How to get an Olympic body: five athletes share their power-packing, muscle-sculpting moves

Watching the Olympics, no doubt you're in awe of the athletes' ability to do triple back handsprings, leap over hurdles and swim butterfly at warp speed, but let's admit it: What you really want are their phenomenal physiques. The chiseled biceps, the taut abs, the sculpted quads. So we wondered: Do they get these powerful, muscled bodies from their sport alone or by hitting the weight room? Turns out it's a combination of both. We talked to five top U.S. women athletes--beach volleyball player Misty May, basketball player Tamika Catchings, soccer player Cindy Parlow, fencer Erinn Smart and swimmer Amanda Beard--to learn the secrets to their most enviable body parts. All of them told us that weight training helped them maximize their natural potential. They also shared their favorite exercise picks for their signature muscle groups.

Workout Routine

You can add specific exercises into your current routine or do the exercises listed as a complete weight-training workout. However you choose to use these moves, do 1-3 sets of each, 8-15 reps per set. When called for, use a weight that's challenging but still allows you to maintain good form.

Bosu Bike

Exercise: Place a Bosu on the floor, dome side up. Sit on the front of the Bosu, resting your glutes on the dome's curve, and lean back to drape the small of your back over the top. Bring your left knee toward your chest and extend your right leg at hip height. Place your hands behind your head, elbows rounded slightly inward, and rotate your torso to the left so your right shoulder points toward your left knee. Hold for a moment and then carefully rotate to the right, bringing your right knee in and straightening your left leg until your left shoulder points toward your right knee. Continue alternating sides to complete the set.

Gold-Medal Tip: Because this is such a balance challenge, your core muscles must work deeply just to stay atop the Bosu. Move slowly and deliberately: don't worry if you slide off the Bosu a few times as you learn this exercise.

Plank Tilt

Exercise: Place a Bosu on the floor, dome side down, and get into a plank position with your arms straight and hands grasping the sides of the platform. Pull in your abs and tilt your chin toward your chest so your back doesn't sag and your body forms a straight line from the top of your head to your heels. Hold this position for 10 slow counts as you focus on keeping as still as possible. Then, tilt your entire body slightly to the right and hold for 10 counts, again staying as still as possible. To complete the rep, tilt to the left and hold for 10 counts.

Gold-Medal Tip: The secret to maintaining a stable body? Abs, abs, abs. To prevent wobbling, pull your abs in as deeply as possible and reset your spinal alignment by making sure your lower back and neck are in line with the rest of your body.

Without a doubt, Misty May has enviable abs.

But to this beach volleyball player, those muscles are all about strength, not appearance. Before her first Summer Games in 2000, May suffered a sports hernia (a tear in the lower abdominal muscles that attach to the pubis bone). Because of the upcoming Olympics, she couldn't take time off to heal; instead, she visited a sports-medicine specialist who showed her how to build up the muscles around the injured area so they could compensate.

"The doctor showed me how important it is to have strong core muscles and how you use your core for virtually every move you make," says May, 27, who along with her playing partner Kerri Walsh will make up the top-ranked dynamic duo on the sand in Athens.

Even though her hernia has healed, May remains vigilant about strengthening her abs and lower-back muscles. 'At the end of every workout, whether or not she and Walsh are lifting, May does core-related exercises. And all the work is paying off. "I feel more powerful in my jump serves and swinging," she says. "I haven't had any back problems since 2000." Plus, May says, "Keeping my back and ab muscles engaged while walking around improves my self-confidence." She loves exercises like those shown at left that work all her core muscles in tandem.

Luckily for Tamika Catchings, she's naturally strong--this forward for the 2004 USA Women's National Team admits that in college, she had a serious aversion to the weight room. "I'd be pumping the lightest weights and out of the weight room in 20 minutes," recalls Catchings, a star player at the University of Tennessee. "My teammates made fun of me for it." When the six-footer joined the Indiana Fever in the WNBA four seasons ago, she knew she had to change her game plan. Her work paid off: Catchings earned 2002 WNBA Rookie of the Year honors.

