable when you work on things, that people can’t take away from you. Things like your mindset, character and personality,” she captioned the inspirational post. Here’s how Dern got back into fighting shape after having a baby, and is now stronger than ever.

1. Lifting Weights

Weight training is a key part of Dern’s exercise regimen. "Strength training helps improve a woman's overall health in numerous ways," Emily Hill Bowman, MD, tells Nebraska Medicine. "Besides the many health benefits, women can also lessen their risk for conditions unique to them such as osteoporosis after menopause and pregnancy complications like gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and postpartum depression."

2. Bike Rides

Dern loves riding bikes outside for fun during her down time, which is a great way to enjoy some fresh air. “Cycling is one of the healthiest and most low-impact forms of exercise - meaning it causes less strain and injuries than most other workouts,” say the experts at the University of Montana. “So it's a hobby you can continue to enjoy throughout your long life.”

3. UFC Training

Dern’s preparation methods for UFC were more intense than her previous martial arts training. “One of the things I had to change were the Muay Thai training sessions — a session of just kicks and punches to get my striking sharp,” she told Gracie Mag. “I also started doing an extra session of cardio, even to keep my weight below what I kept it at in BJJ [Brazilian jiu-jitsu]. And the stamina to fight in there for 15, 25 minutes is a little different. There’s no way to rest during battle — only on the stool during breaks.”

4. Postpartum Strength Training

Dern focused on building strength after welcoming her daughter in June 2019. “During my pregnancy, I didn’t train at all,” she told Women’s Health. “I wanted to take advantage of those nine months and enjoy the time off with my growing family. I came back to the sport four months after giving birth to my daughter, Moa. I was still breastfeeding! The longer you wait to come back, the harder it is, I think. I dedicated myself 100 percent, but my training was different than before. I did more functional training, focusing on movements with dumbbells and cables, to improve my speed and reaction time.”

5. Doubled Down On Training

Dern struggled to get fit after having her daughter, but soon got back into shape with intense training. “I was a little nervous for the first match after baby,” she told Women’s Health. “It ended up being my first loss—I was undefeated before that. I lost a couple of sponsors, too, but that only spurred me on. I doubled down on my boxing and strength training, to get the muscles back and to get to the next level as a fighter. I won my next two matches, and I’m proud to say I’m a better athlete now than I was before pregnancy.”

Tatiana Suarez is ready to rumble again after injuring her knee in December—to add insult to injury, it happened on her birthday! Suarez, 33, shared a picture of herself wearing shorts and a black t-shirt, jumping during an intense group training session. “Good to be back 🙏🏽🙌🏽 Let’s go! #champ #hardwork #mma #ufc #wmma,” she captioned the post. “Can’t wait for the title run!!” Suarez is becoming legendary for getting injured and getting back up again, time after time. Here’s what Suarez’s diet and training looks like.

1. Cardio and Strength Training

Tatiana Suarez/Instagram

Suarez trains seven days a week, doing a combination of cardio and strength training. “I'm a great wrestler, I know I'm great at jiu-jitsu, I'm great at kicking," she told Women’s Health. "So right now, I've been focusing a lot on boxing because I know that it's probably my weakest thing. It's also given me a newfound respect for boxers. I can't wrestle yet. I drill it, but I can't bend my knee all the way. When I'm in [training] camp, there's not so much emphasis on cardio just because I do cardio throughout my workouts."

2. High-Protein Diet

Suarez avoids processed foods and sugar. "I ate a lot of high-protein foods and healthy fats like olive oil on salad, chicken, steak, eggs, and avocado," she told Women’s Health. "I also incorporated fish oil, creatine for when I spar, and Thorne's Curcumin Phytosome, which helps a lot with my inflammation."

3. Proud To Fight

Suarez is proud of how many women are entering the fighting world. “I think women in combative sports has drawn a new way of how women are viewed,” she told Forbes. “It was once taboo for women to be in combative sports. Now, people believe every woman should be able to defend themselves. What was once viewed as ‘manly’ is now viewed as strong and beautiful.”

4. Subhead Goes Right Here

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Suarez injured her neck in 2011, after which doctors found a cancerous growth on her thyroid. Then in 2021 she had to take a step back after the ACL, LCL and MCL injuries. Recovery was not easy. "I had to keep my diet a certain way, and I had to do certain exercises for my neck every day, and they were so tedious and boring," she told Women’s Health. "Not only that, but I couldn't do what I love, which is to go live and do my sport. At that point, I was like, 'I thought that patience was the lesson that I was supposed to be learning when I was going through my neck injury. And then I hurt my knee, and thought, 'Well, I don't get it. What more could I have done?'"

5. Knee Injury Recovery

Suarez was careful not to push herself too hard after her knee injury. “The good thing is that there’s nothing actually anatomically wrong with my knee,” she said on The MMA Hour. “So that’s a good thing. But I just didn’t want to go ahead and try to push through something that wasn’t doing what it [was supposed to], because my knee was really inflamed and I didn’t want to try to grapple through something and then actually hurt my knee badly. Because it is the knee that I had surgery on, so I just didn’t want to go ahead and mess with that, especially because my actual injury was so severe. I mean, I tore every ligament in my knee.”