HE'S SURELY THE ONLY yoga instructor who has his own action figure. He's 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds. His bulging biceps flash terrifying tattoos, including a spooky black cat and some flaming dice.

But three-time World Wrestling Champion Diamond Dallas Page says, "I'm not scary anymore." This unlikeliest of yogis had his awakening after rupturing two discs in 1998. Doctors told him his wrestling career was over. But after three weeks of Brian Kest yoga videos, he says, "I felt a significant change." Three months later, he was back in the ring.

His new mission is to help other macho men overcome their fear of yoga. Just don't call it that — it's YRG, Page's acronym for "yoga for regular guys." His brand of the Eastern discipline combines traditional positions with muscle flexing, first clenching, squats and killer push-ups, all intended to pump the heart. Page, who's spreading his gospel through his Web site (Ddpbang.com), a book, DVDs and lessons at trendy gyms, was in D.C. last week to lead a class.

First of all, despite what he says, he is a little bit scary, especially when bellowing orders to his victims, er, students. He's dumped the gentle language of yoga and come up with his own parlance: "Touchdown, make the cross, hulk it up" — the latter a prompt to bend over and clench one's forearms like the green-skinned rage-a-holic. (One he's used on past DVDs: what's known as "dead bug" pose — on your back, legs up and apart — he calls "happy porn star.")

But it soon becomes clear that YRG is nothing to fear. It's yoga, for gosh sake! There are lunges, warrior (er, "road warrior") poses, downward dogs and intense stretches. And Page is a very considerate drill sergeant. To make sure his newbies don't overdo it, he explains how to modify a pose to make it easier. When one of the guys hits 180 on his heart monitor while doing a lunge, Page says, "you're kicking your own ass — go to 'safety zone.'" That's his name for child's pose.

Like the best yogis, Page seeks to turn the exercise into a life lesson. Life consists of "10 percent of what happens to you, 90 percent of how you react to it," he says. So, if you conquer a difficult yoga pose, you're ready for that unpredictable 10 percent.

The guys in the class embrace his message. Adam Clarke, 33, can't get over that yoga pushes his heart rate as high as running sprints: 140 and above. YRG helped him drop 50 pounds in a year — the onetime college footballer is now at 225 pounds. And Exaire Anderson, 32, who competes in the Maximum Championship Wrestling circuit as the X Man, didn't mind at all when Page sent him to the "safety zone."

After Page's D.C. visit, he was off to Afghanistan to teach the troops. But he dropped a hint that he might try repackaging another female-centric core-strengthening discipline for regular guys. All he has to do is come up with a tough new name for Pilates.

Written by Express contributor Marc Silver
Photos by Lawrence Luk

Posted by Express at 12:00 AM on January 22, 2008
Tagged in Fit , Lifestyles , Top Stories