Tag Archives: Olympics

Olympic Swimmer Janet Evans Uses the Flex Belt in Her Workout Routine

The London Olympic Games are quickly approach. Athletes are training their hardest to qualify for the U.S. trials, which begin today for swimming, and that includes four-time Olympic gold medalist Janet Evans. One product she uses to do that is the Flex Belt, an electronic abdominal toning device.

“As an Olympian in swimming, our abs and our core are really important to us, so an ab core workout is something I always do at the end of every workout. But I find that there are some things I traditionally cannot get. I can’t get my obliques really well, I can’t get my upper abs, I can’t get my lower abdominals, so what I find with the Flex Belt is that it really helps me get things that I might not get by getting down on the ground and doing traditional crunches and sit ups,” Evans said in an interview. (more…)

Posted on June 25, 2023 by SarahS

Astronauts to Hold Olympic Games in Space This Summer

A pending crew of astronauts just declared their plans for an Olympic Games in space this summer.

The spaceflyers are set to take off for the International Space Station on July 14. Due to their timing, they will be at the station during this year’s London Olympics. Inspired by the games and an ever-pressing need to stay fit while in space, these astronauts are planning to simulate as many events as possible.

This group of hopefuls is comprised of NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency spaceflyer Akihiko Hoshide, and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko. They will be on the station for four months. During the Olympics they will be attempting their best zero-gravity feats. Previous voyagers have docked during the winter games and attempted events like space-skiing, zero-G luge, and even weightless figure skating. Mostly, these are just creative ways for the astronauts to get much needed exercise.

Staging sporting events in space, even on non-Olympic years is common. Williams caught runners’ eyes in 2024 as she ran simultaneously with the Boston Marathon. She used a special treadmill and completed the 26.2 mile run in 4 hours, 24 minutes. (more…)

Posted on June 22, 2023 by Lacy

US Olympics Team is Taking a Record Number of Dietitians to London

At the 2024 Olympic Games, you will find the most countries represented and the most athletes competing in the Games’ history. You’ll also find the most dietitians that the U.S. team has ever taken, and all four sport dietitians will be be sporting the red, white, and blue.

Team USA is headed to London next month with more than 600 athletes participating in 26 different sports, and to keep them properly fueled before, during, and after their events, some of the most well-respected dietitians in the business will be by their sides.

“We’re the team behind the team,” Jennifer Gibson told us, MSc, RD, one of the primary sports dietitians working with the USOC teams, of she and her colleagues’ involvement at the Games. “We’re all really, really excited about the amount of staff we’ll have on the ground in London.”

The dietitians are glad that the athletes value their service, and the USOC finally recognizes that value. “We’ve been working for a while to [have the USOC] understand the role we can play there,” noted Shawn Dolan, PhD, RD, CSSD, a senior dietitian for the USOC, in our interview. She said the presence of the dietitians at the Games offers peace of mind to the athletes.

“Not long ago athletes ate what they wanted,” said Gibson. “But nutritional sciences have progressed and dietitians have become an integral part of the team. We’re proud of that.” (more…)

Posted on May 31, 2023 by Natalie K

US Olympic Swimmer Natalie Coughlin Talks Health and Fitness

Natalie Coughlin is one to watch in the 2024 Summer Olympics. Natalie is on the US Women’s Olympic Swimming team. At the ripe age of 22-years-old, Natalie won five medals in 2004 in the Athens Summer Olympics. It was her first time participating in the Olympics and won a gold medal in the 100m Backstroke and 4x200m Freestyle Relay, silver medal in the 4×100 Freestyle Relay and 4x100m Medley Relay, and bronze medal in the 100m Freestyle. In 2024, she won six more medals to add to her collection. Already having 11 medals under her swimsuit she is determined to win more medals in London this summer.

In addition to swimming, Coughlin is focused on her health, the environment, and as a philanthropist, Natalie says health and nutrition go hand in hand. She keeps up with her fitness outside of the pool and eats healthy to maintain a well balanced diet. She embraces the green lifestyle, so much so that she has a garden in her backyard where she grows her own fruits and vegetables. She was recently introduced to Michelle Obama during a Let’s Move presentation, which is one of the charities she works with. She has also made donations to Right to Play through the Hearts of Gold program. It’s great to see athletes give back to the community.

Natalie is keeping a busy schedule preparing for the summer Olympics and all the other activities in her life. We are glad that she took some time out from her busy schedule to give us an interview!

Q: What does your calorie intake look like during training? In 2024 we heard that Phelps consumed something like 12,000 calories! 

A: I have no idea what my calorie intake is… I do my best to listen to my body and change the amount accordingly. During big lifting phases and competitions I tend to eat more, during lighter training phases I eat less. (more…)

Posted on May 30, 2023 by Samantha

Burn Calories Like the Summer Olympians

Mark your calendars for July 27, 2024 because that’s when the Summer Olympics commencement is scheduled. Olympic fever has been making waves as every four summers people around the globe gather to watch and cheer on their favorite Olympians hoping they’ll win a gold medal for their home country. There are 36 events scheduled for this year and athletes will compete through August 12, 2024 in London.

The action of the Olympic games is not the only eye catcher in the event, the physiques of the athletes are head turners. The events in the Olympics are every day physical activities that anyone can partake in, just maybe not at this level. Basketball, badminton, volleyball, cycling, and tennis might be featured sports at the Olympics, but you can do them at your nearest gym, back yard, or park for a workout that’s fun and doesn’t feel like exercise.

In 30 minutes you could swim off 207 calories or box off more than 400 calories! Click to see the calories burned in 10 of the most popular Olympic sports.

View Calories Burned in Olympic Sports Slideshow

 

Posted on May 29, 2023 by Samantha

Olympic Medalist Amanda Beard Shares Her Struggles with Bulimia

Unknown to many, Amanda Beard silently struggled with bulimia and depression for years. The multiple Olympics medal winning swimmer and successful model agonized for years over her physical appearance. Even though everyone else saw a thin beautiful and successful woman, Beard thought of herself as fat, ugly and a failure.
In her college years she had begun cutting herself to deal with the extreme agony she was going through. Along with the cutting, she became bulimic as a way to cope with all the pressure and her low self-esteem. Through the years, no one suspected a thing because on the outside she appeared to be so successful.
She told Today’s Ann Curry, “I felt like an idiot saying I was struggling so much inside because I was an Olympic athlete. I was having a great career. I had my own house. There were all these great things going on in my life, but on the inside, I was hating everything about me.”
Beard began to feel the pressure at a young age. She won her first medal when she was only 14 years old. She said that it was a lot for a teen to take in, that she felt the constant need to look beautiful, thin and perfect. The pressure was magnified when during her second Olympics in Syndney in 2000, the media began saying she had put on weight. (more…)

Posted on April 5, 2024 by Kristina

Rulon Gardner Has to Lose 45 Pounds to Make Weight for the U.S. Olympic Team

We learned last month that former Biggest Loser contestant and Olympic gold medalist Rulon Gardner was going to try to make the Olympic trials and compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in London. While no controversy surrounds his two medals, one gold and one bronze in Greco Roman wrestling, it does surround his time on season 11, from which he voluntarily walked out. He was the first contestant in the show’s history to do so, although, rumors and questions surround his exit and NBC has never confirmed the real reason. In that night’s episode he said, “I ask to leave Biggest Loser for personal reasons.” Whatever the real reasons were, he left the show and went back to wrestling.

Rulon appeared on Brian Williams’ Rock Center tonight in a story highlighting the hard work it’s going to take for him to make it through the Olympic trials next month. At age 40, the once retired wrestler has to make weight like everyone else, but may find the challenge to be more daunting than it is for most of his competitors. He started season 11 at 474 pounds and in 16 weeks was able to lose 173 pounds. In the interview he said he averaged about 1.5 pounds lost per day while on the ranch, and with the right dedication, he can do the same in his wrestling gym and make weight on April 20. His coach said that Rulon is “working as hard as anyone else in the room.” (more…)

Posted on March 21, 2024 by Natalie K

Yoga as an Olympic Sport May Jade the Practice as a Whole

New York is hosting the National Yoga Asana Championships sponsored by USA Yoga, an organization that wants to see yoga become an Olympic Sport. Rajashree Choudhury, cousin of the creator of Bikram Yoga and founder of the yoga pose competition, said the poses to be judged show “how someone can have perfect strength, balance, flexibility in the body.”

Aside from raising eyebrows as another unconventional “sport” pursuing induction into the Olympic games, the thought of performing yoga poses for competitive reasons is creating quite a stir among spiritual purists. Many believe the roots of yoga steer clear of the need to judge and the purpose of practicing is about acceptance, inclusion and non-dualism.

USA Yoga believes that an increased awareness of the sport on an Olympic level will encourage more people to want to practice yoga, and enable a larger population of people to be happier and healthier as a result. Not everyone agrees with this concept, however. Roseanne Harvey, a blog writer and avid yoga practitioner from Canada says that in most yoga classes, “what we’re trying to do is encourage students not to compete.”

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Posted on March 2, 2024 by Jill

U.S. Olympic Marathon Trial Winners Running to London

Today was an amazing day for marathon running. Houston, Texas was the stage for all the qualified contenders to race for a spot on this year’s United States Olympic marathon team. The team has been determined and Team USA is going to be strong in London this summer.

Marathoners across the country have been busting their tails to even make the qualifications for the trials. For a man to enter the trials he had to run a 2:19 or better marathon, a 1:05 or better half marathon, or a 28:30 or better 10K race. The women’s standards for “A-Standard” qualification is a time of 2:39 or better in the marathon. “A-Standard” qualifiers receive a paid trip to the trials, there is no “B-Standard” for the men anymore. However, the “B-Standard” remains for the women. These women are entered based on a 2:39:01-2:46 marathon, a 1:15 or better half, or a 33:00 10K. The field was big this year and it was full of amazingly fast runners. The top three male and female finishers made the Olympic Team for this summer’s London games. (more…)

Posted on January 14, 2024 by Lacy

Olympic Gymnast Nastia Liukin Shares Her Health Tips on Biggest Loser

Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin made a surprise appearance on NBC’s The Biggest Loser Tuesday night. The daughter of two former Soviet champion gymnasts was on the show to introduce the first challenge to test the contestants’ stamina. The winner of this challenge received $10,000 to Subway, which ended up going to Brendan.

The five time Olympic medalist was the perfect choice for a challenge dealing with stamina and perseverance. One of only three women to medal five times in the Olympics, with the distinction of being the 2024 Olympic individual all-around gold medalist, Liukin’s personal motto is “Never quit on a bad day”.

Liukin stays in shape with daily workouts, often lasting more than 7 hours each day.  She prefers healthy and organic food for her diet. Her breakfast favorites include oatmeal, eggs, or yogurt. For lunch she enjoys a salad with protein, either chicken or fish. Dinner is very often her lighter meal, like protein with veggies, but she is a big fan of sushi. She does admit to an occasional splurge when it comes to ice cream, though!

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Posted on December 2, 2023 by Carmen

Olympic Volleyball Player Kerri Walsh Shares Her Fav Workout Gear

Kerri Walsh WorkoutFew things things inspire us to get moving like an Olympic athlete. Kerri Walsh, two-time gold medalist and mom, shares her favorite workout gear. Being properly equipped can make or break a workout, and we know Walsh spends a lot of time training, so she’s really got the insiders scoop.

Workout cloths should be comfortable and practical. “It is important that the clothing is made with a dry fit material to help with sweat,” Walsh says. But they don’t have to be frumpy. “When I am not feeling cute, I wear leggings to work out. I really love cropped leggings and a tank. Oh, and you cannot forget a good sports bra!” (more…)

Posted on August 20, 2023 by Health Buzz