Motorcycle Racer Laia Sanz in Two-Piece Workout Gear Shares "Training This Week"

HIIT Workouts

Laia is a fan of HIIT workouts – high intensity interval training.. “I want to do quality sessions, meaning they don’t have to be very long. I do high-intensity series of 60-70 minutes, with very short stops in between exercises so I keep a pretty high heart rate,” she told Clubs 1. “A Dakar bike is very demanding, so I have to focus on all areas: the legs – as you get up and down a lot – but also the arms and back, core strength… All body parts are very important.” There is lots of research backing up the benefits of HIIT workouts, including body fat reduction, improved cardiovascular function, and mental health. It is also time effective.

The “Scarecrow” Exercise

Sanz maintains that “The Scarecrow” is her standout exercise. “I started doing it when I was riding in trials. I have to do small jumps while I push a weight to the front and up. It is pretty intense as I use the arms, back and legs,” she told Clubs 1.

Hiking

Laia enjoys hiking during her downtime. “Nature, friends & sport,” she captioned a post. According to the National Parks Service, the physical benefits of hiking include:

• Building stronger muscles and bones
• Improving your sense of balance
• Improving your heart health
• Decreasing the risk of certain respiratory problems

Fueling Up with Food

Laia fuels up with food and has to plan ahead. “It’s very difficult to eat when you have to wake up every day at 3 am. But it’s key for me now. I make small sandwiches and I take bars, nuts and fruits with me. I have it all in my jacket and I eat during the day, before the start and when refuelling,” she says.

Cycling

She also rides bikes and motorbikes regularly. “On my motorbike, I tend to do two one-hour series, but it depends on where I am and what’s the terrain like.” The Cleveland Clinic explains that biking, a low-impact aerobic exercise, is great for building muscle, improving strength and flexibility, and improving balance. It can also boost mental health and help other health conditions, including arthritis.

Workout Routine

Zissman works out for both mental and physical benefits, including Pilates, yoga, and strength training into her routine. "I'm probably the fittest now than I've ever been in my adult life, but that's because I do prioritise it and I'm in a good routine,” she told Closer. “That's what I try and say to people, 'It only takes three weeks, apparently, to start a new habit'. So if you focus on it and then you get into that habit and realise how food makes you feel and how rewarding a routine is, then you will find your flow."

Ab Exercises

Zissman focuses on her core when she’s horseback riding and working out. “ I do focus on my abs because I find ab workouts easy,” she told Closer. “I also don't eat processed food and I don't eat a lot of fat. I think really, if you want to see abs pop you do need to have relatively lean body fat. But I enjoy doing abs, I love hanging and lifting my legs up. I've got a broken ankle at the minute and I was still in the gym today hanging and lifting my legs up. It was really heavy because I've got a boot on!"

Epsom Salt Baths

Zissman swears by hot baths for rest and recovery. "When I'm really cold and I've been riding, I'll get in a bubble bath,” she told HeatWorld. “I always use this Tropic Tahitian & Coconut Bath Foam and Epsom Salts because I always have muscle aches and pain because I work out so much.”

Building Her Brand

Zissman took a chance when she appeared on The Apprentice UK. “I applied for The Apprentice because I had the business and my husband at the time was involved. We were going through an amicable break-up, but I wanted to do something on my own,” she told Absolutely Magazines. “I thought, I’m just going to give it a whirl. I didn’t necessarily want to be business partners with Alan Sugar, but I wanted to branch out on my own. It taught me that I was better than I thought I was. I never thought I’d get into the final, so it was a big confidence boost and it taught me that a lot is possible – if you really want something then you most definitely can do it.”

Obsessed With Horses

Zissman loves horse riding in the countryside around her home. “I’ve lived in St Albans, I’m currently living in a village just outside of Potters Bar, and I’m moving soon to Bishop’s Stortford so I’ve covered the whole of Hertfordshire,” she told Absolutely Magazines. “I really loved St Albans, it’s such a beautiful place with a real buzz, but I love the villages and community feel too. I’ve got seven horses and I love riding around all the rural areas, but I like that you can still go to places like Bishop’s Stortford for a great night out.”

