9 Workouts Inspired by Your Fave Olympic Sports
The wait is finally over — the opening ceremony for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio is tonight, and we’re ready to cheer on Team USA to gold! And as these Olympians are about to kill it on the track, in the pool and everywhere else in between, we couldn’t help but get seriously inspired by their athleticism and figure out how we can add some of their fierce workout routines into our own fitness plan. So we searched high and low for the ultimate workouts inspired by all of our favorite Olympic sports and found nine that will have you competing for a medal in no time.
Boxing
1. Prevail Los Angeles: The best way to train like an Olympian? Do as the Olympians do. One of the hottest new workout trends, this fun, high-energy group boxing class improves strength, mobility, endurance, body composition, vitality and hand-eye coordination. (Photo via Prevail Los Angeles)
Track and Field
2. Mile High Run Club: While you may never be as quick as Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who broke three records during the 2008 Olympics and defended all three titles at the 2012 Games, the Mile High Run Club will help you channel your inner track and field star. Their New York-based studio is dedicated entirely to running and offers interval-based exercises to build endurance, strength training classes and a weekly guided run led by an Olympic coach — everything you need to crush your next race. (Photo via Mile High Run Club)
Gymnastics
3. PopPhysique: While this may not make you the next Mary Lou Retton, it can’t hurt to try. Dubbed “an artistic approach to exercise,” PopPhysique claims to improve posture and flexibility, increase abdominal strength and tone and increase body awareness. These are all things that American gymnast Simone Biles, who holds 10 world championship gold medals, needs to possess to be able to gracefully balance on a beam and powerfully fly high on the vault. (Photo via PopPhysique)
Cycling
4. Flywheel: The comparison can’t get any simpler, but Flywheel classes offer you a way to bring your outdoor cycling experience indoors, and are great for super competitive types — their “Torqboards” display a class leaderboard, so you can see how you’re performing compared to other cyclists. After a few classes, you’ll be thinking that you too can conquer Alpe d’Huez, the most feared climb of the Tour de France, like British cyclist Chris Froome, who will compete in the Olympics after winning said Tour. (Someone get this guy a drink.) (Photo via Flywheel)
Soccer
5. Kickbox at Keith Cooke Studio: Soccer players are all legs, and a kickbox class at Keith Cooke Studio will help train powerful stems, using the kickboxing bags as resistance, to endure an intense game. The class is a fat-burning, heart-pumping, total body workout that sculpts your figure into a long and lean powerhouse. (Photo via Keith Cooke Studio)
Swimming
6. Crunch BodyWeb With TRX: Natalie Coughlin, Olympic medalist and all-around #girlboss, finds TRX Training beneficial to her swim training regimen, even taking the bands with her when she travels. During this class, you use the suspension tool and your body weight to constantly stabilize your body and perform pushing, pulling, lifting and lowering exercises, which mimic swimming strokes. (Photo via Crunch Fitness)
Rowing
7. Row Club: Using the ergometer is thought to be one of the most efficient mechanisms on the planet to strengthen a cardiovascular system. During each rowing stroke, 36 percent of the body’s muscle mass is activated. The 45-minute group classes offered at Row Club aim to improve movement, aerobic capacity, posture and strength — all crucial traits to make it in Rio. (Photo via Row Club)
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Tennis
8. Rise Nation: The movement you perform on a momentum neutral climber utilizes your upper and lower muscle groups together and requires your body to perform work, all at the same time. Even at 30 minutes, this workout is intense and promotes a more balanced and powerful physique, perfect for hours-long matches on the court, and having to quickly change direction with each groundstroke.
Recovery
9. Corepower Yoga: Muscle recovery is just as important to athletes’ preparation in their respected sports. (Preach.) To aid in muscle recovery, visit a CorePower Yoga class to practice proper posture alignment, connecting breath to movement and detoxification. (Photo via Corepower Yoga)
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