Catchings now hits the weights hard in the gym, and when she's at home, she often does five pushups during every commercial while watching her favorite TV shows, including "Soul Food" and "The Bernie Mac Show." "I notice a big difference," says the 25-year-old. "I feel stronger when I make a move to the basket. Even if someone tries to hold my arms down, I can still manage to get the ball up and out."

Clearly Catchings has left her lazy days behind, as evidenced by her outstanding upper torso and arms--and the fact that she was one of the first women chosen for the national team. Here are two exercises that helped her create her fab arms and pecs.

Triceps Extension + Squeeze

Exercise: Hold a weight near one end in both hands and sit up tall on a stability ball with your feet hip-width apart. Straighten your arms overhead. Keeping your upper arms stationary, bend your elbows to lower the weight behind your head. When your forearms are level with the floor, straighten back up to the start. Hold the down position of the last rep, then press your elbows out and squeeze them in for an equal number of reps to complete the set.

Gold-Medal Tip: As you do the extension, keep your upper arms as aligned over your shoulders as your flexibility allows. You'll feel an intense contraction through your triceps as you perform the squeeze, especially if you keep good head and neck posture.

Push-Up Tap

Exercise: Get into a push-up position with your arms straight and palms on the floor. Keep your entire spine aligned from head to heels and your abs pulled in. Bend your elbows until they're level with your shoulders and, as you straighten your arms to push back up, take your right hand off the floor, reach across your chest and tap your left shoulder. Replace your right hand on the floor to move into the next rep. Alternate an equal number of left and right taps to complete the set.

Gold-Medal Tip: Avoid leaning too far into your supporting hand as you tap your opposite shoulder. You'll get the most from this move if you keep your legs and glute muscles contracted, and your body straight and level.

Plyometric Jump

Exercise: Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Bend your knees and elbows, turn your palms in and make loose fists with your hands. Pull your abs in and lean slightly forward. Spring straight up a few inches, and bend your knees as you land.

Gold-Medal Tip: To make this move more difficult, do it standing atop the dome side of a Bosu. Try to land softly on the very top, rather than the slope, of the Bosu. Adjust your arm position to help keep your balance. Steady yourself as much as possible before moving into the next jump.

Single-Leg Hamstring Stability Ball Curl

Exercise: Lie faceup behind a stability ball, bend your knees, and place your calves and heels on top of it. Relax both arms by your sides. palms down. Roll the ball out until your legs are straight. Press your left heel into the ball and lift your right leg off the ball as far as you feel comfortable. Pull your abs in and raise your hips and torso off the floor until your left ankle, hips and shoulders are in a straight, diagonal line. Keeping your right leg up, slowly bend your left knee and, using your heel, roll the ball toward your glutes. When your left knee is bent about 90 degrees, slowly straighten your leg, rolling the ball back to the start position. Complete all reps with your left leg, then do an equal number of reps with your right leg to complete the set.

Gold-Medal Tip: Your entire body needs to engage to keep the ball rolling smoothly. Flex your heel and press it down as you roll the ball to use all the hamstring muscle fibers.

At 5'11", Cindy Parlow was genetically blessed with great gams. But playing on the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team for the last eight years has certainly helped hone them to perfection.

During the soccer season, national team players don't do much leg work off the field; they get enough of that while shooting, passing and crossing the ball, not to mention a seemingly endless amount of on-field running. "In season, I do more upper body and core stabilization, but off-season when I'm not with the team, I do leg work," says Parlow, who at 18 was the youngest member of the gold-winning team in the 1996 Olympics.

She says peer pressure from her teammates keeps her training when she's at home. "We call each other to make sure our training is up to par--or that we're not doing too much." Parlow favors exercises that can be done just about anywhere. "You can do calf raises on stairs or a fireplace hearth, hamstring curls with a soccer ball, or squats while you're watching TV," says Parlow, who's looking forward to catching season three of her favorite show, "24," on DVD.

Parlow is particularly fond of exercises that are straight-forward yet extremely challenging, like the two she's chosen at left.

No wonder Erinn Smart has solid glutes: "Fencing is like doing hundreds of lunges per day," says the 24-year-old, who will be the lone foil fencer on the women's Olympic team this year. "Fencing targets the glutes because we're always in a squat position--it's like doing a wall sit. A fencer's thighs and glutes have to be strong enough to move her up and down the strip [the fencing surface] at any time."

The Brooklyn, New York, native has been a fencer for half her life. "Fencing is mental as well as physical," says Smart, a 2001 graduate of Columbia University. "I'm still challenged every day to do something new, like getting my timing down. I like to go fairly fast, so going slow is a challenge for me."

When she hits the weight room, one thing she concentrates on is compensating for her natural muscular imbalance. "I'm a righty, so I lead with that side of my body, thus my right side is a little bit larger than my left side." Smart knows she needs to compensate for these imbalances to prevent injury and look her best, so she favors glute moves like these that work each side of the body individually.

Walk-Lift Lunge

Exercise: Hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand tall with your arms at your sides, palms facing in. Step one stride's length forward with your left foot, bending both knees until your left thigh is parallel to the floor and your right thigh is perpendicular to it, heel lifted. Straighten your legs and, as you do so, bring your right leg up and forward, bending your knee to hip level. Hold for two slow counts, then step your right leg forward into the next rep. Continue alternating legs to finish the set.

Gold-Medal Tip: Many exercisers take too large of a step forward, thus stretching out the left leg rather than fully bending the left knee. Take slightly smaller strides and concentrate on bending both knees to their full range of motion.

Single-Leg Squat Hydrant

Exercise: Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms at your sides, palms facing in. Stand tall with your left foot in front of your right. Shift your weight to your left foot and lift your right heel. Bend both knees a few inches, then keep your right knee bent while straightening your left leg and lifting your right foot up and behind you until your shin is parallel to the floor. Return to the start and complete all reps with your left leg before switching to your right leg to complete the set.

Gold-Medal Tip: The lower you can sit into a squat without allowing your front knee to travel past your toes, the more effective and challenging the exercise will be.

Kneeling Rear-Delt Flye

Exercise: Hold a dumbbell in your right hand and kneel so your bodyweight is balanced evenly on your knees and left palm; make sure your knees are directly under your hips and your palm is directly beneath your left shoulder, arm straight. With your right palm facing in, bend your right elbow slightly to lift your right hand off the floor. Pull your abs in and tuck your chin toward your chest to align your spine from the top of your head to your tailbone. Raise your right arm up and out to the side in an arc until your elbow is level with your shoulder, hold a moment and slowly lower to the start. Complete all reps with your right arm, then do an equal number of reps with your left to finish the set.

Gold-Medal Tip: If you feel your bodyweight shifting onto your left knee and palm as you lift the weight, slow down and reset your alignment. If you still can't keep yourself evenly balanced, switch to a lighter dumbbell.

Stability Ball Row

Exercise: Hold a dumbbell in your right hand and stand alongside a stability ball on your left. Bend your knees slightly and lean forward from the hips. Place your left palm on top of the ball, arm straight. Extend your right arm down, palm facing in Pull your abs in and tuck your chin toward your chest so your spine forms a straight line from the top of your head to your tailbone. Bend your right elbow upward to pull the weight level with your waist, hold a moment and slowly lower to the start. Complete all reps with your right arm, then switch sides and do an equal number of reps with your left arm to complete the set.

Gold-Medal Tip: Use your left arm and shoulder muscles to stabilize your body as your right arm moves. Press your palm down on the ball only as much as you need to in order to keep your body still.

With her wide shoulders and tapered torso, Amanda Beard has an ideal swimmer's build. "My dad is really athletic and he has that physique," says Beard, 22, who's training for her third Olympics. Just 14 at the 1996 Games, she won two silver medals and one gold. She added a bronze in Sydney, and this summer, she'll compete in the breaststroke and individual medley events. Beard currently holds the American record for the 50- and 200-meter breaststroke.

Clearly, spending so much time in the pool has helped Beard cultivate her awesome upper body. She also spends a lot of time in the weight room, which further sculpts and strengthens her physique. But she stresses the importance of not just concentrating on the visible "standout" muscles: "If you strengthen all the little muscles that you don't use as much in swimming, it helps even out muscle tone and improves posture." For masters swimmers and triathletes who might be new to the weight room, she suggests making a commitment to strength-train two or three times a week. Here are two resistance moves to help create a swimmer's V-shape like Beard's.

Photography by Erik Isakson

COPYRIGHT 2004 Weider Publications
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