Jacqueline Legere & Spencer O’Brien are Winter Sports Athletes to Watch
Check out theses ladies as they dominate winter action sports and push the needle on strength training, sprinting, and conditioning and give us their workout.
Picture yourself racing on a steep downhill track covering a distance of 400 to 600 meters in 45 to 60 seconds. Now imagine doing it wearing ice skates.
This is what the women in the sport of Ice Cross Downhill, aka “Crashed Ice,” do. Jacqueline Legere is the reigning women’s champion of the sport. The Canadian, who is just 25 years old, is already a Crashed Ice veteran, having competed for five years now. The season is made up of four or five Red Bull Crashed Ice events held in cities across the globe, plus a few Riders Cup races. “Our season finale is at the beginning of March [2017] in Ottawa,” says Legere.
Considering the risk involved, you may think injuries are a major concern, but Legere doesn’t let that stop her. “You have to make smart choices in practice and on the bigger features, but I just make sure I am trained properly,” she says.
Legere’s training is demanding, and she starts to prepare for the upcoming season months in advance.
“I work out five days a week in my basement gym or a CrossFit gym all year round. A few months before the season begins I start skating every day,” says Legere. Her training mainly focuses on sprints, transitions, and strength.
Skipping leg day is not an option for these athletes. “The race itself is a sprint and a leg burner, so you need to be prepared for that! I do a wide variety of training. Since I can’t go on an actual track to practice, I work out on a skating treadmill to focus on technique and sprints. I do CrossFit for strength and in-line skating to work on jumping, transitions, and pumping.”
LEGERE’S BODY-PUMPING WORKOUT
WARMUP: 2 rounds
500m row (on Concept2 rower)
5 pull-ups
5 pushups
5 squats
5 sit ups
LIFT:Warm up back squat with empty barbell, gradually increasing weight
5-rep-max back squat
5×5 at 155 lbs (weight should be difficult but doable)
WORKOUT OF THE DAY (WOD):
Baseline WOD for time:
500m row
40 air squats
30 ab mat sit ups
20 pushups
10 pull-ups
(perform all movements strict)
SPENCER O’BRIEN
2016 X Games Snowboard Slopestyle Gold Medalist
Spencer O’Brien won her first gold medal in the 2016 X Games Snowboard Slope style by nailing a head-spinning switch backside 720 that’s been her nemesis for years. If you have no idea what that is, let’s just say the slide at top speed on your nondominant side onto a gaping ski slope to whip out two full 360-degree turns before sticking the landing is tough. Judges weren’t surprised to see this perfect run from her, though, when just the year before O’Brien managed to land one of the first-ever backside 900s by any woman in the history of X Games Snow board Slopestyle. So winning gold in 2016 was the icing on a very big cake that the 28-year-old has been cooking up since she was 3 years old.
The Canadian’s training is intense on and off the slopes, focusing on strength and endurance. She says, “I do four 90 minute strength sessions a week, two of them with my trainer, Molly. I do Olympic lifts to build leg strength, speed, and power; plus, I do full-body training.” For cardio she does three 60-to 120-minute sessions and favors “spin class or outdoor cycling. On lighter days I’ll do Pilates, flow yoga, or trampoline training,” she adds. That works out to two sessions a day six days a week. “I more or less live at my gym when I’m not on snow,” she says.
For competitions like the X Games Aspen 2017, which airs from Jan. 26 to 29 on ESPN and ABC, holding on to the top spot gets harder each year, so she never takes it easy. “Each win feels different depending on what I had to endure to earn it.”
Yet this isn’t a solo venture. O’Brien says, “One of the best things about snow boarding is how close the community is. Plus, there are so many ways to leave your mark; that’s why I’m still so passionate about it. I’m also excited for us women to compete in Big Air at X Games Aspen, which we’ve been fighting for years to be included in. The X Games is an amazing event that’s shown women’s action sports such equality for a long time.”
O’BRIEN’S GO-GET-IT WORKOUT
Keiser Shoulder Squat 2×10
BB Back Squat 3×12 with 5 and 8-rep sets for warmup.Increase loads 5–10 lbs/side as needed. Rest 75–90 sec. between sets.
Leg Press 3×20 (Rest 90–120 sec. between sets.)
Cable Shoulder Internal Rotation 2×12
Cable Shoulder External Rotation 2×12
Single-leg RDL2x8 each side (ES)Rest 15 sec. between exercises, 45–60 sec. between sets.
Good Morning 2×12
Hamstring Curl 2×15
ISO Low Box Split Squat 2×30- sec. holds ESRest 30 sec. between sides/sets.
