Tips for Success and Strength From Four of the Best Bodies in the World

The Runner: Allyson Felix, 28

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Four-time Olympic gold-medal winner
No doubt, Felix’s lightning-fast speed (200 meters in a whiplash-inducing 21.88 seconds) is remarkable. But it’s her atypical physique that really makes her stand out on the track. Sprinters usually have bulky legs packed with fast-twitch muscles that deliver bursts of intense energy. The 5-foot-6-inch Felix looks long and lean in comparison, which is why she’s been called “chicken legs” since childhood.

“My legs are skinny, but I’ve always prided myself on being just as strong as the other girls,” she says. And what her legs may lack in size, they more than make up for in power. Not only is her stride about twice as long as that of most sprinters, she can also squat 350 pounds—though she weighs just 125 pounds.

To build that kind of strength, Felix spends two hours a day, four days a week at the gym, doing plyometrics. She also mixes in classic weight training. “I plank a lot—with a 40-pound sandbag on my back,” she says.

Since suffering a torn hamstring, Felix has had to work on a different skill: recovery. “People think, I have to get workouts in, but recovery is just as important as the other work,” she says. Expect to see the payoff when she races at the 2016 Olympics.

LEGS
“I focus on plyometrics—a lot of box jumps, hops and ankle jumps—because they help with explosiveness and speed.”

FEET
“Having strong feet alleviates many shin problems from running. I love my custom Nike Free 4.0s. They’re made with less support, which lets me really strengthen all my muscles.”

ARMS
“How fast your arms move sets the pace for your legs. To build strength and endurance in my arms, I grab an anchored resistance band and mimic a running motion—I do 100 reps, take a one-minute break and repeat two more times.”

The Dancer: Misty Copeland, 32

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At 24, she became the American Ballet Theatre’s only African-American female soloist.
When Copeland began her ballet career at 17, her body seemed tailor-made for the role. “I had naturally lean muscle, and I was really strong and flexible—everything was ideal for ballet,” she says.

But that strength has been a liability at times. In 2003, she was told that her 5-foot-2-inch frame was too muscular and no longer fit the ballerina mold. She traded elliptical sessions, which had been her go-to, for pilates and gyrotonics. In 2012, she suffered stress fractures to her tibia, so again, she adapted. Copeland did Floor Barre classes, a program that focuses on classic ballet moves done lying down. “It’s gotten me through my injuries but still keeps me in ballet shape,” says Copeland, who took center stage once again last spring, stronger than ever, with six principal roles.

ARMS
“I have women ask me all the time: ‘What do you do for your arms? What weight do you lift?’ It’s just the way ballet dancers hold their arms that builds this lean, toned, supportive muscle.”

LEGS
“The leg muscles are what really define dancers. There are the inner-thigh muscles that you sculpt by constantly having your leg turned out. And when we point and flex, you can see all the little muscles along the shin bone.”

FEET
“Dancing naturally strengthens your feet. When I was recovering from my injury, I had to maintain that strength. I used the pilates springboard. It allowed me to mimic jumping while lying down.”

The Yogi: Caley Alyssa Yavorsky, 29



In 2010, she traded in her private-banking career for a full-time yoga practice and is now a 500-hour registered instructor.
Seeing Yavorsky contort into Wheel pose would make you think flexibility is the key to her success as a yogi. But you’d be wrong. “I had to build so much strength—there’s always some element of strength to every pose.”

Yavorsky’s strategy: Create a core of steel. “To engage the center, you have to pull up and in,” she explains. “It allows you to use power from the center of your body.”

Between teaching and her personal practice, Yavorsky can spend eight hours a day on a yoga mat. “I practice daily,” she says. “It’s the ritual of expressing myself through movement that’s important to me.”

LEGS
“Yoga works all of your body, but one move that really builds leg strength is Warrior pose. Really pushing my legs into the ground takes so much lower-body strength, yet I have to make the pose light and not feel like I’m being weighed down.”

UPPER BACK
“I needed to find openness in my chest area. To do that, I held every type of back bend—Back Bridge, Wheel, Camel and Bow poses.”

CORE
“The one pose that has really helped strengthen my abdominals is Boat pose (where you form a V shape while sitting).”

The Surfer: Alessa Quizon, 20

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Currently ranked 14th on the women’s World Championship Tour
Quizon rode her first wave as a 4-year-old, turned pro at 12 and qualified for the World Championship Tour at 19. Despite her impressive surfing résumé, the Hawaii native has had to work overtime to compensate for her petite 5-foot-3-inch frame.

“I’ve always had to go a little harder to keep up with girls who are taller and have more muscle,” she says. Her solution: training in the surf for up to four hours a day.

To build stamina, she does pilates, CrossFit and HIIT exercises. “I do moves that force me to use all my energy so I can build my endurance for competing,” Quizon says. Because when the perfect wave comes in, it’s all about who can paddle there first.

UPPER BODY
“All of my power comes from my shoulders and upper back. It’s what gets me into a wave; you have to paddle to get anywhere in the water. I do push-ups, and over the years my arms have developed a certain muscle memory.”

CORE
“My core is crucial to stabilize me and balance all my turns. When I surf, I’m tightening my abs the entire time—sucking everything in and flexing.”


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