How Brandi Rhodes stays fit through motherhood, business and wrestling

Brandi Rhodes loves life as a mother and believes maintaining her own health is one of the most important things she can do for baby Liberty. In this sense, the businesswoman, wrestler and television personality has really worked up a sweat over the last year to look and feel phenomenal at a time when life has never been busier.

A pro wrestling family's day is never boring. As Muscle & Fitness HERS speaks exclusively with Brandi Rhodes, we're just 24 hours away her husband Cody A headline-grabbing match at WWE's Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, where the "American Nightmare" wrestled the match of his career while suffering from a visibly torn pectoral muscle. Pro wrestlers may look like superheroes in the ring, but they bend and break like the rest of us. So was Cody feeling a pang when he called home after giving so much of himself physically to please the fans? “No, because the reason wrestlers marry wrestlers is because we get it,” Rhodes says. "We understand, you know? So, I think I'm probably the only person he feels comfortable talking to during these incidents because as hard as it is to watch him in pain and work with pain, I get it, I did it and I get it. As long as we have the all-clear from the doctor, I fully support him."

Brandi Rhodes is competitive at heart

Brandi Rhodes understands what it's like to deal with pain yourself, having competed in figure skating at a young age before she made her pro wrestling debut in 2011. “It's one of those sports that people don't realize how much endurance it takes because it's so aesthetic,” she says. "I mean, I started figure skating when I was 4 years old and I didn't stop until I was 27, so I had a very long career. A lot of your career is spent falling very hard. It's that unforgiving ice. I was very broken all the time. My ankle bones tell the story. I used to have to wrap my ankles every time I trained because just from that rough leather of the boot bled.”

While Brandi left WWE with Cody in 2016, her passion for pro wrestling remained and she became one Chief Brand Ambassador and Performer for All Elite Wrestling, taking part in the upstart promotion with Cody from 2019 to 2022. And with Cody now back in WWE, don't discount the possibility of Brandi lacing up the boots once again. We found out that she is a regular at her wrestling school, Nightmare Factory, in Atlanta, GA, and that after our interview is complete, she will be heading into the ring to train for a few hours. “I still work out all the time,” she shares. "People can connect the dots and make of it what they want. I'll tell you; I wouldn't train just for fun and get beaten up (laughs), so of course I plan on continuing my career in the ring. When and where? That's yet to be seen, but I hope when it does everyone is happy and proud."

Of course, Rhodes has his hands full outside of the ring. Not only is she the proud mother of Liberty, who recently celebrated her first birthday, but she also just learned that her popular YouTube cooking show " Shot by Brandi " is being developed for television. For this Renaissance woman, being fit and healthy is important to staying motivated and pursuing her ambitions. "For me, I've always been very, very health-oriented and had a health agenda," she says. "And I hope that rubs off on my child and that she's able to do the things that she wants to do." Rhodes points out that all mothers are different and that one size does not fit all when it comes to getting back into shape after pregnancy. However, in her case, the results of her hard work really pay off.

Brandi Rhodes loves evolving her fitness routines

“One of the things I’m very open to is evolving my fitness routines,” says Rhodes. "I know that sometimes we get very comfortable with certain routines and we kind of get stuck in them and don't know how to move forward." To shake things up, Rhodes started working with a personal trainer Brad Kolowich and feels like this change in routine, coupled with her in-ring sessions at Nightmare Factory, really moved the needle. In fact, Rhodes has lost a total of 52 pounds, which is 2 pounds less than her pre-pregnancy weight.

Rhodes works with Kolowich 2-3 times a week. Sessions are typically full-body workouts with a weightlifting component. She complements these sessions by also including her own workouts, and these are powered by the Welding app. "It's geared toward women, all female trainers, and it gives me a different workout every day," says Rhodes, explaining that some days may be cardio-based while others may be Full body Tabata (a type of high-intensity internal training). "Other days it's just arms or just abs," she continues.

Brandi becomes stronger by working on her weaknesses

One of the briefings Rhodes gave Brad Kolowich from the start was that she felt the need to improve her strength. “When I step back into the ring, I think one of my weaknesses is that I wasn’t the strongest,” she shares. "I've always been okay with my upper body strength not being at its best, and I'm just not okay with that anymore." Thanks to regular weightlifting, Rhodes is now crushing PR after PR. "We do bench presses, we do dips, which I hate (laughs), we do pull-ups. I don't think I've done pull-ups since elementary school," Rhodes says.

The legs are not neglected, the fit mom also regularly does squats and leg presses. She also focuses on working on her calves. “I have the thinnest calves of anyone I’ve ever met,” she jokes. "I think it's just a genetic thing, but maybe we can get some more meat there!"

Rhodes is at her best when she's busy. “I’ve been like this since I was a child,” she says. "I've always wanted to have so much going on. I just work better and function better when I'm really stimulated." Case in point: The mammoth multitasker is now working on a second one

YouTube series called “Brandi on the Rocks,” a cool concept where she visits cafes and bars to learn about their signature cocktails. Cheers to you, Brandi!