Winter athletes stay sharp with summer workouts

“In winter, all I do is eat and snowboard,” says Breckenridge’s J.J. Thomas, who took Olympic bronze in superpipe at Salt Lake City. So in summer, he mixes up the routine—by surfing. Once the snow melts, he decamps to his house in Encinitas, north of San Diego, where he surfs water instead of snow.

“It’s one of the best crossover workouts you can do,” says Thomas, adding that it builds full-body strength and improves balance. Plus, it’s fun. “I just love being in the water,” he says.

Having fun is a big part of Thomas’s summer regimen. “I’ve learned that it’s really important for me to take time off and rejuvenate,” he says. After traveling nonstop for six months each winter, Thomas uses the summer to relax and unwind. “Taking a little break helps me get build that fire back up and get excited about snowboarding when the season starts again,” he explains.