As you might imagine, Olympic alpine skier Lindsey Vonn knows a thing or two about working out. What you might not know, however, is that you, my dear friend, can do some of her workouts yourself, from the comfort of your own home. While a few of her pretty hardcore exercises require some serious gym equipment, some of Lindsey Vonn's favorite workouts aren't hard to master at all, and can be done with a just a little sweat, motivation, and a good workout mix. And BTW, by "not hard to master," I do mean not impossible — just to be clear.
In case you're wondering what Vonn's workout routine is in general, rest assured that, like any good Olympian, it's impressive AF and focuses a lot on strength-training and balance. It's something she sticks to day in and day out at her home gym in Vail, Colorado. As her trainer, Alex Bunt, told The New York Times, Vonn is not one to mess around when it comes to her workouts:
She never lets a session go. Every single set and every rep matters. There’s no fluff.
Here's to a no-fluff workout! Give some of these exercises a shot, and you'll be feeling like an Olympian in no time.
Yes, friends, the plank. Vonn keeps her core and shoulders aligned, and holds a nice plank position for about 30 to 60 seconds at a time. Repeat this a few times, and you'll be sure to feel your heart racing (almost) as fast as Vonn's does when she's slaying on the slopes.
You can see Vonn has little harnesses to help with her alignment, which aren't totally necessary to use, but they definitely serve as a reminder for how important is to make sure everything is level in your body when it comes to doing planks.
This one is super simple. It's just your average sit-up, but Vonn's version includes having your legs extended straight out in front of you, and some free weights if you feel like it. Vonn uses 10-pounders, but you can use smaller ones of course, or no weights at all, and just use the resistance of your body instead.
Keeping your legs straight out in front of you, and the weights above your head (or again, just your arms can work, too!), slowly lower your torso down. You'll see in the video above that by using your arms, you can propel yourself forward to move through each rep.
As seen on Vonn's Instagram, she simply keeps her hands behind her head with her elbows out, goes down into a squat, and then pops back up into a small, quick jump, where she brings her feet together.
She even makes it look kind of fun! Right? Guys? Bueller?
This is my personal favorite, because skipping is honestly just a good time and makes you feel like a kid again, amirite?
If you have a medicine ball, or simply any weighted object you can hold length-wise in both hands, hold it above your head. Then, with your feet parallel, and your weight focused on the balls of your feet, go forward in small skips.
OK, so this move definitely takes your average plank to the next level. With your body in plank position, arms close to your body and elbows pointed toward the back of you, do a set of about five to 10 push-ups. Remember, it's always cool to drop down to the knees (I always do!), but don't forget to keep your hips aligned just as if they are lifted. A good way to do this is to keep your knees at an angle behind you, and your toes tucked.
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:
