WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page is coming to Guelph this weekend to host a workshop of an exercise program he has been developing for about 20 years.
DDP Yoga (DDPY) combines yoga, sports therapy and dynamic resistance, along with other fitness training elements, into one program.
In a phone interview on Thursday, Page said DDPY started to take shape after he suffered a serious back injury and doctors told him his wrestling career was over.
“I have a huge respect for yoga today,” he said. “That’s the first thing that started to help me and I could see within the first three weeks of doing it, it started to bring back some flexibility and I started to feel better.”
BELOW: Diamond Dallas Page talks about DDPY and how the program got started
He was also rehabbing other surgeries at the time, so he mixed yoga positions with rehabilitation techniques and continued to add in those other fitness training elements.
“In less than three months I was back in the ring. At 42 [years old] those spine specialists said I was never going to wrestle again. At 43 I was the heavyweight champion of the world,” Page explained.
DDPY has now blossomed into a company that features workout videos, books and a mobile app.
The program is already being offered as a fitness class at the Royal Distributing Athletic Performance Centre on Marden Road, north of Guelph.
The classes are led by instructor and practicing M.D., Dr. Marcel Dore, who works at Guelph General Hospital.
“He’s one of the reasons why we’re having so many people come out,” Page said. “He teaches there all the time and has big classes.”
Page said he expects about 150 people to attend Saturday’s workshop at 10 a.m. and is advising people to get there early.
He added the program is for anyone, regardless of age or weight.
“I break everything down. I teach people how to breath, I teach them how to use dynamic resistance, which is what gets your heart rate jacked up,” Page explained.
The workshop is called “Inspiration Meets Perspiration” and will take place from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Royal Distributing Athletic Performance Centre on Marden Road.
Ticket information for the workshop can be found at DDPY’s website.