Olympians share tips on their favorite exercise moves that you can use in your workout routine
By: The Editors of Men's Health
Secrets From the Best
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Ever wonder what Olympians do to train their bodies for such intense physical performance? (Search: Olympic Workouts) We gathered the 10 best exercises and workouts completed by the top athletes, for the complete list, visit: The Men’s Health Guide to the London 2012 Olympics.
Speed
Faster acceleration and the ability to maintain peak velocity will boost performance in any game you play.1. Race the Man in the Mirror
The secret to speed is patience and relaxation, says Tyson Gay, one of the few men to have recently beaten Usain Bolt in the 100 meters. (Video:Train Like Tyson Gay) To perfect your form, Gay recommends running in place in front of a mirror while holding two 15-pound dumbbells. "Make sure your shoulders are relaxed, and let the weights pull your arms into a natural swing," says Gay. Go as hard as you can for 10 seconds. That's 1 set. Rest for 30 seconds and repeat. Do 8 sets.
2. Twist For Quickness
Any sport that depends on trunk rotation for speed and acceleration—from golf to baseball to mixed martial arts—requires a strong, stable core. To train his core, national champion sprint kayaker Ryan Dolan does Russian twists with his feet elevated. Sit on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat. Hold your arms straight out in front of you, palms together. Lean back so your torso is at a 45-degree angle, and raise your feet a few inches off the floor. Now rotate your torso to the right and then the left as fast as you can for 30 seconds. Rest for 30 seconds. That's 1 set; do 2 more.
Agility
More than razzle-dazzle moves, agility is a winning mix of strength, balance, stability, and superior reaction time.3. Balance Better
Trey Hardee, the 2011 decathlon world champion, does speed skaters to stay sharp. Stand on your right foot with your left foot behind your right ankle. Bend your right knee and bound to the left, reaching toward the floor with your right hand. Land on your left foot and bring your right foot behind your left ankle. Jump back to the right, landing on your right foot as you reach toward the floor with your left hand. Do 3 sets of 10, resting 30 seconds in between.
4. Cut Faster
To slalom faster through big bodies on the hoops court, forward Carmelo Anthony trains with ladder drills. Create your own warmup by marking off four to eight consecutive 18-inch squares and doing moves that mimic the activity you're about to perform. Hop through as fast as you can for 20 seconds, going forward and backward. Then mix it up: left leg only, right leg only, sideways, high knees. Do 10 sets with 20 seconds' rest after each.
Power
Technically, power is defined as force times distance over time. Informally, it's the speed at which you can use your strength.5. Forge Total-Body Fitness
At 5'7" and 185 pounds, 2012 national weightlifting champion and 2008 Olympian Kendrick Farris can clean-and-jerk 447 pounds—the equivalent of hoisting an adult black bear over his head. Like all Olympic lifts, the clean and jerk is highly technical, but you can learn a version called the high pull, which delivers many of the same total-body benefits. (More: Try one of our total-body workouts!) Grab a barbell using a shoulder-width, overhand grip, and hold it at midshin; keep your feet flat, hips back, shoulders down, and chest out. The first part of the high pull is a deadlift, but instead of stopping when the bar reaches your thighs, continue the upward trajectory with a powerful shoulder shrug, and rise up on your toes. Bend your elbows to allow the bar to come up to chest level. Do 3 sets of 5, resting 2 minutes in between.
6. Snatch Speed And Strength
World champion high jumper Jesse Williams doesn't lift weights in competition, but he depends on lifting. "The stronger you are in the Olympic lifts, the quicker you're able to put force into the ground to jump," he says. His go-to move is the snatch; the best regular-guy version is the dumbbell single-arm snatch. Hold a dumbbell in your right hand just below knee height, with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Thrust your hips forward as you straighten your knees, shrug your shoulders, and rise up on your toes. Let momentum carry the weight to chest height as you bend your elbow. Now rotate your upper arm and push your hips back so your body dips as your arm straightens. The weight will be over your shoulder and your legs straight. Do 3 sets of 5 reps with each arm.
Stamina
If you can maintain your performance as your rivals weaken, it almost guarantees that you'll win more often than not.7. Win with Consistency
Don't try to match miles with Olympic marathoner Meb Keflezighi, who runs 100-plus of them every week. Instead, focus on maintaining a consistent pace with his once-a-week interval drill. "You'll run with more composure, which will help you run faster," he says. Warm up at an easy pace for 1 mile. Time yourself as you run 8 quarter-mile repeats, each at the fastest pace you can maintain for the entire drill. Your rest period is the same as your quarter-mile pace. Finish with a relaxing 2-mile jog.
8. Climb Pyramids
Pyramid schemes have a justifiably bad rep in finance. But pyramid intervals are a great way to work up to your maximum heart rate. Rower Dan Walsh, a 2008 bronze medalist, does six 10-minute intervals on the rowing machine, starting with 18 strokes a minute on the first and working up to 24 a minute by the fourth. Then he works back down to 18 for the final interval. Sixty minutes of this is all-pro level, but you can use the pyramid technique for any endurance sport, with any interval length. Shoot for 20 minutes of short intervals (30 to 60 seconds) or 30 minutes of longer challenges. Just make sure you hit your fastest pace in the middle interval, and work at an easy pace for at least a minute in between.
Strength
Performance depends on the muscle you build in the weight room and the skill-specific practice that allows you to use it.9. Wrangle a Stronger Core
To strengthen his core and shoulders, swimmer Michael Phelps uses this battling-rope circuit. Do the first exercise for 30 to 45 seconds, rest 15 seconds, and move on to the next. When you've done all three, rest 1 minute and then do two more circuits. Grab a rope end in each hand and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. This is the starting position for all three exercises. Up and down: Make waves by lifting and lowering both arms as fast and hard as you can while keeping the rest of your body braced. In and out: Move your arms out to either side and back in as fast and hard as you can, creating lateral waves. Alternating: Do the up-and-down wave, but alternate arms so one is up when the other is down.
10. Build Lean Muscle
Middle-distance runners need to be strong and lean. That's why Lopez Lomong, a 2008 Beijing Olympian in the 1,500 meters, does this circuit, holding a 25-pound kettlebell in each hand at arm's length: 1) Walk 50 yards; rest 5 seconds. 2) Do 10 squats; rest 5 seconds. 3) Do 10 lunges with each leg; rest 2 minutes. Repeat for a total of three circuits
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