Train Like a Pro Athlete

Watch any top athlete compete and you can't help but notice her graceful movements, superb coordination, and lightning-quick reflexes—not to mention her firm, sculpted body. But strength and grace aren't qualities that only sports figures can have.

"There's an athlete in all of us. If you use athletic training techniques, you'll start to look and move like one," says Chris Freytag, a Prevention contributing editor and star of "Prevention Fitness Systems" DVDs, who designed this easy-to-follow sports-inspired routine.

By doing athletic drills, you'll develop balance, agility, better posture, and sharper reflexes—skills that'll give you confidence at neighborhood softball games and improve your body. In a 12-month study of 80 women, those doing a high-impact training program increased hip bone density by up to 2 percent. Women who didn't exercise saw their bone density diminish.

What's more, this routine will polish your core and lower body—your rear, your thighs, your abs, and your back. Game on, sister!

Workout Basics

• Routine:  Do three workouts a week on nonconsecutive days. Begin with one set of each exercise per workout, doing the recommended number of reps. Gradually progress to three sets of each exercise, resting one minute between sets.
• Equipment: All you need is a soccer or volleyball. If you don't have one, use a step bench, the bottom step of a staircase, or a stack of books.

• Inspired by: Basketball
• Skills: Jumping ability, coordination, balance
• Muscles used: Butt, thighs, core

A. Stand tall with feet hip-width apart, elbows bent, and hands and forearms parallel as if holding a basketball in front of face. Bend knees and hips to sit back into a half squat.

B. Spring up off ground, jumping as high as you can and raising arms overhead as if shooting a basketball into a hoop. Bend knees as you land, and pause briefly before next jump. Do 10 to 15 jumps.

• Inspired by: Soccer
• Skills: Coordination, agility
• Muscles used: Butt, thighs, core

Place soccer ball (or substitute bench or stair) about a foot in front of you. Stand tall with knees slightly bent and elbows at sides bent to 90 degrees.

Lightly touch top of ball with right toe, moving ball as little as possible. As you return right foot to start, hop and switch feet, tapping ball with left toe. Continue alternating legs, establishing a quick and steady hopping rhythm.

Pump arms forward and back as you tap. Do 30 to 50 taps.

Stealing Bases

• Inspired by: Softball and baseball
• Skills: Coordination, muscle stamina
• Muscles used: Butt, thighs (mostly inner and outer), core

Stand with feet wider than hip-width apart, bend knees and hips, and sit back into a squat.

Don't let knees bend beyond toes. Bend elbows so forearms are parallel to ground.

Stay low and shuffle feet three times to right, then three times to left. Shuffle eight to 10 times in each direction.

• Inspired by: Speed skating
• Skills: Coordination, balance
• Muscles: Butt, thighs (mostly inner and outer), core

Stand tall with feet hip-width apart. Step right foot out to side 2 to 3 feet. Left foot follows and crosses behind right foot into a curtsy. Swing arms to right with left arm coming across body.

Repeat stepping, swinging, and curtsying to left. Alternate continuously, moving at a slow and steady pace as if you were gliding across ice. Complete eight to 12 reps on each side.

• Inspired by: Boxing
• Skills: Coordination, power, balance
• Muscles used: Butt, thighs, back, chest, shoulders, arms, core

Stand with feet a stride's length apart, right leg in front, arms held up like a boxer. Bend knees until right thigh is parallel to ground and hold as you quickly jab left arm and shoulder forward 12 times.

Next, spring upward, switch foot positions in midair, and land softly in a lunge with left thigh parallel to ground. Jab right arm forward 12 times.

Keep alternating, and do five to eight times on each side. (Easier option: Skip the jump and switch legs by stepping forward.)

• Inspired by: Football
• Skills: Coordination, agility, speed
• Muscles used: Thighs (mostly inner and outer), calves, core

A. Stand tall. With arms at sides, bend elbows so forearms are parallel to ground. Staying up on toes, quickly step right foot out to right side, then left foot out to left side.

B. Next, step right foot in, then step left foot in. Pump arms forward and back as you continue the out-out, in-in pattern 10 to 15 times.

Note: This intense, high-impact workout is not designed for beginners or those with joint problems.