At-Home Olympic-Style Workouts

Welcome to our At-Home Olympic-Style Workouts series! In this series, we cover different Olympic events and relate them to upcoming spring sports with insight from OrthoCarolina Sports Medicine Specialists. Follow along to work out like an Olympic athlete.

Curling

With these 3 supportive movements, you can work out like a curler at home.

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Piriformis Stretch

1. Goal: Increase mobility of the hip and comfort through range of motion.
2. To set up: 
   1. Place your shin on a table and carefully step back with your standing leg. 
   2. Gently hinge from your waist to lean into the stretch. 
   3. Hold for 30 seconds then switch sides.
3. Modification options: Placing your leg on a lower surface or leaning less into the stretch.

Curtsy Lunge with slider (2 minutes)

1. Goal: Strengthen quads, glutes, hamstrings, and core with additional stability challenges of adding the slider under your back foot (optional)
2. To set up: 
   1. Start with your feet hip-width apart. 
   2. Place the slider under your working leg then carefully slide your foot back into a curtsy lunge with your back foot tracking behind your standing leg. 
   3. Be mindful to keep your front knee tracking over your front foot. 
   4. Then carefully return to starting position.
3. Modification options: Option to remove the slider and place your back foot in curtsy position to perform the lunges.

Superman holds (2 minutes)

1. Goal: Strengthen core and low back.
2. To set up: 
   1. Lay face down on a yoga mat. 
   2. Extend arms and legs out. 
   3. Engage your core and low back to lift your upper and lower body at the same time. 
   4. Hold for 3 seconds, then lower back to your mat with control.
3. Modification: Alternate lifting upper body, then lower body.

Many thanks to OrthoCarolina's Adam Lupinski, physical therapy assistant & athletic trainer at our Lake Norman PT office, for putting together this 5-minute Winter Olympic-style workout!

Hockey Part 1

Hockey players [and most sports], this workout sequence is for you. With these 3 supportive movements, you can prevent injury and build strength just like a hockey player at home.

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Hip Posterior Capsule Stretch

1. Goal: Improve flexibility of the hip joint to accommodate the ranges of motion necessary during ice skating
2. To set up: 
   1. Start in the quadruped position (on your hands & knees) and move one knee to be in line with your nose. 
   2. Rotate this leg to move the ankle under the body and in front of the opposite knee. 
   3. Then, gently sink your bodyweight down until you feel a stretch. 
   4. Hold this stretch for 60 seconds.
3. Modification: Shift your torso left or right as needed to increase or decrease the stretch in the back of your hip.

Side Plank with and without Clamshell

1. Goal: Strengthen the core muscles and gluteus maximus to help maintain stability while stopping and changing direction on the ice.
2. To set up: 
   1. Begin lying on your side with your knees bent and feet together. 
   2. Ensure your body is straight with your shoulder, hip, and knee all in a line. 
   3. Lift your bottom hip off the table or ground and hold for 5 seconds. 
   4. Progress this move by adding the clamshell - lifting your top knee off the bottom knee while keeping your feet together.
3. Modification: Begin exercise without the clamshells and incorporate the additional move as your strength improves. Increase plank hold times or add a resistance band as needed.

Skater Walks

1. Goal: Strengthen the glute and quad muscles to help produce force and increase speed during skating
2. To set up: 
   1. Stand in a mini-squat position with a resistance band around your ankles and feet shoulder-width apart. 
   2. Begin by stepping forward and outward with your lead leg.
   3. Next, have your trail leg come in until your feet touch, and then step forward and outward again. 
   4. Repeat for each leg, taking 15 steps forward. Then, reverse!
3. Modification: Use a band with heavier resistance for an added challenge, or place a band around your knees to make the exercise easier.

Many thanks to physical therapist Kyle Kolkmann and rehab tech Rachel at our Ballantyne PT office for putting together this 5-minute Winter Olympic-style workout.

Cross-Country Skiing

Cross-Country Skiing is a rigorous sport full of cardio and total body strength. Test your strength and condition your body with this at-home workout.

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Skier's squat (2 minutes)

1. Goal: Shoulder stability, lower body activation, cardio
2. To set up: 
   1. Attach a resistance band to a solid structure then, holding the band in your hands, step back to level of desired resistance. 
   2. Start in an athletic stance and complete a squat while you pull your hands to your thighs. (Imagine being in a pool squatting down and back while you pull water to your thighs.)
   3. Control yourself back to the start position.
3. Modification: Decrease range of motion in both overhead pull and squat or do without the resistance band.

Parallel lunge with slider (2 minutes each side)

1. Goal: Lower body activation, core control
2. To set up: 
   1. Stand with feet hip width apart and place slider under the foot of your working leg. 
   2. Bend your standing leg as you slide your working leg back, keeping your leg straight. 
   3. Using control, return back to starting position. Switch sides.
3. Modification: Option to remove the slider and step back into lunge. For additional stability challenge, try hovering your sliding & drawing it into your chest as you return to starting position.

Modified Thomas Test Stretch (30 seconds each side)

1. Goal: Posterior hip mobility on bent leg, stretch quad & hip flexor on anchored leg.
2. To set up: 
   1. Place a strap or belt around your foot as shown. 
   2. Bring the other end of the belt around your shoulder. If using a belt, linking 2 belts together for extra length. 
   3. While lying on a table or high bed, let one leg lower towards the floor. 
   4. Next, gently pull on the strap to get your knee to bend until you feel a stretch on top of your thigh.
3. Modification: Remove resistance band/belt anchor on bottom leg.
   
   Many thanks to athletic trainer Ray Beltz at our OC Huntersville PT location for providing this 5 minute Winter Olympic-style workout.
   

Hockey Part 2

Attention all athletes looking for added lower extremity strength and power, this hockey workout is for you.

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Lateral slide (2 minutes)

1. Goal: To improve power and control with lateral movements
2. To set up: 
   1. Assume an athletic stance on the UltraSlide and push out against bumper sliding under control to the opposite side. 
   2. Keep knees bent , hinge at hips, and keep back straight.
3. Modification: if you don’t have an UltraSlide you can perform a lateral bound on the floor and get some of the same benefits; focus on landing softly and do not allow knee to buckle in. Start with small controlled movements.

Bulgarian Split Squat (2minutes, 1 minute per side)

1. Goal: Build strength and control throughout the entire lower extremity.
2. To set up: 
   1. Put back foot onto a small box or bench, squat down on front leg slowly. 
   2. Do not allow knees to drift inward; keep torso more upright to focus on the quad.
   3. Hinge forward more to focus on the glutes and hamstrings.
3. Modification: you can rest your back toe on the floor if it is too difficult to do on a bench.

BOSU Squat (2 minutes)

1. Goal: Develop lower extremity strength, balance , and core stability
2. To set up: 
   1. Stand on a flat surface of BOSU ball. Engage core and go into a squat. 
   2. Try to maintain a straight spine and keep the top surface parallel to the floor.
3. Modification: For an added challenge, you can have a partner gently nudge you to challenge your balance, or if you do not have access to a BOSU ball, try standing on one leg. You can work on holding the bottom position of a standard squat for 10-15 sec, or do a single-legged squat on the floor with your shoes off.

Many thanks to physical therapist Chris Gabriel at our OC Matthews PT location for providing this 5 minute Winter Olympic-style workout.