by
Olivier Poirier-Leroy
In the lead-up to the London Games, the focus for Michael Phelps had changed.
No longer was he trying to crush Mark Spitz’s 7 gold medals, now he was simply trying to extend his legacy and cement himself as the greatest swimmer of all time.
The best athletes are people who don’t let anything stand in their way. Whether it is stuff on or off field, whether it is sickness or soreness, whatever it is, they don’t let anything stand in their way. There’s no excuses.
In this video series, done by Yahoo! in the months leading up to the games, we get an inside look at the dryland training of one of the best athletes in history.
Between plyometrics, using a medicine ball to do hanging leg raises that imitate his butterfly kick, to doing squat jumps with rubber bands, watch Phelps work out in dryland.
He uses a variety of strength training exercises for swimmers, including some of the classics like pull-ups.
The second part acts as more of a product showcase for Under Armour, showing the compression bodysuit that he wears to assist in recovery. (Michael Phelps is a sponsored Under Armour athlete, so keep that in mind when watching the video.)
Lastly, he discusses his diet — and how overblown the rumors of his 17-million calorie diet was — and how he has matured as an athlete with age.
Enjoy–
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Olivier Poirier-Leroy Olivier Poirier-Leroy is the founder of YourSwimLog.com. He is an author, former national level swimmer, two-time Olympic Trials qualifier, and swim coach.
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