Olympic Athletes Offer Unique Tips on How to Stay Fit

If anyone knows how to get fit and stay that way, it’s athletes getting in shape for the Olympics. Abigail Cuffey, of Woman’s Day magazine spoke recently to several former Olympians to see how they stay in shape in their new post-Olympic lives. As she writes, most of them have some good tips that regular people can use to help them stay fit.

She reports first that former skater Nancy Kerrigan says that finding a work-out buddy is one of the best ways to go. But don’t pick just anybody, choose someone that you know will be as dedicated to keeping up a workout routine as you want to be. It also helps if that buddy is a friend because then you’ll feel bad if you let them down, so you’ll try your best to not let that happen.

Heather O’Reilly, still a member of the U.S. Women’s Soccer team says it’s all about keeping track of what you’re doing so you can see your progress, or sadly, your failings. Also, it helps to remember what you’re doing if you switch your routine around. She suggest a little notebook that is easy to carry around. Use it to jot down how many reps you’ve done on a weight machine, or how much weight, or even how may laps around a track you’ve run. Doing so will not only help you remember, but will make you feel good when you look back at all the work you’ve done.

Kristi Yamaguchi thinks the most important thing is scheduling time for working out. Now that she’s out of skating she’s finding out how hard it is for most people to stay fit. She says the only way she can keep herself in shape is to schedule her workout times and then treat those times as one of the more important things on her schedule.

As for Lauren Wenger, a current member of the U.S. Women’s Water Polo team, she finds its sometimes best to stick with whatever works, even if it’s boring. For example, she eats the same breakfast every single day.

Angela Ruggiero, ice-hockey medalist, like many other athletes, says setting goals and then working on them every day is the best way to achieve them. Even if the goal is to maintain a weight or degree of muscle tone. The key is in making the goal, then creating the scenario where the goal can be met. After that, it’s just a matter of sticking to it.

Finally, several of the athletes noted one thing that is really important, and that’s finding something that works for you. To do that, try out as many things as you can. Then, toss out the stuff that you hate, or that kills, you, and keep the ones that seem bearable.


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