She Runs

Flörsch shared this post on Instagram of herself doing different workouts. One thing she is seen doing in it is going for a run. Flörsch captioned the post, “Awww what a cardio week I had 🏃🏽♀️➡️🚴🏼♀️Not been home a lot but still managed to get some nice sessions in 💪🏽 Running, cycling and even hiking ⛰️Which by the way was the nicest thing… 🤍”

She Bikes

In the previous Instagram post, Flörsch is seen on a bike ride. Biking has a lot of health benefits. A Healthier Michigan states, “Biking strengthens your muscles. This one, you can feel. When you’re pedaling, you can feel it working your calves, your quads and your glutes. These are all big muscles and working these out regularly can have big benefits not only for calorie counting, but also for stronger, leaner legs.”

She Hikes

Flörsch is also seen hiking in the previous Instagram post. According to Harvard Health, hiking has a lot of benefits. “Navigating a winding, wooded trail can help your body build endurance, strength, and coordination, says Dr. Edward Phillips, assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School. Hiking over uneven terrain requires more energy than walking on a level surface, so it burns more calories. If you are hiking uphill, your body has to work even harder, he says. A rigorous hike may offer many of the same physical benefits as interval training, which alternates low- and high-intensity exercise to increase cardiovascular fitness. During a hike, your heart rate goes up as you move up an incline and drops when you head downhill.”

She Swims

Flörsch likes to swim to keep herself in shape. She shared this set of photos and a video on Instagram of herself in a pool. Flörsch captioned the post, “Throwback to some days in the mountains some weeks ago💨 I have to honestly say that I usually never use zoom in on pictures, but the zoom now is so badass!”

She Does Pullups

Flörsch is seen doing pull-ups in this Instagram post. Asphalt Green states that pull-ups have a lot of benefits. “Pull-ups are a fantastic way to improve upper-body strength. This exercise primarily targets your back and biceps, but involves many stabilizing muscles in your core, arms, and shoulders. Depending on the way you grip the bar, you can even work your chest. Plus, you don’t need any fancy equipment to do a pull-up. Tree branches, scaffolding, and even door frames are all places people can do pull-ups.”

She Does Intense Workouts

Mayer keeps her workouts intense. She described them in an interview with Equinox. “I work out four hours a day, six days a week. I have a two-hour training session starting at 9 a.m. I start with a warm-up before running intervals. My pace has to be fast and explosive. I’ll do eight two-minute sprints. Sometimes I do suicides—I’ll run for 45 seconds with a minute rest between, and I’ll do it 15 times.”

She Eats A Lot Of Protein

Mayer revealed to Equinox that she eats a protein-rich diet. “I eat every two hours so I never feel low on energy. My diet emphasizes a lot of protein and vegetables, and I eat small portions. I have an iron deficiency so I eat red meat about three times a week. I’m not big on fish unless it’s raw. I love sushi and eat it once or twice a week. I also eat a lot of chicken breast.”

She Learns From Failures

Mayer doesn’t let her setbacks define her. She tells Men’s Journal that she likes to learn from them. “Going into my first Olympic year, making it to the finals and then losing, and then losing by only two points … that was rough. But I knew I had so much more to learn. I hadn’t hit my peak yet, and the dream was still alive. When you have a dream, you have a dream.”

She Recovers

Mayer makes sure to recover, and shared her process with Equinox. “There’s an amazing recovery room with massage, a cold plunge, a Jacuzzi, steam room and sauna at the Olympic Training Center. I usually go after my morning training session. I do dry needling once a week. It’s not the same as acupuncture. The needle goes deeper and is attached to electric stimulation so it pulsates. I do it for about five minutes, usually on my IT bands because they tighten up a lot. It’s aggressive and leaves a little bruising, but it works.”

She Does A Variety Of Workouts

I strength train, focusing on my core and shoulders with push-ups, pull-ups and Russian twists. I do a lot of I’s, T’s and Y’s using the TRX and also for push-ups so I engage my core more than I would normally. My second two-hour workout is a boxing session at 3 p.m. I start with a 15-minute warm-up, which includes a series of rotational movements because my coach is big on getting full extension out of my punches. Next is two to four rounds of shadowboxing drills. It’s a time for me to think about my combinations and technique and drill them into my subconscious. Sometimes I’ll circle around the ring, moving forward, backward and side-to-side. All of those angles are really important when you’re throwing punches. I’ll finish the session with sparring or mitt work. I spar three times a week, usually six three-minute rounds at a time. Sometimes it’s technical work, and if I do a bag session, it’s for 10 rounds.