Excerpts
INTRODUCTION
As an athlete, staying in shape has been my life's work. It's also my passion and the source of my strength and confidence. When I work out, I feel most like myself and most comfortable in my body and mind. I feel motivated to continue to set new goals for myself, go after them, and give them my all. You might think that this tenacity comes from being an Olympic athlete, but I believe it's the result of living in my body in an active way. Working out and staying in shape is simply how I take care of myself, and when I do this, everything else in my life falls into place. The same can happen for you. You might not have come to this book with aspirations to make the Olympics, but I can promise that what you find here will not only show you how to achieve your best physical shape, it will also inspire you to be the best you can be in all areas of your life.
Gold Medal Fitness is a five-week plan that will reshape your body through revolutionary strengthening and resistance stretching exercises that lengthen, tighten, and build your muscles. The plan will also offer a fresh, efficient way to include cardio in your workout, and share what has become my secret weapon--an active recovery phase. This plan is based on the training I've been doing for the past four years, since I made the decision, as a thirty-nine-year-old new mom, to try out for the 2008 Olympic team. Because of these cutting-edge techniques, my own fierce determination, and the support of a handful of devoted trainers, I not only went to Beijing to compete, I came home with three silver medals.
The games in Beijing were my fifth Olympics. My competitive swimming career has spanned three decades, and I'm not finished yet. As a student at the University of Florida, I earned the maximum possible number of NCAA all-American swimming awards--twenty-eight--and as the first U.S. swimmer to compete in five Olympic Games, I set three world records and won twelve Olympic medals, including four gold. And I'm still not finished.
This book is for all of you who don't want to hang up your suit, take off your running shoes, or give up on feeling--and looking--great. My memoir, Age Is Just a Number, might have introduced you to me and some of the events in my life. But this book will share my workout regimen with you. We may not have exactly the same goals, but I bet we do share similar needs. Wouldn't you like to pick up your kids without your back aching? Have the energy for an early-morning workout before getting kids to school or yourself off to work? Achieve a sense of balance that enables you to feel relaxed, confident, and strong instead of depleted by the end of the day? I will show you how to achieve these results--and more--while getting into the best shape of your life.
How This Book Came to Be
After the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the publication of my memoir, I traveled around the country doing a book tour and making appearances as spokesperson for Hewlett-Packard, Fitness Nutritions and other companies and organizations. During this busy year, as I continued to train for the nationals and World Championships, I met thousands of women and men of all ages who wanted to hear about how I had made a comeback as a forty-one-year-old athlete. As I crisscrossed the country, I was struck by how many women approached me with questions. "How do you do it?" "I can't believe you're still going so strong! What's your secret?" I began to think about how I approach training and how my regimen might actually help other people--regardless of their age or level of athleticism--get...
