With the Winter Olympics going on currently in Vancouver, it brings a broader appreciation to some of the sports that we do not get to see broadcasted too often and to get to see a few of these athletes that are usually forgotten in non-Olympic years. Some of the best athletes for Team USA are two skiers, Lindsay Vonn and Bode Miller and short track speed skater, Apolo Ohno. The thing that sets these 3 athletes apart from others is not only their ability to land on the podium after almost every event they compete in, but is how they do cross training in other sports to improve their overall strength and fitness. For example, Apolo Ohno enjoys mountain biking while Bode Miller spends a day of basketball shooting and basketball training as a training tool.

This article will focus on some of the off snow or ice training that these three Olympians do to make them better than their competitors that may only do ski or skate training. It has been proven that athletes that have better overall fitness, will suffer less stress induced injuries as well as have more strength and flexibility that helps them in whatever sport that they are doing.

Lindsay Vonn is the Vancouver Olympics focal point with an unbelievable amount of talent in downhill skiing. Her story became big news when she got an injury to her shin just weeks prior to the Olympics and she was uncertain if she could even compete. So far, she is on track to competing and finished 3 of her 5 events winning medals in two of them. She says she is more fit this season than any other thanks to the hard cross training she has put in. She does a great deal of interval training alternating strength exercises with cardio training that challenges her stamina in addition to her strength.

Bode Miller had a great deal of pressure to bring home the gold at the last Winter Olympics in Torino and did not succeed saying his easygoing training methods were the reason. Since, then he has made it his mission to be in better shape and more prepared for this Olympics. He enjoys adding other activities to his training regimen to keep things new and to constantly challenge his muscles in new ways. He plays full court basketball one day and then does interval sprinting and core exercises the other days. With 3 medals so far in Vancouver it seems to be working for Miller.

This is the 3rd Olympic games for short track skater Apolo Ohno and he has just became the most winning skater at the Olympic Games passing Bonnie Blair's record of 5 medals. He is more confident than ever having lost 20 pounds in his comeback and to improve his physical state. He enjoys doing outdoor workouts like sprinting up a steep hill wearing a weighted vest or doing a long cycling run to work his leg muscles the way they need to be for skating.