Current:Home > MarketsHow do breakers train for the Olympics? Strength, mobility – and all about the core -Capital Dream Guides
How do breakers train for the Olympics? Strength, mobility – and all about the core
View
Date:2025-04-12 03:48:48
Six-packs weren’t a requirement to qualify for the first-ever breaking competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics. But having one would certainly be beneficial.
For breakers, the key is the core.
In a sport that requires balance, twists, suspensions, freezes and holds, with moves that have names such as windmills and headspins, the center of the human body is the engine.
"I just do a bunch of random core workouts," said Victor Montalvo, aka B-boy Victor.
The more common core exercises Montalvo does are leg raises, "a lot of" crunches and toe touches.
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
"There's also other core workouts that I don't know the name of, but I just do," he said. "My coach gives them to me and I'm like, 'All right, this looks hard. Let me try.'"
➤ Get Olympics updates in your texts! Join USA TODAY Sports' WhatsApp Channel
Jeffrey Louis, B-boy Jeffro, said that targeting the lower core toward the hip flexors – areas not hit by the traditional crunch – is essential.
"Nobody’s really exercising that lower abdomen area," he said. "For breaking, we use that stuff a lot."
Always passionate about fitness and nutrition, Louis created a program called "FitBreak" that infuses breaking and traditional exercises.
"So that I’m able to break and work out those muscles that I activate when I’m breaking but in a less impactful way," he said, "so I’m not beating up my body."
➤ The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
To be technically sound and pull off the most complex of moves, the athletes need a high level of mobility and strength in the shoulders as well.
Louis trains that by practicing vertical reaches, "Y-T" shoulder movements (making the shape of those letters with his arms) and "90-90." Most of these are bodyweight exercises, although he does throw in some weights.
Sunny Choi, B-girl Sunny, said she sees a strength coach multiple times per week and goes to a massage therapist.
Montalvo took up Muay Thai a couple years ago mostly because he was simply interested in the martial arts form. Because of the general brutality of combat-sport training, it helped his stamina.
But he works out a lot anyway so that way he doesn’t have to monitor his diet too closely – a goal to which many humans aspire.
"I work out a lot. I run, I train, so I'm active 24/7," he said. "It's a lifestyle. So for me, I can overeat if I want and I can be pretty flexible."
veryGood! (71)
Related
- Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
- Martin Scorsese on the saints, faith in filmmaking and what his next movie might be
- 'Wanted' posters plastered around University of Rochester target Jewish faculty members
- Bridgerton's Luke Newton Details His Physical Transformation for Season 3's Leading Role
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Giuliani’s lawyers after $148M defamation judgment seek to withdraw from his case
- Vermont man is fit to stand trial over shooting of 3 Palestinian college students
- 'Serial swatter': 18-year-old pleads guilty to making nearly 400 bomb threats, mass shooting calls
- Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
- 'Survivor' 47, Episode 9: Jeff Probst gave players another shocking twist. Who went home?
Ranking
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Japan to resume V-22 flights after inquiry finds pilot error caused accident
- Mean Girls’ Lacey Chabert Details “Full Circle” Reunion With Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried
- Mean Girls’ Lacey Chabert Details “Full Circle” Reunion With Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried
- Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
- Joan says 'Yes!' to 'Golden Bachelorette' finale fantasy beach proposal. Who did she pick?
- Mississippi expects only a small growth in state budget
- Dogecoin soars after Trump's Elon Musk announcement: What to know about the cryptocurrency
Recommendation
Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82
Bohannan requests a recount in Iowa’s close congressional race as GOP wins control of House
Ex-Marine misused a combat technique in fatal chokehold of NYC subway rider, trainer testifies
Are Dancing with the Stars’ Jenn Tran and Sasha Farber Living Together? She Says…
2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
New Orleans marks with parade the 64th anniversary of 4 little girls integrating city schools
Suicides in the US military increased in 2023, continuing a long-term trend
Fighting conspiracy theories with comedy? That’s what the Onion hopes after its purchase of Infowars