Of course there is no question that Olympic athletes are in amazing shape… they bodies are tight, toned and very lean, they are in the best shape ever when it comes to endurance and strength! Yes, one reason could be that they train for their sport as if it were a full time job (to them it is) but you don’t have to spend 8 hours a day working out to get these same benefits.
Ask any athlete and they will tell you their workouts combine three basic parts: strength training, cardio endurance and plyometrics (jumping exercises) to help get ready for their run at the Gold. And that is what my workout below includes. It is high intensity to help fat burning, heavy weights to help tone and a great mix of all three so you don’t get bored!
But first… what’s plyometrics?
Plyo exercises are jumping moves. These make your body act like a rubber band with your muscles contracting and then springing back (during the jump phase)… and yes they help not just the way your body looks but your over all performance by building lean toned muscles, increasing endurance, agility and improving cardio health too.
I aim to do some form of plyometrics at the end of each workout I do to keep my body improving not just with the weight I lift but with my overall athleticism too!
Olympic Total Body Workout
Try this one out today, let me know what you think!
- Walking DB Lunges 3 x 8 (Rt-1 Lt-1; Rt-2 Lt -2)
- Incline Bench Press 3 x 8
- Single Arm Clean and Press (Dumbbells) 3 x 12
- Jumping Jacks 3 x 2
- Burpees 3 x 8
- Suicide Runs x 3 (basketball court length; or approximately 30 yards)
This is a tri-set workout… for the first set do a set of lunges, straight to a set of bench press then the clean and press…rest 60-90 seconds and do it again. Once you’ve done the three sets move to the second tri-set.
Tagged as: Athlete, olympic workout, performance
