One of the greatest alpine ski racers in history, Lindsey Vonn is much more than just an Olympic champion. In a recent Instagram video, Vonn shared her powerful gym progress accompanied by heavy front squats.

The former Olympic champion powers through heavy, weighted front squats with above-knee resistance bands in the Instagram video. Her progress has been incredible, especially after struggling with multiple knee injuries, fractures, and surgeries throughout her career.

“This may seem boring, but I couldn’t be happier. Slow and steady progress,” Vonn captioned her Instagram post that she posted on August 3.

Within hours of sharing, her Instagram post gathered over 265K views and hundreds of comments. Fans openly admired her incredible progress, calling her an inspiration.

The 2010 Olympic downhill gold medalist retired from professional competition in February, 2019. However, she made a brief comeback during 2024-25, after which she finally hung up her skis

During a 2019 Women’s Health interview, Vonn revealed that she trained almost six days each week and alternated between agility and strength sessions. She loved doing leg and core exercises because they boosted her confidence.

"Having a strong core and legs really makes me feel confident. I like being able to squat heavy weight. And on my body, when I do leg workouts, I can see them getting bigger and stronger pretty quickly,” Vonn said.

Of course, her demanding schedule and grueling training sessions can be exhausting. Sometimes, even she needs to hit the pause button and focus on recovery.

Smart recovery: How Lindsey Vonn stays injury-free after competition and workouts

While heavy lifting might build Vonn’s strength, it is her smart recovery methods that help her stay refreshed and energized.

During the same 2018 Women’s Health interview, Vonn shared how she gets exhausted every once in a while, during which she decides to slow down.

“There’s been a couple of days where I’m so run down that I’m almost in tears because I’m so drained, emotionally and physically,” she admitted. Those difficult days call for smart recovery and stress management.

For starters, Vonn adjusts her workout routine and the volume of training, ensuring that she doesn’t damage her body further. Sometimes, slowing down is the best way to move forward, Vonn realized.

During a 2019 interview with Bustle, Vonn shared how she used Normatec, a compression sleeve for her legs to recover, especially post-skiing. However, her greatest recovery tool, she admitted, is good sleep.

If, for some reason, she cannot sleep well through the night, she strives for a 20-minute afternoon nap during her lunch break to rejuvenate. Besides these, she enjoys watching TV on the couch with a tub of ice cream and her dogs beside her.

Training like an Olympic winner also means recovering like one. Have you ever tried front squats like Vonn during your leg day?

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Written by

Avantika Das

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar