February 15th, 2010

The Winter Olympics are the hottest event in the world right now, and fitness expert Craig Ballantyne has created a special workout for you so that you can join in the excitement.

You can use this to burn fat at home with little or no equipment, and join in the spirit of the inspirational Olympic Games at the same time. Enjoy!

Winter Olympics Workout for Fat Loss

Over to Craig for the workout…

We’ll start with the Moguls Warmup.

I chose the moguls for warm-up, because that’s where the skiers do all those crazy moves and look really mobile. One of the coolest events, for sure.

1. Jumping Jacks – 20 reps
2. Duck Unders – 6 reps per side
(You’ll step to the side squat down and duck under as you move)
3. Stickups – 10 reps
4. Seal Jumps – 20 reps
(These are like jumping jacks, but cross your arms in front of you)
5. Pushups -10 reps
(Let’s pretend you wiped out so you have to do pushups to get back up)

Next, we move into the first event…

The Ski Jump
Do a 10 second hold in the bottom of squat and then do a vertical jump
Repeat 3 times, then move to…

The Downhill Ski Race
1 Long Jump
10 Bodyweight Squats
1 Long Jump
6 Walking Diagonal Lunges per side
1 Long Jump
20-30 second squat hold in bottom position
Repeat 3 times.

Next up, we move to Speed Skating Strength Training

1. Skater Jumps or Lateral Lunges – 8 reps per side
(Beginners must do the lateral lunges)
2. Spiderman Pushups or Elevated Pushups – 8 reps per side
(Let’s pretend we’ve had another wipe-out…so we need to do
some pushups to practice getting up)
3. 1-leg Squats or Reverse Lunges – 12 reps per side
(Beginners must do the reverse lunges)

Take a water break here, and then move to more strength training, this time courtesy of a weird sport… Curling.

The Curling Strength Circuit
1. Lunges – 15 reps per side (you can use weights if you want)
2. Spiderman Climbs – 10 reps per side
3. Close-grip Pushups – 20 reps
4. Biceps Curls – 10 reps per side
(Why curls? Because curlers love to drink beer, so you can do dumbbell curls to practice for post-game beverages)

Take another water break.

Winter Olympics Workout

Optional: Hockey Strength Circuit (Use dumbbells or kettlebells)

1. Split squat – 8 reps per side
(to build strong skating muscles)
2. 1-Arm Standing Shoulder Press – 8 reps per side
(to practice raising your stick in the air after you score a goal)
3. DB Row – 8 reps per side
(to strengthen your upper body & grip for hockey fights)

Figure Skating Bodyweight Strength Circuit

Now we combine bodyweight exercises for strength and finesse…

1. Reaching Lunge – 10 reps per side
2. 1-Leg RDL – 8 reps per side
3. Pushup or Dip or Overhead Press – 8 reps

Take another water break.

Sliding Sports Circuit (bobsled & luge)

1. Bobsled Push – 20 seconds
(For this, you’ll need a “prowler sled” or a punching bag or weight plate that can be pushed across the floor to simulate the start of the bobsled race…or you could just do a 20 second sprint)

2. Stability Ball Plank or Plank – 45 seconds
(to simulate holding your body in the luge position)

3. Side Planks – 25 seconds per side

Next up, the plain ol’ weird Biathlon (a combination of cross-country skiing and shooting). We’ll modify it so that we do:

1. Shuttle Sprints – 15 seconds
2. Plank – 60 seconds
(to simulate the shooting position)

And if possible, add in some type of skill component to simulate the shooting… maybe shoot some basketball free throws…or shoot a Supersoaker at a target on the wall…no wait, bad idea.

But I’m sure you can come up with something. (Safety first!)

And that’s it.

Finish with a water break, cool down, awarding of some gold medals, and closing ceremonies.

Hope you enjoyed that fun workout!

To find out more about these unique workouts and exercises, visit:

Workout for Fat Loss

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