Fitness tips from top athletes

Our search for the world’s best and most effective workout routine for athletes brought us in contact with a handful of the country’s best trainers and coaches. They are often asked one common question – what is the ultimate exercise routine used to help improve performance?

Each one of them came up with their own individual preferences and choices for this routine. But, fortunately, there is no limit to picking the best exercise when it is a question of fitness and performance.

This time, we let the top three athletes and not trainers inspire you in your fitness routine.

Usain Bolt, the Fastest Athlete in the World

Usain Bolt training

Usain Bolt has his own intensive workout strategy. You can never take your eyes off Bolt as he takes three swift strides across the floor. This 28-year-old makes sure that he works out six days a week to enhance his amazing speed. Bolt’s workout routine is comprised of a variety of exercises including:

– Weight training

- Running

- Footwear training

- Frog leaps

- Box jumps

- Ankle rolls

- High knee skips

- Weighted squats

- Step ups

- Weighted lunges with dumbbells

- Bunny hops

- Cable knee drives

- Leg raises

- Reverse crunches

- Side planks

Spending three hours a day for your fitness routine is no joke. Bolt believes that certain healthy practices can definitely help you to accomplish your goal:

– ?Determination is mandatory to ensure effective training

- Your body and muscles need a healthy diet to avoid from fatigue

- Drink plenty of fluids to keep your body hydrated

- Eat at least six short meals in a day. These foods must contain Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, and Potassium

- Make sure your body gets the proper rest needed to make you feel rejuvenated

- Basic training must include a mixture of drills, leg-strengthening exercises, and power increasing exercises.

The Athletic Freak in the Pool, Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps working out in a gym

Michael Phelps’s workout and 12,000 calorie diet is among the most physically demanding fitness routines in the world. Phelps not only swims a minimum of 80,000 meters a week, but he also does other drills to improve his swimming speed and form. To maintain his feel for the water, Phelps practices numerous training techniques that embrace:

– Body weight exercises like pushups

- Weighted pull-ups for muscular strength and endurance

- Squats

- Deadlifts

- Bench presses

- Static stretching

His speed and endurance training includes:

– Vertical kicking

– Underwater kicking

– Sculling

– Fly drill

– Pull buoy

– Kick strokes

Different training gears he incorporates includes a sled push, sled reverse flye, kickboards, training paddles and snorkels to help him focus more on his legs, upper body, glutes and abs in the pool. Phelps maintains a good balance between weight exercises and bodyweight exercises. He usually relies on the latter to help him to stay lean and fit. He believes that the less weight you have to drag in the water, the faster you can swim.

Is maintaining a 12,000 calorie diet sounding crazy? Well! You must know that his body is burning thousands and thousands of calories during his six hour workout schedule every single day. The following workout tips have always helped Michael Phelps to reach the zenith of success. He strongly believes in:

- Making goals to act as a motivational factor

- Learning from your own mistakes

- Working out daily

- Having a proper rhythm for workout

- Being your own critic

The King of the Ring, Floyd Mayweather

Floyd Mayweather using a Jump Rope to train

The nine-time Boxing World Champion, Floyd Mayweather is considered as one of the best conditioned fighters. His strenuous workout routine is quite inspirational and helps to boost strength, agility and endurance. If you are curious enough to know what Mayweather does to keep himself in shape, read on.

Floyd Mayweather has stayed unbeaten all the way, and his success can be attributed to his tireless training regime. His five days workout schedule includes:

– Shadow boxing

- Sparring

- Punches with heavy bags

- Pad and floor work

- Neck work

- Sit ups

- Dips

- Jump rope

- Double-end bags

- Jogging for 5 miles

- Pullups

Mayweather claims that he can eat as often as he wants and whatever he wants because of the amount of exercise he does. He trains so hard and so often that his body burns off most of the calories he intakes at an extremely fast pace. His diet usually involves foods that are rich in protein, carbohydrates and other nutrients needed to fuel his workouts and help in his recovery. In one of his recent interviews, Floyd revealed that he frequents the gym daily.

Mayweather believes that no boxer would get very far in the sport of boxing without:

– A conditioned mind

- Self-motivation

– Interest in sports and fitness

– ?Expert strength

However, Mayweather says that the important part of training hard is knowing when to take a break. He believes that taking a few days of rest can give an exhausted body the time needed to recover from an intense fitness routine. Moreover, he also claims that no matter what type of training one does, it is important to use a variety of workout techniques to help get you in the best shape.

Whether you are a novice taking your first steps towards a fitness routine or an exercise fanatic, the fitness routines of these champions will be able to inspire you enough to stay fit and healthy.

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Edited by Staff Editor