With the Winter Olympics going on currently in Vancouver, it brings a broader appreciation to some of the sports that we do not get to see broadcasted too often and to get to see a few of these athletes that are usually forgotten in non-Olympic years. Some of the top competitors for Team USA are two skiers, Lindsay Vonn and Bode Miller and short track speed skater, Apolo Ohno. The thing that sets these three athletes apart from others is not only their ability to land on the podium after most of their events they compete in, but is how they do cross training in alternative ways to improve their overall strength and fitness. For example, Apolo Ohno enjoys mountain biking while Bode Miller spends a day of basketball shooting and basketball training as a training tool.
This article will mention a few of the training methods that these three Olympians do to make them better than their competitors that may only do ski or skate training. It has been proven that athletes that are more fit in an all around way, will suffer fewer stress induced injuries as well as have more strength and flexibility which benefits them in whatever sport that they are doing.
Lindsay Vonn is the Vancouver Olympics it girl with an huge amount of talent in downhill skiing. Her story became enormous news when she suffered an injury to her shin only weeks prior to the Olympics and she wasn’t sure if she could even compete. So far, she is doing well and finished 3 of her 5 events winning a gold and bronze in 2 of them. She says she is in better shape this season than any other thanks to the hard cross training she has put in. She does a lot of circuit training alternating strength exercises with cardio exercises that challenges her stamina as well as her strength.
Bode Miller had a lot of pressure to bring home the gold at the last Winter Olympics in Italy and did not come through saying his nonchalant training methods were to blame. Since, then he has made it his mission to be in top physical shape and more prepared for this Olympics. He likes adding other activities to his training regimen to stay fresh and to constantly challenge his muscles in new ways. He will play basketball one day and then does interval sprinting and core exercises the other days. With 3 medals so far in Vancouver it seems to be working for Miller.
This is the 3rd Olympic games for short track skater Apolo Ohno and he has just became the most winning skater at the Olympic Games beating Bonnie Blair’s record of five Olympic medals. He is more confident than ever having lost 20 pounds in his comeback and to improve his fitness. He likes doing outdoor workouts like sprinting up a steep hill wearing a weighted vest or going on a long cycling ride to challenge his leg muscles the way they need to be for skating.
