Real-Life Diet is a series in which GQ talks to athletes, celebrities, and everyone in-between about their diets and exercise routines: what's worked, what hasn't, and where they're still improving. Keep in mind, what works for them might not necessarily be healthy for you.

Even in a locker room filled with some of the fittest people on Earth, WWE’s Finn Bálor stands out for his physique. Specifically, those abdominal muscles, which he seems to have an endless supply of. But when it comes to hitting the gym, Bálor has opted for a more laissez-faire approach. “People would be pretty surprised at how little training I do,” the former champion explained.

That’s why diet has become such a key component of Bálor’s everyday life, helping to ensure that he is, as he likes to say, always four days out: “If I feel like I'm out of shape, I can tighten it up in four days with my training and diet and be exactly where I need to be.”

He’ll especially need to be in tip-top shape when he takes on Bray Wyatt this Sunday at WWE’s SummerSlam event in Toronto. We caught up with the high-flying Irishman to find out how he’s preparing to step in the ring against an opponent who has a solid 100 pounds on him, and also discussed the exercises Bálor has learned to avoid in the wake of a shoulder injury.

GQ: I cannot think of a better person to ask: Are abs made in the gym, or in the kitchen?

Finn Bálor: I think it's a little bit of both. Obviously, they go hand in hand. But I would lean more towards made in the kitchen. I can tell you right now that I do absolutely zero cardio.

See, if you had asked me to guess, I would have assumed you were working in a lot of cardio because of how defined you are.

If I go into a regular gym, I will sit on the bike for six minutes simply to transition my brain from being in civilization to the gym. Not for any sort of calorie burn or warmup or anything like that. Don't ask me why it's six minutes, that's just a weird OCD thing that I have. And I won't train for more than an hour. There will be a long period beforehand with some active stretching, and then I'll do a little bit of accessory work first. I won't do anything that's going to jeopardize what I do in the ring, so I'm not going to do any heavy squats, any heavy deadlifts. I'm more worried about the accessory work and making sure all the joints are in place with rotation, especially with my shoulder injuries in the past. I want to do all that accessory work first when I'm fresh, I'm concentrating, I'm focused, and then I'll hit a little bit hypertrophy bodybuilding towards the end, but we're talking maybe three drop sets of rows, or something like that.

Is there any rhyme or reason to what you may be working on each day in the gym?

When I walk into the gym, I don't have a plan. I don't know if I'm going to deadlift that day, I don't know if I'll box squat that day, I don't know if I'm going to do dips that day. I just go in, feel the workout, and take it from there. If something hurts, I'm going to stay away from that. If something feels good, I'll want to work on that. But there's no plan. You know, everyone's got different mentalities and different approaches. Mine is kind of slow and steady. I've been training now for over 20 years and I'd rather train a little bit for six days a week then go balls to the walls for four days. I'm putting my body in enough jeopardy every night in the ring that when I go to the gym, it's really just to work on the things I want to work on.