Train Like an Elite - videos of athletes at work

Aaron Downey demos the farmboy workout that helped turn him into...

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:39:00 -0400

Aaron Downey demos the farmboy workout that helped turn him into one of the NHL’s most feared enforcers.A mix of the old and the new schools, Downey does plyometrics in the middle of a potato field, carries a log up a hill, balances on exercise balls and of course works on his punching.

Ovie Mughelli Runs Up A Really Steep Incline

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:30:53 -0500

Ovie Mughelli, a fullback for the Baltimore Ravens, performs one of his lofty off-season workouts. He runs, crawls and claws his way up a specially built incline that is really, really steep. After this workout, running on flat ground is a piece of cake.

There is no shortage of steel and heavy machinery in Youngstown...

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 03:26:00 -0500

There is no shortage of steel and heavy machinery in Youngstown Ohio. Kelly Pavlik makes use of all of it when he trains at the Iron Man Warehouse in his hometown.

This is the classic power training that makes a man wallow in the nostalgia of boxing’s heyday. Pavlik is truly a classic fighter as he first enlists the power of God to help him through his workouts. There is definitely something more than a prayer, however, behind Pavlik’s enormous right hand.

Watch for this power puncher to go for the knockout against a very game and very competitive Marco Antonio Rubio this weekend on a stacked card that includes the Puerto Rican messiah that is Miguel Cotto.

Sometimes we at TLAE get caught up in the highfalutin techniques...

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:01:00 -0500

Sometimes we at TLAE get caught up in the highfalutin techniques of the cutting edge.

So today we bring you Philip Daniels of the Washington Redskins, an athlete unafraid to get old school and lift some extremely heavy weights. Daniels powerlifts in the off season.

For the featured session, Daniels has heavy chains attached to the bar which, as he reaches the lower portion of his squat, come to rest on the ground. The lower he goes the more chain is on the ground, in effect lightening the load on the bar. The lower one is in their sqaut position the less weight one is able to handle safely, so by using chains Daniels can maximize his workload without compromising his health.

Dwyane Wade in the gym.

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:55:59 -0500

No workout can prepare him to fight off the allegations of his ex-wife, but the training Dwyane Wade puts in with wonder-coach Tim Grover in his native Illinois has earned him a starting spot at this Saturday’s NBA All Star game and a gold medal as a starter for the US Olympic team.

The lifting and stretching regime Dwyane goes through at Attack Athletics serves the double purpose of rehabbing his accumulating injuries and improving the muscle and joint endurance that are tested so heavily in the NBA.

Troy Polamalu is that Super Bowl Champion Steeler with the...

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 01:59:00 -0500

Troy Polamalu is that Super Bowl Champion Steeler with the unorthodox hair. Even more unorthodox than his ‘do however is what he does at Marv Marinovich’s Sports Lab in Orange County, California. Polamalu -barefoot for the whole workout- performs extremely dynamic lower body movements, most of which look like highly modified pilates staples, at very high speed. The movements and the pace at which they are executed are supposed to represent a closer analog to what Troy does on the football field than traditional weight lifting. Hmmmm, this seems to be working.

Look at more of the unleashed creativity that is Sports Lab training.

Kyle Harrison is Stronger than I Thought

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 19:41:20 -0500

We’re finally over the hump. Spring is right around the corner and the thermometer has finally started climbing back to a comfortable level. For those of us here at TrainLikeAnElite that usually spells the beginning of sweltering humidity and shorter naps, but for Kyle Harrison, Tewaaraton Trophy winner and current Major League Lacrosse star, February simply means preseason. Have a look at Harrison’s off season workout that prepares him for the grueling MLL season.

Half feat-of-strength half well-established-training-method, for...

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:27:58 -0500

Half feat-of-strength half well-established-training-method, for a workout Laird Hamilton drags logs around on the beach. When your claim to fame is riding waves so giant that other pro surfers question your sanity, everything you do needs to be tinged with the extreme and the over-the-top.

Bj vs. GSP

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 23:50:00 -0500

In what according to Dana White will be “the biggest f***ing fight” in either of these men’s career, George St. Pierre will square off with MMA and Brazilian jiu-jitsu wunderkind BJ Penn at UFC 94 this coming Saturday.

Watch BJ make faces and noises similar to a mother in labor as the lightweight champ goes through a weight routine a few weeks out from the big fight.

A few thousand miles away, GSP goes through a dynamic workout with David Loiseau, Denis Kang, and other fighters currently living in that hockey-centric nation to America’s north.

Not coincidentaly this superfight is taking place during Superbowl weekend. Considering the massive amounts of planning and marketing required for the event, it is a wonder that The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s president still has time to do things like this.

“We’re athletes, we’re not only golfers”...

