Even if your aspirations in the gym don’t extend to world-beating success, the best athletes on the planet can teach you a thing or two about training and technique. We’ve assembled advice from 31 gold medal winners to push you to your own personal best
Usain Bolt
100m sprint, 2008, 2012
You can’t get his fast-twitch genetics, but - according to the man himself - there’s more to speed than that. “If you are training hard you must stay flexible,” says Bolt. “I told Cristiano Ronaldo this when I helped him with sprint training. If you are pushing your body to the limit but don’t stay flexible, it is eventually going to cause you problems. Find the flexibility exercises that work for you and for your sport, but make sure that you do them every day.When I have left training I will still find time to do extra flexibility training. Do it while you listen to music or watch TV – just make sure you do it.”
Anthony Joshua
Boxing, 2012
Alongside all the neck-harness training and 7am roadwork, Joshua brings one secret weapon to the ring: yoga. He mixes moves from the traditional Bikram style - the hot one - into his strength routine. Use the “camel” to open up your chest and stretch your pecs: start on both knees and reach one arm back to grab the ankle on the same side as you arch backwards, then switch sides. Too easy? Grab both ankles at once.
Kohei Uchimura
Gymnastics, 2012
“He has the flexibility, the body, the elegance…He is like a cat” is how Romanian gymnast Marian Dragulescu describes the 1.60m Uchimura, who won the world championships an unprecedented three times en route to Olympic triumph in the all-round category. And most coaches agree the one gymnastics stretch everyman should mimic is the Jefferson curl. Stand upright holding an empty barbell or dumbbell, drop your chin to your chest, roll your shoulders forward, and - keeping your hips tucked under you - lower the bar as far as you canwhile curving your spine down from top to bottom. Pause for a few seconds, then curl your spine back up.
James DeGale
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