Do you ever wonder where personal trainers get their energy and motivation to stay fit and healthy? Or what they do during the day to practice what they preach? Queen City Lifestyle invites you to follow along on a typical day with Wayne Cooper III, 30, a personal trainer and a meal prep chef in Charlotte.
Cooper says his motivation dates back to his sophomore year at Myers Park High School, when he took up wrestling to cope with being bullied. Cooper is half Chinese and was undersized for his age. He began weight lifting, bodybuilding and healthy dieting as a way to answer the sneers.
“I think the best way to combat people like that is through success,” Cooper says. “I would bottle this almost anger, and use it to better myself as an unlimited supply of energy. I’d never committed to anything before, and it changed my whole life. It changed my mindset because exercise creates good mental health.”
He wrestled for three years, and by his senior year, he didn’t hear any more taunts.
“I thought, ‘Man, I kind of wish people were talking trash again because that’s what was getting me through these workouts,’” Cooper says.
While attending UNC Wilmington, Cooper got an internship in the strength and conditioning department, helping athletes in softball, baseball, track and field, basketball, swim and diving, tennis and more.
He took a job at Velocity Sports Performance in Charlotte, where he worked with elite athletes like Gordon Hayward, formerly of the Charlotte Hornets, and NFL running back Cordarrelle Patterson.
He studied meal prep and worked with athletes in all of the major professional sports. He’s also trained top chefs in the area, like Sam Diminich of Restaurant Constance and Andrew Colacchio, food and travel reviewer @andrewloves_ on Instagram.
For insight into Cooper’s nutrition and fitness lifestyle, and how he maintains both his physical and mental health, follow him for a day.
7-8 A.M. WAKE, WALK and BREAKFAST
I wake up. I drink water. I drink a 40-gram protein shake, which is also good if you are on the go, and I take seven grams of creatine. Creatine is naturally made in the body and found in foods like red meat and chicken. Creatine supplements were once thought to be only for athletes, but new studies show they’re good for women and elderly people. It’s great for brain health, heart health, lowers your blood sugar levels and gives you more energy. I take a 15-minute walk. You get natural vitamin D from the sun, which reduces stress, offsets cortisol. It’s important to get sunlight, especially in your eyes (no sunglasses, hoodie, or hat) to wake up the brain and the body. I cook a breakfast of Yukon Gold potatoes, spinach, turkey bacon (which is a good substitute for weight loss) and eggs.
9 A.M. to noon TRAINING CLIENTS AND LUNCH
I train clients to gain functional strength for everyday living and train weaknesses like bad posture or bad knees. I add kickboxing for fun, high-intensity cardio. Around noon I eat a Waynethree Meal, which offers a variety of flavorful, balanced meals, for lunch, and I either edit videos or meet with clients while I eat.
1 to 4 P.M. MORE TRAINING AND FARMERS MARKET RUN
I work with clients at Cross Conditioning Training on Kings Drive. Afterward, I walk over to Kings Drive Farmers’ Market, which is right next door, and grab groceries for dinner. Chicken thighs or salmon—which is great for weight loss and brain health because of the Omega-3 fatty acids—dark leafy greens and carrots. You want to eat a rainbow of vegetables, a variety of colors. I get tomatoes, green onions.
5-6:30 P.M. PERSONAL WORKOUT THEN SHAKE
I work out at the Dowd YMCA. For strength-building, I use a mixture of free weights, body weight exercises and machines. I incorporate resistance training with dumbbells, bands, cables, sleds, etc. For cardio, I’ll do high-intensity kickboxing, rounds on the punching bag, or run outside.Afterward, I have another 40-gram protein shake. You want to get .7 grams of protein per pound of body weight. That’s something a lot of my clients, athletes or not, are not getting enough of, and adding shakes is an easy way to do so.
7-9 P.M. DINNER, STRETCHES AND BREATHING
I cook dinner, usually a recipe from my cookbook, Eat To Move, and update any clients about training programs. By about 9, I’ll do stretches. I’ll stretch anything that’s tight that day. I also practice diaphragmatic and nasal breathing while I watch TV. That’s really important. I've had people improve their cardio in two weeks just from nasal breathing, and that's something you don't need a gym for. Breathe in and out of your nose calmly, without sighing or yawning, when you watch TV or read a book. When you breathe through your nose, you filter oxygen better. When it gets to your bloodstream and your muscles, it’s already filtered out. To breathe diaphragmatically, your shoulders shouldn’t rise when you inhale and drop when you exhale. Put your hand on your abdomen. It should get bigger when you inhale, smaller when you exhale. I taught it to myself in 2020, and I don't even have to do cardio. I can play a full court game of basketball with my friends and smoke them.
10 P.M. BEDTIME AND MANIFESTATION
While I'm going to bed, looking at the ceiling, I do a lot of positive talk. I do a lot of mental visualization. This is stuff no one really talks about because it's taboo, but it's something I've tried since high school, and something I learned the greats like LeBron James and Olympic gold medalists do. I don't say, “I hope to lose 80 pounds,” I say, “I've lost eight pounds.” Things I’m grateful for, things I’m good at. It’s manifesting good energy. It helps you fall asleep fast, too. It’s benefited me a lot, without having to spend a bunch of money on a gym membership.