03 Mar Workout secrets of Olympic champion Apolo Ohno

Speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno became the most decorated male winter Olympian in U.S. history in February when he won his eighth medal in the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Have you ever stopped and wondered what kind of training methods an elite athlete like Ohno utilizes?
Recently, Ohno shared a typical daily regimen with The AP at the Olympics and I thought it would be interesting to pass on to readers of this blog.
An average person obviously does not have the time to be a full-time athlete in training – it’s fun to play on a men’s or women’s rec basketball or slowpitch team, but it doesn’t pay the bills.
However, anyone who’s into fitness can learn some things from Ohno’s routines. It’s interesting how he varies his workouts and you can see the healthy food choices he makes as well.
Here’s Apolo’s typical day in preparation of his third Olympics, enjoy:
6:30 a.m. – Wake up and eat breakfast of two eggs cooked in coconut oil and fruit
7:30 a.m.-noon – Short track practice (eat salmon salad for lunch and fruit snack at rink)
Noon-1:30 p.m. – Weightlifting and other dry-land training
2-3:30 p.m. – Running and speedwork on treadmill at home (eat fruit snack)
5-6 p.m. – Watch videos of races
6 p.m. – Dinner of vegetables and fish
7-8 p.m. – Meditation
8-9 p.m. – Massage or steam and stretching
9 p.m. – Go to sleep

Wow, that’s a full day!

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com