Ester Ledecká In Workout Gear is “Waiting For a Call From the NHL”

Professional skier and snowboarder Ester Ledecká isn’t content with being a double threat—she wants to add ice hockey to that list, too. Ledecká, 29, shared a funny video of herself wearing black joggers and a blue and white sweatshirt, pretending to play hockey while cleaning up a cow barn with a broom. “I'm still working on the farm and waiting for a call from @nhlbruins 😁,” she captioned the post. Here’s how the Olympian focuses on her many sports, and lives her best life.

1. Skiing and Snowboarding Training

Ledecká worked hard to excel at both skiing and snowboarding but admits it’s difficult. “Inside, I still feel like [I am] half snowboarder and half skier,” she told Olympics.com. “The thing is that we wanted to see what is possible for me in the overall rankings in skiing... But the problem is that when I want to try it, it's even more difficult to fit the snowboard racing schedule because it's at the same time. And if I want to compete in both, then I have to cancel some ski races, and that means that I lose a lot of points in the overall rankings.”

2. Double Threat

Ledecká can’t decide between snowboarding and skiing. "Inside, I still feel like [I am] half snowboarder and half skier," she told Olympics.com. “I can still do a triple or even a quadruple. There is still a lot of space for improvement… It depends on my feeling in that exact time of the season. And if I just feel that if I want to go snowboarding, I go snowboarding and nothing is going to stop me. And it's also the other way around!"

3. Mikaela Shiffrin Is a Fan

World Cup champion Mikaela Shiffrin is a big fan of Ledecká. “She’s an incredible athlete—obviously she has to be to compete in both sports so well,” Shiffrin told Powder. “I think she has a really natural feeling for speed and really great technique. Watching her ski, I wonder what everyone else is doing.”

4. Friendly Competition

Ledecká jokes about the competition between skiers and snowboarders. “As long as I’m having fun and doing it for myself, I think I’m in a good way,” she told Powder. “Sometimes, I want to stay in bed (in the morning), but as long as I’m on the hill, I feel like I’m at home.”

5. Always Improving

Ledecká is improving with every single training session. “It's not like going to the top and then back, like that one race in South Korea,” she told Olympics.com. “But when you see [all of the results], I was improving that season too. I just wasn't on that level that I would be able to reach [the podium] more than once through the season. Then the next season, I [took] a step a little [further] and then more, and more. So, I feel I'm going in [the] right direction, for sure. Even though I am now a much better skier, and I have much more experience, I still [don't have the] experience, which I would consider is enough for me to be able to win every race.”

To play in the big leagues of women's hockey, you have to be skilled, fearless and strong. Some have represented their country in the Olympics, winning medals. Others play in the National Women’s Hockey League. All have one thing in common: a grit and determination to win, and to not be afraid of a smash to the face. They are also all incredibly fit. (You try ice skating at whooshing speeds while people chase you with a big stick.) How do the premier women at the top of their game stay in shape? Here's how.

1. Hilary Knight

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Hilary Knight is the youngest person to play for Team USA. She shared her training secrets in an interview with ESPN. “Our training program is split into different phases through the summer, usually comprised of upper and lower body as well as conditioning, plyometrics, and core work everyday. For us, anything with core strength or legs is huge.”

2. Hayley Wickenheiser

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Hayley Wickenheiser is a former hockey player for the Canadian National Team. She shared some of her workout secrets with The Globe and Mail. “Staying limber when it’s cold out is really important,” Wickenheiser said. “You want to get your core body temperature high enough that you’re not going to pull your muscles or hurt yourself. You need to make sure the joints are oiled up and mobile.”

3. Marie-Philip Poulin

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Marie-Philip Poulin has won two gold medals at the Olympics. She shared how she trained for the Olympics with Best Health Magazine. “To prepare for the Olympic Winter Games, my routine included working out up to three times a day. We train extremely hard, year round in order to be the best country on the ice. Our training methods as a team have evolved, we work with the best trainers and incorporate new technology in the gym. We monitor things like nutrition, body composition and raise our mental focus to new heights.”

4. Amanda Kessel

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Amanda Kessel wants to share women’s hockey with the world. "We've come a long way with women's hockey, but still, I think a lot of people [in America] don't realize that there's a women's league," she told ESPN. "I also don't think a lot of people realize most of the players are also working normal jobs. Probably 99 percent are playing hockey and have a full-time job. My roommate was a recruiter. Another [teammate] worked in the fashion industry, one was studying to be a lawyer and worked at a law firm, a few others teach hockey."

