The Best Fitness Advice I Ever Got From Olympians

10 lessons on durability, engine building, and why you should never do fasted cardio

Lindsey Vonn crashed epicly and got life-flighted off a mountain. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo ran a sub-6-minute mile up a mountain while wearing skis, the most impressive physical feat I’ve seen in years. The Quad God nailed a triple axel, followed by some freak jump called a quad Lutz triple toe loop.

The Winter Olympics are upon us.

I’ve talked to hundreds of Olympians about fitness and performance—I used to cover the Games for Men’s Health and Outside.

Most of their advice faded. But some stuck because medal winners kept saying the same thing, or because an athlete shared something obscure, then won gold. Signal, not noise.

Today we’re covering the best fitness advice I ever got from Olympians. I’ve selected 10 of my favorite tips.

They’ll help you build an engine that doesn’t quit, bulletproof your joints, identify the hidden signs of overtraining before you get injured, and debunk the myths that are wasting your time.

Whether you want to be at the top of your game or want to protect yourself as you get older, you’ll find some genuinely useful takeaways.

From here you’ll learn:

• How to use Apolo Ohno’s brutal Hindenburg Method to build legs that don’t quit.

• The physiological reason why fasted cardio is a myth, and why eating more might be the key to getting leaner.

• Why your irritability is actually a biological red alert from your nervous system.

• The specific, boring exercises the greatest downhill skier of all time used to stay durable and avoid injury as he aged.

• And a lot more…

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