Watching Olympic snowboarding is invigorating, and I'm constantly in awe of the athletes and their mind-blowing moves on the slopes. How does anyone possibly prepare themselves to launch several feet into the air, and land back down on icy terrain — without falling? Well, after taking a look at a few of Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim's go to workouts that she does off the snow, I'm honestly surprised by how doable these moves are for non-Olympian plebs like you and me.
If you're wondering why I chose to investigate Chloe Kim's workouts specifically, let me just say that this woman is my spirit animal. TBH, I think my love for her began when she was literally tweeting about wanting churros and ice cream just seconds before an Olympic competition. And then she casually won the gold medal — no big deal, though. But yeah, if there's any Olympic workout routine worth emulating, it's clearly Kim's.
Despite what an amazingly successful athlete Kim is, her workouts really don't get too fancy, complicated, or especially strenuous. These five simple exercises can be incorporated into just about anyone's routine, and they're sure to make you feel just as badass as Kim. Oh, and in her honor, you should definitely have a churro or a bowl of ice cream (or both, because why the hell not?) after you're done.
If you're used to doing your typical squats or forward-facing lunges during your workout routine, adding lateral lunges into the mix could be just what you need to take things to the next level.
Lateral lunges strengthen your inner and outer thighs, quads, hamstrings, and glutes. Plus, these moves help keep your hip muscles functional, flexible, and injury-free. SELF reports that this exercise helps Kim during her snowboarding routines because it really focuses on hip mobility, which is super important when you're out there doing complex moves on the halfpipe every day.
I guess it requires obliques of steel to master all of those incredible snowboarding tricks, because Kim includes knee-to-elbow planks in her workout routine on the reg, according to her Instagram.
Basic planks already work essentially every muscle in your body, but adding a cross-body knee variation to the equation will really make you feel the freaking burn. If you keep alternating between sides, quickly and precisely, you'll even get a quality cardio workout in, not to mention you'll seriously improve your agility.
This move is sort of like mountain climbers, but the oblique edition. No wonder Kim conquers all of those mountainous slopes with ease, amirite people?
OK, I know I said that Kim's workouts are pretty simple and straightforward, but this bad boy will definitely present you with a bit (fine, a lot) of difficulty. It's still totally doable, though; you've just got to be up for the challenge!
One-legged pistol squats are a somewhat advanced workout, in that they require loads of practice to master. Let's just say you might be plopping down on your butt for a while before you get the hang of these babies.
However, once you're able to add them to your routine, you'll gain loads of balance, powerful legs, awesome hip mobility, not to mention a strong core, back, and arms. I'm pretty sure this move is Kim's secret weapon to success on the slopes, but the secret's out now, y'all.
A strong core is crucial for successfully competing in just about any sport, but it's especially key when it comes to snowboarding, which requires you to maintain balance, focus, and stability.
According to PopSugar, Kim likes to include light core exercises in her recovery routine to keep her abs functional, and prepare for her more demanding training sessions.
I'll assume that most people reading this probably aren't Olympic athletes, so with that in mind, you can definitely include more challenging core circuits in shaping your own Chloe Kim-inspired workout — because, you know, you won't have to compete against other Olympians on live TV later that day for a gold medal. Or maybe you will, I don't know your life.
Kim told PopSugar that, after she hurt her knee a few years ago, her go-to strategy for unwinding after a strenuous day of training has been cycling. Just 20 minutes a day on the bike, she explained, helps her muscles recover, and keeps her joints feeling good.
If you want to work out like this awesome Olympian, try incorporating a few minutes of cycling into your own sweat sessions. You can do it at the beginning of your workout to help you get your heart rate up before you take on more challenging exercises, or you could pedal it out at the end of your routine to wind things down like Kim.
If you want to kick it up a notch, you can head to your favorite SoulCycle class, and close your eyes while the beats are bumpin' so that you can pretend you're an Olympic snowboarder for an hour. Hey, I won't judge.
Erin Jackson is an inline skating world medalist and roller derby MVP. She dreamed of skating in the Olympics, but to do that, she had to get on ice. She took her first steps on a long-track course in 2016 and started training professionally in September 2017. Four months later, she qualified for the Olympic Winter Games. Check out Elite Daily Insights' video on Jackson's incredible story:
