Gold Medal Body: 6 Moves Athletes Love

You might not have a 100-meter sprint or even a game-winning GOOAALL!!! on your to-do list, but watching the world’s best athletes succeed can be majorly motivating when it comes to your fitness goals. Those athletes are onto something, too: Their only training focus is to perform, yet they end up sculpting sleek muscles in the process. And guess what? You can, too.

Here are six, sport-specific exercises that not only can help you move better, but together, create a complete muscle-toning and mojo-boosting workout. Here’s to your personal gold!

Banded Squat Steps

Soccer stars and volleyball players rely on their glute and thigh strength to power through runs, jumps, and kicks—and they often move laterally.

Your Win: Totally toned thighs. You don’t always work the lateral muscles of your legs, so this move challenges them from every angle.

How to do it: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and with a resistance band tied around your calves or ankles. Squat as you ordinarily would, until your knees bend 90 degrees, keeping your weight in your heels. Staying in a squat, step to the right with your right foot, and then bring your left foot toward it. Repeat in the opposite direction to complete 1 rep, and repeat for 10 reps.

Hold a dumbbell at chest level, for an extra challenge.

Vertical Tuck Jumps

Sprinters rely on plyometrics to help boost their speed, as the jumps target fast-twitch muscle fibers.

Your win: Leg and core strength and a pace pick-up. You’ll be able to move faster more easily whether you’re running a 5K or playing a round of tennis.

How to do it: Stand with feet hip-distance apart, and jump up as high as you can, bringing your knees up toward your chest. Land on the balls of your feet, bend your knees, and immediately jump up again. Repeat for 5 to 10 jumps.

3-Way Push-Ups

Gymnasts rely on push-ups to strengthen their chest, arms, and shoulders, and performing them from different angles creates a more complete challenge.

Your win: Defined arms. Push-ups especially target the triceps, the muscles on the backs of your arms.

How to do them:

Push-Up Get into a straight-arm Plank position or if you’re a fitness newbie or have a shoulder injury, Plank from your knees. Keeping hands beneath shoulders and abs pulled tight, lower toward the mat and push back to start. Perform 2 to 10 reps.

Decline Push-Up From a Plank position, elevate your toes on a step or stair, and perform a push-up.

Incline Push-Up Place your hands on a sturdy bench, and perform a push-up.

Bent-Over DB Row

Rowers constantly perform this motion by nature of their sport, and as a workout, it strengthens their back muscles.

Your win: Improved posture! The rowing motion naturally counteracts any desk-created hunch.

How to do it: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, and hold a lightweight dumbbell in each hand, palms facing your sides. Bend your knees slightly to root your stance, and hinge forward from the hips, to about a 45-degree angle. Extend dumbbells toward the floor, and squeeze your back muscles, pulling the dumbbells up toward your sides. Release and repeat for 10 to 12 reps.

Superman Pulls

Swimmers favor this move because it strengthens the shoulders and upper back, but doesn’t require heavy lifting to create a challenge. Sometimes heavier weights can be hard on delicate shoulder joints.

Your win: Sleek—and strong—shoulders

How to do it: Lay on a mat like Superman, with your abs pulled in, legs engaged behind you and arms extended in front of you. You can hold light dumbbells (about 2lbs) or fist your hands. Keeping your neck aligned with your spine, and glutes squeezed for stability, raise your shoulders and arms a few inches above the mat, and then bend your elbows, pulling your hands down toward your shoulders, so your fists are in line with your ears. Straighten your arms without lowering them or your body, and repeat for 5 to 10 reps.

Dead Bug

All athletes rely on core strength, as it provides a stable foundation for movement. This move works the entire core.

Your win: Back-pain prevention (this move strengthens your deep abdominals, to help support your spine) and a potential six-pack that does more than just look good.

How to do it: Lay on a mat with your back pressed into the floor, abs pulled in toward your spine. Lift legs so that there’s a 90-degree angle at your hips, and a 90-degree bend in your knees. Hold arms extended toward ceiling. Keeping abs pulled tight, slowly extend and lower your left leg and your right arm to just above the mat. Return to start and repeat on the other side, alternating sides for 10 to 20 total reps.

Lara Rosenbaum

Lara Rosenbaum is a writer, certified fitness trainer, and dog lover with a serious passion for the outdoors. Formerly Fitbit's fitness editor, Lara has held editorial positions at several magazines, including Women’s Health, where she was the founding fitness editor. Lara is also a former elite athlete, and has traveled the world as a member of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team.