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:07:00 -0500

“We’re athletes, we’re not only golfers” says Camilo Villegas, a rising golf star who in the past year claimed two PGA Tour events and rose to number seven in the World Golf Rankings. Camilo trains like an all around athlete, but, with a mind towards the vertiginous and ballistic nature of the golf swing, pays special attention to rotational movements and stability development.

As you can see above, even the way this guy sizes up a put is athletic.

Lance Armstrong's Weight Regime

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:48:10 -0500

After a three year hiatus from competitive cycling the prodigal son that is Lance Armstrong has made his return. In preparing for the sport’s end all be all, The Tour de France, Lance has been picking up the weights again and started a new training regime to build lean leg and core muscle. His unparalleled dedication will hopefully see him rebound from his 29th place finish at Australia’s Tour Down Under to reclaim the Tour de France title he has expressed his longing for.

Mike Lambert putting in the work

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:51:28 -0500

If you want to be able to spike a volleyball off the face off the world’s best volleyball player like this, you’ve got to be in pretty good shape.

AVP Pro Mike Lambert is certainly putting in the conditioning work to do so. He flies around the court while holding a medicine ball in an effort to adapt to the ever-challenging medium of sand.

Only the highest level of athlete can compete while sitting....

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 01:45:00 -0500

Only the highest level of athlete can compete while sitting. Just ask Kimi Räikkönen the 2007 Formula One World Drivers’ Champion. Its hard to fill in for a man with a record like Micheal Schumacher’s, but Kimi’s interesting training techniques keep him at the front of the pack.

Watch as this speedster uses a swiss ball in every way imaginable. The balance and stability work help the body cope with the upwards of 2 G’s exerted on drivers through tight turns.

If you think this workout is not all that difficult, you might want to consider the fact that Räikkönen is the fifth highest paid athlete in the world banking an estimated 51 million dollars in 2008 and the husband of a former Miss Scandinavia.

If we here at trainlikeanelite had won a gold medal in pole...

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:13:00 -0500

If we here at trainlikeanelite had won a gold medal in pole vault at the Beijing Olympics, we would, at this very moment, be on a beach with a fruity drink in one hand and a giant sandwich in the other. Such is perhaps why we didn’t win a gold medal in the first place.

Australian athlete Steven Hooker, fresh off a golden summer, is already working out hard. This guy is literally lifting weights while suspended upside down from his ankles.

Arolvski 360

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 05:13:00 -0500

Morgan Freeman has a voice so wizened and worn that his narrating skills are world renowned. For this 7 part YouTube documentary following former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski the producers decided to grab the first person that could imitate a Shawshank Redemption voice over and let him read the fighter’s back-story.

As Arlovski prepares for what is truly the fight of his life, the camera follows him through not only intense physical and skill training, but mental preparation. Highlights include interviews with famed boxing trainer Freddy Roach, NCAA wrestling champ John Kading, and Rickson Gracie black belt Dino Costeas.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
Part 6

The X Games workout

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 01:40:00 -0500

Snowmobile racers are athletes too.

Today’s workout is designed for X-Games competitor Carl Schubitzke, but it could be used by almost any individual preparing for any sport. Because motorsports demand an extremely high level of performance over an extended period of time, all sorts of drivers, including NASCAR and F-1, have embarked on general fitness routines like this one that are endurance-heavy.

Tracy McGrady has made it to the NBA all star game seven times...

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:39:00 -0500

Tracy McGrady has made it to the NBA all star game seven times in is career and the strength and plyometric training that takes place in his house is the reason why. This less than humble abode boasts a full sized basketball court and gym, but his ability to push himself, even through his back problems in the 2007-08 season is what truly sets T-Mac apart. It his nice to know, however, that even after all this hard work he still retains his sense of humor.

University of South Carolina Slosh Pipes

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:58:00 -0500

Core stability is part of the new gospel of athletic training. One way to achieve core stability is to handle unstable objects, so that stabilizing muscles are fully engaged. The University of South Carolina swim team does just this in one of their dry-land workouts by lifting slosh pipes, long cylanders partially filled with water.

Ninja Warrior Training

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:51:00 -0500

How does one tackle the hardest obstacle course on earth? Well if you’re Bryant P. from Waipahu, Hawaii then you do a combination of strength, balance, and explosive exercises. Oh yeah, you can do pinky pull ups, too.

How does a female professional football player train? Seemingly,...

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 23:19:00 -0500

How does a female professional football player train? Seemingly, a lot like a male professional football player. Donna “The Animal” Wilkinson of the D.C. Divas utilizes a number of olympic and traditional lifts to develop the power and explosiveness that football demands. Donna also hooks up to a Vertimax platform which provides lower body resistance training with minimal compromise on natural movement patterns, unlike most weight training.