Inside WWE NXT GM Robert Stone's 45-Minute F45 Circuit

F45 runs on a simple premise: gym-goers around the world follow the same daily workout. Robert Strauss, the General Manager of WWE's NXT brand, a pro wrestling coach, and owner of eight Florida gyms, sees that as the format's real selling point. "Everybody does the same workout every day, and you're never going to do the same workout twice," he says. "It's a 45-minute workout that includes your warmup, your workout, and your cooldown."

That's a neat line, and it's also a fair description of how group fitness has long worked. Studios lean on a set program, and members come back for the shared rhythm and the instructor's cues. What's different here is the claim that the routine is identical everywhere yet never repeats. Strauss is really making a point about variation inside a fixed structure, and that's more interesting than the slogan suggests.

Strauss, known to WWE fans as "Robert Stone," recorded a session for us at his Baldwin Park, FL, location. He fits it in between duties, and it shows. For a man juggling a weekly TV role and twin boys at home, the appeal is structure. You walk in, the clock starts, and the session is already planned. And yet even a fixed program has to bend around real life, and that's where a predetermined plan earns its keep.

Why the Format Holds Up

The variety is what keeps it working. Here's the thing: a daily routine only survives if it doesn't feel repetitive. Sessions rotate between cardio, strength, and hybrid days, and many circuit stations offer two exercise options. That means a full-body hit on any given day, whatever the focus, and beginners can scale the load without leaving the class. "You're always going to leave drenched in sweat, I promise you that," Strauss says. That's a bold promise, and I'd read "drenched" as a sign of effort rather than a measure of quality.

Each class opens with short demonstrations, then a guided warmup built on dynamic stretching. That structure will look familiar to anyone who's taken a boot-camp style class. The demos matter more than they seem, because a clean first rep prevents the sloppy form that turns a fast circuit into an injury. The main work follows, and a cooldown closes it out before you head back to the rest of your day. (and this is the part most people overlook) Cooldowns are often the first thing cut when a class runs long, so a built-in block is a small but real signal about how the format was designed.

The Routine Strauss Ran

(This class included 4 minutes of setup.) Those four minutes sit outside the timed blocks below, which matters if you're planning your own schedule. Setup is easy to forget, especially if you're the one moving equipment between stations. If you're plugging this into a lunch break, count it.

Warm-up: 7 minutes Seven minutes is enough to raise your heart rate and rehearse the movements you're about to load. It's not enough to fix a stiff shoulder, though, and anyone with an old injury should say so before the first set. Treat this block as preparation, not therapy.

Main circuit: 3 rounds
Work each exercise for 45 seconds, then rest and transition for 15 seconds. That's a full sixty-second cycle per station, which means the pace is set for you. The design does most of the work here. Nine stations across three rounds puts a lot of tension on the same muscle groups, so go conservative in the first round.

• Seated Y Bell Shoulder Press
• Standing Dumbbell Hammer Curls
• Dumbbell Bench Press
• Cable Triceps Extensions
• Lying Weight Plate Press
• Sandbag Bent-Over Row
• Pushups
• Double Gorilla Kettlebell Row
• Lying Leg Raise with Crunch

Cooldown: 5 minutes Five minutes is short, and most people spend it checking their phones. Use it to bring your breathing down and stretch the muscles you just worked. Skipping it won't cause a crisis, but it's the cheapest recovery you'll get all day.

Why This 45-Minute Session Works

High-intensity interval sessions like this can burn more than 500 calories in 45 minutes, depending on how hard you push. The effect doesn't stop when class ends. Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) keeps your metabolism elevated for hours afterward, which is where much of the fat-burning benefit comes from. I'd treat that 500-calorie figure as a ceiling for a motivated trainee, not a promise for a typical weeknight.

You also stay mostly in one spot. Each station is a short move from the last, so there's no long walk across a gym floor between sets. The circuit mixes back and core work like crunches and rows, upper-body pressing and extensions, and lower-body movement through sumo stances and lying leg raises. For anyone who's lost ten minutes hunting for an open rack, that's a quiet advantage.

Strauss's motivation is straightforward. "Most of the trainees at NXT are half my age," he says. "They are all phenomenal athletes that come from all over the world, and they are in the greatest shape. Seeing them inspires me to continue my fitness journey. I'm also a twin dad to 10-year-olds, and I want them to see their dad is fit and want to be fit too. It's an important part of life for your mental and physical well-being."

Notice the sequence, though. He's describing motivation drawn from elite athletes, which most gym-goers don't have around them. What transfers is the idea that visible role models matter. His point about his kids is the most grounded part of the quote, and it's the part I'd take seriously.

His take is a useful one for anyone past 40 who thinks a short session can't do much. Forty-five minutes with clear structure and no dead time is easier to fit in than an hour of guesswork. The problem with "just show up" advice is that it ignores why people quit. The question is whether you'll keep showing up on the days you don't feel like it.

What This Means for You

If you're working in this space, the interesting part isn't the workout itself. It's the trade-off. A fixed daily program buys you consistency, clear timing, and less decision fatigue, and it costs you flexibility and some control over exercise selection. Similar systems typically face the same tension: the more standardized the product, the easier it is to repeat and the harder it is to tailor for people with very different bodies and goals.

That's why the two-option stations matter more than they look. They're a concession to the reality that not every participant starts from the same place. If the format can't scale for beginners and experienced trainees in the same room, the "same workout every day" pitch starts to wear thin. Watch how the format handles that tension over time.

Strauss's dual role also shows how fitness brands increasingly borrow credibility from unrelated fields. A wrestling producer, a pro coach, and a gym owner in one person makes for a strong story. Whether that story holds up over years of member retention is a question the source doesn't answer, and it's the question I'd ask.

You can see Strauss as General Manager Robert Stone every Tuesday night on the CW Network in the U.S., and streaming internationally on Netflix. That's a useful detail for fans, though it's a side note here. Crossovers between wrestling and fitness are a familiar pattern, since performers often talk about training as part of their public persona. Whether that visibility translates into gym sign-ups is a separate matter.