Alice Cooper guitarist Nita Strauss is almost as well known for her fitness discipline as she is for her fretboard wizardry. A dedicated gym-goer who launched her own Body Shred fitness challenge in 2019, Strauss recently sat down with Ramona Fernandez of “Gym Rock Crew” to break down exactly what fuels her intense workout sessions.
While many might assume a rock star listens to their own genre exclusively, Strauss revealed that her playlist strategy depends entirely on the type of exercise she is performing. When it comes to the iron, she prefers the heavy, aggressive sounds of melodic death metal.
“I do. During my cardio, I listen to some audiobooks and podcasts, because I am one of those people that finds cardio very tedious. I know a lot of people, they love their cardio. I am not one of them. I do not enjoy cardio,” Strauss admitted (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “So, I’ll put on a book or some motivational podcast or something like that. And then when I lift, I listen to music — mostly rock, of course, or metal. I like the Spotify daily mix, so it gives me a fresh playlist of Soilwork or At The Gates, kind of like a lot of melodic death metal and stuff like that in my lifting playlist.”
However, she noted that she isn’t afraid to switch gears if the mood strikes.
“And then every once in a while I’ll go off the rails and listen to some really upbeat ’90s rock, like Sublime or something like that. Sometimes I just feel like getting a little like pep in my step when I do my workout. So sometimes it’ll be that.”
The interview also delved into Strauss‘s specific training preferences. She identified leg day as her favorite, though she has had to adapt her routine due to past injuries.
“I like to do legs. I’ve always liked to train legs. I like to train heavy legs,” she explained. “Since injuring my knee a few years ago, I don’t do a lot of compound lifts, like squats. I really do more hinge movements, like deadlifts or hip thrust, that kind of thing. So I really kind of just stick with more the posterior chain kind of movement and I really enjoy that.”
Conversely, upper body training remains a struggle, specifically body-weight exercises. Strauss was candid about her limitations, revealing a “secret shame” regarding pullups.
“I’ve not had a super strong upper body most of my life. So I get frustrated with upper-body movements. I will confess to you here on Gym Rock Crew that I cannot do a pullup; I cannot do even one body weight pullup. And that’s my secret shame. I would love to get a pullup one day.”
Part of this struggle stems from professional necessity. As a touring guitarist, Strauss has to prioritize the health of her hands above all else, which often conflicts with the grip strength required for heavy pulling motions.
“So those are the kind of exercises, like those big compound upper-body movements. I don’t mind lap pulldowns, all that kind of stuff. I like doing that. But those sort of like bigger body-weight kind of lifts are not as enjoyable for me because I’m not good at them. I am fully aware the only way to get better at things is to continue doing them. And the other thing for me with the pullup is, of course, as a guitar player, we’re all about the hands and the fingers. And I baby my hands like you wouldn’t believe. That’s the only thing that I’m a princess about, is my fingers. So anything, I’m, like, ‘No, no, no. I can’t do it. My fingers are gonna be sore.’ So I, I blame that also for my lack of grip strength, just because I baby my hands so much.”
Strauss‘ fitness journey has been well-documented; she famously lost 50 pounds and embraced sobriety while on tour in 2015, transforming her lifestyle to meet the demands of life on the road.