5. Kendall Coyne Schofield

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Kendall Coyne Schofield shared how she and her husband stayed active during the pandemic to ESPN. The other thing we've been doing is committing to biking around the town to local business and ordering takeout food to support them. It promotes exercising, and it promotes supporting local businesses during challenging times. [This weekend] we had a 7-mile ride. I have to say I'm a little more optimistic about biking than my husband is, being a 300-pound man, but he's been a trouper. We go on a bike ride, and then stay inside the rest of the day to follow guidelines with social distancing."

6. Meghan Duggan

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Meghan Duggan shared how she eats healthy with USADA. “Just like everyone else, I also enjoy a meal out every now and then! When I’m somewhere new, I look for restaurants that prepare foods in a healthy way, so that means minimizing the deep-fried foods or added sauces. Again, it’s all about choosing things from a menu that are fresh instead of processed. Freshii is one of my favorite places to grab a meal that is energizing and quick. I’m a sucker for any restaurant that has some version of a power bowl!”

7. Brianna Decker

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Brianna Decker shared her approach to training with Cosmopolitan. "I'm 5-foot-4, and as a forward there are a lot of the defenders that I'm going up against who have a lot of size to them so I have to muscle through a lot of people. The stronger you are the better, but you have to be careful about how much muscle you put on so you can keep your speed up. I play a more physical game, and I have tested my game out at different weights. I didn't like how I played when I was seven pounds lighter because even though I felt a little faster, I felt I was being pushed around. I don't let ‘ideal image’ affect me. Plus, some guys are really into athletic girls and some guys aren't! I'm surrounded by such a mixed group of people — to us the ideal body type is being athletic and being fit.”

8. Shannon Szabados

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Shannon Szabados was the first woman to play in the Southern Professional Hockey League. "I'm just a hockey player that loves to play hockey," she said to AL.com. "If (pioneer) is the word people want to attach with it, it seems weird to me to have that kind of title. But if that's what comes along with it and maybe it opens up some doors for future generations, that's good."

9. Natalie Spooner

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Natalie Spooner opened up about her diet in an interview with Olympic Canada. “In January 2014, when we traveled across Alberta playing exhibition games against boys, we’d often have a pre-game meal as a team. It’s standard to eat about three hours before a game, with maybe a small snack a little bit closer to the whistle. By this time, we had tapered down our training hours, but the scheduling was just as exhausting given all the travel we were doing.”

10. Megan Agosta

ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - JANUARY 24: Meghan Agosta #2 of the Canadian All-Stars poses for a photo ahead of Elite Women's practice during the 2020 NHL All-Star weekend at Enterprise Center on January 24, 2020 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)

Megan Agosta talked about returning to hockey after having her daughter to CBC. “It's not only going back to working shift work, sleeping, eating and training at different times, but I do have Chance and I have my two stepsons," she said. "That's our family. On top of that, training to try to be the best I can be every single time I put on that Canadian jersey, it hasn't been easy. Knowing myself, I've done everything I could to be at the top of my game."

11. Meaghan Mikkelson

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In the same CBC interview, Meaghan Mikkelson talked about playing hockey after having her kids. "I think I said to [teammate Natalie] Spooner a couple of weeks ago 'I'm 34 years old. I've been on the team for 12 years and I've had two babies and I think I'm the strongest and fittest I've ever been in my life.’ I don't know if it's the mom strength kicking in. Physically, mentally I think I'm the strongest I've ever been in my career."

12. Rebecca Johnston

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Rebecca Johnston talked about how she got interested in hockey to The Calgary Journal. “I would say my inspiration for getting into hockey would be my dad and my siblings. I have five brothers and sisters and we all play hockey. So, it was instilled in us when we were born as a big part of our family, as we all love it. So, it’s something I wanted to do.”

13. Jennifer Wakefield

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Jennifer Wakefield shares some of her favorite workouts on Instagram. One thing she likes to do is strength train. She shared these photos of herself doing a lunge with a dumbbell and doing a twist with a band. Wakefield captioned the post, “@aycane.circle gear is 🔥”

14. Kacey Bellamy

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Kacey Bellamy opened up about dealing with failure in a letter to her younger self on The Players Tribune. “You’re going to get your heart broken. You’re going to have sleepless nights filled with tears and emotion. You’re going to think about quitting hockey for good. But you’re not a quitter. You’re going to use the adversity as motivation. You are going to stitch up every interior wound through work and sweat. Every 5 a.m. wake-up. Every sled push. Every shuttle run. They’ll all be worth it — eventually.”

