Do This Olympic Games-Inspired Workout While You Watch the Games
Watching world-class athletes in all of us inspires the inner athlete. Of course, you can set a reminder to work out tomorrow by sitting on the couch and snacking. But why not use this inspiration immediately? Try these Olympic Games inspired workouts and you can become a champion in fit by watching them in action.
We designed them as interval training because what happens on screen is not continuous athleticism. There are performances, breaks between races and awards ceremonies. In our subsequent workouts, you will do difficult exercises while the athletes are competing, but then you will be able to rest when there is a break from work. Keep up the good work for as many rounds as you want, and then get ready to do it all over again tomorrow!
Gymnastics
This popular sport has four different competitions in the women’s division and six in the men’s division. Some, like jumping jumps, last only a few seconds, while others last longer than a minute.
- Leap: Squat low as the gymnast runs to the table, then do a tuck jump , raising your legs as high as possible as they lift off the ground.
- Uneven Bars : Time to Build! If you can, hold this position throughout the exercise. Make it uneven by placing your arms and legs at different levels. If you put your hands on a chair and your feet on the floor, the plank will become much lighter than the standard one; feel free to flip this if you want a real challenge. For extra unevenness, place one hand on a stack of books or medicine ball and switch sides for the next rep.
- Parallel Bars and Horizontal Plank : Continue like this, but in a different way: this time make a side plank . If you need to rest, let your hip touch and then come back when you’re ready to continue. Change sides during each barbell exercise you watch.
- Balancer: Train your balance. The exercises are about 90 seconds long, so do each of three fun but challenging balance moves for about 30 seconds: Tree Pose , Warrior II, andAirplanes . Too easy? Take a partial squat in an airplane position.
- Floor Exercise: This is another 90 second activity (70 seconds for men), so try another trio: theplank , invisible rope (literally just imagine you have rope) andpower jumping .
- Pommel Horse: Obviously the most fun way to watch a horse with Pommel Horse is to try these breakdancing-style circles on the floor –here’s a video to show you how . Whether you succeed or fail, in our book you are a winner.
- Rings: Place two chairs next to each other and place one hand on each with your body between them and your feet on the floor in front of you. You are now in the same position as a ring gymnast. Try to raise your feet with straight legs, while leaning on chairs. Or, for an easier exercise, keep your feet flat on the floor and lower your body to thetriceps forpush-ups .
Every time a gymnast competes, an important question arises: ” Did they fall out on landing?” If so, do the squat jump . If not (if they staggered or took a step), do fourforward lunges .
Swimming
In competition swimming, we base our training on the athletes’ stroke. In longer races, take a break when you need to.
- Butterfly: Keep your arms out to the sides and make circles with your hands during each butterfly exercise. Are your legs tired? Do squats at the same time.
- Back Walking: Since you can’t watch TV on your back, why not try boat pose where you sit on the ground, keeping your feet and upper body off the floor. If this is difficult, you can hold your legs with your hands or occasionally place your feet on the ground. Too easy? Add circles with your hands.
- Breaststroke: To mimic this feeling when you pull yourself out of the water, dojudo push-ups , pausing for a moment after each rep to watch TV.
- Freestyle: trainsupermen on the floor. Alternate your arms up and down for an authentic swim experience. However, there will be a lot of freestyle (as a standalone event and mixed with others) and it will be difficult to watch TV. So, after a few reps, get up and switch to standing jumping for the rest of the exercise.
Keep an eye on the schedule for complex events when a swimmer or team completes all four strokes. The order is the same as we listed above.
Athletics
For any race, choose your favorite athlete at the start. Do the appropriate exercises until they are finished – be it the first, the last, or something in between.
- Hurdle Run: Jog in place and tuck jumps on each obstacle. (This also works in horse jumping competitions!) Keep your foot on the floor unless you are used to doing a lot of jumping exercises.
- 100 and 200 meters: When running in place, do high knees as fast as possible.
- 400 meters: do kicks in while running on the spot.
- 800 meters: high knees on the first lap, butt kicks on the second.
- 1500 meters: high knees on the first lap, butt kicks on the second,skaters (jumping from side to side) on the third and returning home withjump lunges .
On longer runs, such as 5000 and 10,000 meters, switch between jogging and jumping each time a new runner steps forward. If the camera turns off to show another event, take a burpee and take a short break.
Celebrate your hard work
At the awards ceremony, stand up straight if your country’s national anthem is playing, and do your toe raises the entire time. If the anthem of another country,it is better to sit on thewall .
Every time a record is broken, look at the last digit of the athlete’s time or score – and do the same number of push-ups. Ten if zero!
In this workout, we’ve covered the most popular summer sports, so you’ll have something to do almost every day. Feel free to come up with your own interval workouts for the other sports you end up watching. And while it’s a fun workout, it still works. Take rest breaks when you need them and make sure you stay in good shape. Remember to sit down sometimes and cheer for your team!