15. Lara Stalder

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After the 2022 Olympics, Lara Stalder called for her native Switzerland to support women’s hockey. "My message is to build a league in Switzerland. Make the best league in Europe. Obviously, there should be one league, like the NHL, for all of us to compete against the best players. But I think we're far away from that in Switzerland, and that needs to change.”

16. Sarah Nurse

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Sarah Nurse opened up about not wanting to pressure herself to Fashion Magazine. “During these times I’m very careful to not pressure myself into productivity or comparing what I’m doing to what anyone else is doing. We have to respect that we all handle this changed way of living differently. Some days I may work out, clean the house, go for a walk and cook dinner while other days I may sit and watch TV all day and that is OKAY. I try to filter my news and information to stay informed and not consume an amount that will leave me with anxiety. It’s important to surround myself with positivity and stay connected to the people in my life that matter the most. We’re all on the same team and with some patience, discipline and love, we’re going to come out of this together.”

17. Julie Chu

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Julie Chu talked about her approach to dieting with The Huffington Post. “Nutrition is huge for us. We work with a nutritionist who is part of the U.S. Olympic Committee. She does amazing things for us, like teaching us how we can better fuel our bodies immediately before and after a workout. What we do in those time frames really makes a difference in both quick recovery or to keep our energy up. Of course, it's also about balance and moderation: I like a burger and fries like everyone else. But having a balance diet helps us perform our best.”

18. Melodie Daoust

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Melodie Daoust opened up about being an openly queer athlete to Mombian. “We know that Hockey Canada is behind us and also is behind every player, whether they’re from different nationalities or have different skin colour or who you’re with in your personal life. And that makes it way easier to be who you are and open about it all.”

19. Cassie Campbell-Pascall

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Cassie Campbell-Pascall opened up about her workout secrets with Health Insight. “I still exercise a lot but I’ve learned to exercise properly according to my age and my body. I have a mindset where I can always try and push myself through things, but as I mature, I also understand I have to be smarter with how I work out and make sure that I’m eating healthy and taking care of aches and pains more and more. It’s taken time for me to fully understand that, as far as the way I can train, I’m not an Olympian anymore. It’s been a challenge to figure that out, but I feel that I’m in my best place ever as far as fitness in the post-athletic career stage of my life.”

20. Caroline Ouellette

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Caroline Ouellette was inducted into the Hockey Hall Of Fame in 2023. She talked about being a female hockey player in her speech. “I played with boys from 9-17 years old and all those years I was the only girl on my team. I heard about every possible name-calling. These challenges helped me develop a deeper appreciation of how lucky I was to play hockey when so many women around my age couldn’t have this same opportunity.”

Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam is taking advantage of the stunning Colorado landscape to go out hiking with her dog. 25-year-old Leerdam, who is dating Jake Paul, shared sweet pictures and video of herself wearing black leggings and a bright pink hoodie, going up a trail with Paul, against a dramatic mountain background. “Colorado hikes,” she captioned the post. “Our wittle family,” Paul commented. Here’s how the professional athlete stays fit, happy, and full of energy.

1. Why She Chose Skating

Leerdam chose skating over hockey because she wanted an individual sport where she could shine and beat her own records. “I then chose skating, because hockey cannot be measured,” she told Women’s Health. “Of course you can score, but you cannot measure exactly what you do in terms of time. And it is a team sport. You are dealing with a team. Then you can have the best day of your life and still lose. You don't get that with skating. That individual approach actually suits me more. Not that I'm selfish – because I really am a sharer – but in sports I just want to win too much.”

2. Her Favorite Distance

Leerdam’s favorite distance is the 1000 meters. “It is a combination of sprint, top speed – which is even higher than a shorter distance, such as the 500 meters – and it is also a lot of endurance,” she told Women’s Health. “The 1000 meters is a combination of everything.”

3. Family Time

Leerdam takes full advantage of her time spent off the ice, saying the best thing about it is freedom from the rigid structure of her training regimen. “That I can manage my own time. That I can decide for myself whether I will train in the morning or in the evening,” she told ELLE. “Or, if I'm very tired, that I don't exercise. And I have time to meet up with friends and see my family. Because of the sport I only have limited time for that, so I want to cherish those moments.”

4. Team Leader

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Leerdam is the leader of her own team, which is scary but rewarding. “I also have the feeling that things will always turn out well, especially if I work hard for it,” she told ELLE. “And I have nice people around me, like Koen and my family. I have an older brother and two sisters, one of 25 and one of 15. We have a very good bond. Fortunately, I'm not the type to be negative easily. I try to keep it that way. In sports, the pressure is high, from the media, the public, and your environment. I try to use that pressure as fuel so that I go extra fast at the right time.”

5. The Joy of Skating

Leerdam thinks speed skating should get more recognition for being a truly beautiful sport. I think skating is the most beautiful, but also one of the toughest sports in the world,” she told Women’s Health. “You have to sit very deep and have a lot of power, especially in the sprint. As a skater you have to be very explosive, and the adrenaline that comes with that gives you a kick. Getting through those corners under your own power and trying to gain a lot of speed is of course a wonderful feeling. In addition to strength, it is also about endurance, adrenaline, explosiveness, speed in the turns - that makes skating the most beautiful sport for me.”

Former professional figure skater Tara Lipinski is following in Michelle Kwan’s footsteps (so to speak) by getting into a pair of rollerblades and practicing her best moves. Lipinski, 41, shared a video of herself wearing black shorts and a green sweatshirt, skillfully rollerblading inside her house. “Ahh this is too fun!!! 🛼 @michellewkwan inspired me to get some! Now I can skate anywhere. I didn’t take them off for two hours! It made me realize how happy I am in skates, it’s home and I love that feeling of flying around. I miss my ice but this is pretty darn fun. Now I just have to get the hang of it, by the end of my session today I started to feel it but definitely a bit different than ice skates. Michelle says I will figure it out…we shall see lol 😂,” she captioned the post. Here’s what this skating icon’s training and wellness regimen looks like.

1. Ballet and Stretching

Lipinski did ballet to balance out her training on the ice. "Skating is the best cardio and glute workout you can ever ask for,” she told Equinox. “It’s like doing squats for an hour straight. When I was training, I had a very regimented schedule where I came in and stretched, did off-ice training with my personal trainer, and did off-ice ballet. Most of the time I focused heavily on my training on the ice just so I wouldn't overdo it and risk injury."

2. Yoga, Not Bootcamp

Lipinski is passionate about yoga. “I was pretty late to the game in discovering yoga,” she told Yoga Journal. “I was used to a sport that is a high-paced, energetic workout—that’s all I ever knew— so after being on the ice all the time, I went to a lot of bootcamp-style classes and Spinning. Then, about five years ago, I came across a yoga studio [in Santa Monica, California] called YogaHop. I did one class and was so pumped, by that next day, I gave up all other activities and started going to yoga five times a week.”

3. Pasta Is Her Favorite

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Lipinski loves pasta, and would eat spaghetti before every competition. “My favorite meal is definitely pasta of any sort,” she told Bustle. “And I mean of any sort — whether it's penne, spaghetti, linguine, or even a sort of ravioli, with arrabbiata sauce, tomato sauce, vodka sauce, pesto... I can eat that meal every day. I think since I grew up training in ice skating, and it was carb-loading that gave me energy all the time, it became a comfort food. Before competitions too, it was my competition meal, so I think that's another reason why I like it so much.”

4. At-Home Workouts

Lipinski does yoga at home when she can’t get to class. “When I practice at home, I start my Spotify playlist and try to make up my own flow that’s as similar as possible to what I remember from class,” she told Yoga Journal. “I usually do 50 minutes crammed between the coffee table and the TV. It helps my skating as well. Obviously, I don’t skate as much anymore, but when I do, I feel like yoga helps me find those muscles and balance, which comes in handy on the ice.”

5. Cheering From the Sidelines

Lipinski is happy not to have to compete anymore, but feels deep empathy for the new generation of athletes. "I sit up there and say ‘Thank goodness I don’t have to be out there dealing with that myself anymore,’” she told Equinox. “The other part is, even at the last nationals, there were so many times I was hopping out of my seat, gripping Johnny’s hand as these skaters were just vying for that chance to go to an Olympic games. I definitely feel what they're going through, just because I’ve been in their shoes. It’s a whirlwind."