Lindsey Vonn has a reputation for being one of the hardest working athletes on the World Cup circuit, both in season and off-season. She has suffered multiple season-ending injuries and still ends up on the podium consistently. This winter, she looks to break Ingemar Stenmark’s all-time World Cup win record, and earn the title of the greatest skier of all time.

 

Recently, Ski Racing Media had a chance to catch up with Vonn’s personal trainer and conditioning coach, Alex Bunt, a Venice Beach native who has been at Lindsey’s side for the past three years. Bunt travels with Lindsey all year- to every race in the winter, and every camp during the off-season. Not only does he oversee her regimented training program, he is also her personal chef, making sure that she’s doing everything she can to reach her goals.

 

“She is a true professional,” he says without hesitation. “She treats the training as part of her job. So, she comes in with full focus and demands excellence. She demands that I perform my job as well as I can. That’s refreshing for me, working with an athlete, not only at the top of her game but also extremely motivated and really appreciative of the level of training we are able to give her.”

 

After studying Exercise Physiology at the University of Utah where he served as the strength and conditioning coach for the school’s Alpine Ski, Nordic Ski, and Cross Country teams, Bunt was approached by Red Bull to oversee Lindsey’s program full time. He’s been her personal trainer ever since.

 

In addition to working with Lindsey, Bunt recently launched his own program, Alex Bunt Training, which he hopes to utilize as a tool to share how training, nutrition, and lifestyle can bring anyone (professional athlete or not) to realize their full human potential. Although the program is in its early stages, Bunt’s hoping that his collaboration with Lindsey and the way they run their program together will be helpful to anyone looking to take their fitness to the next level.

 

Her 1.5 million Instagram followers hit the follow button not only for the skiing and the glamour shots but for an inside look at her intense training routines, which Bunt helps coordinate behind the scenes.

 

“I think we have a lot to share, not just with people in ski racing but with anyone who is into fitness or nutrition, so we’re just kind of going to try and document what’s going on, the aspects of Lindsey’s training we think can help everyone. Fitness is a huge part of her social media following and she has cool things to share.”

 

During the off-season, Bunt and Lindsey can be found in the gym at Red Bull’s Los Angeles headquarters four days a week, in addition to a cardio session on the bike five days a week, meaning most of Lindsey’s days consist of double sessions.

 

A typical day at the gym begins at 7:00 a.m. The team starts the session with manual therapy of the knee to get her range of motion going before hopping on the bike. Her warm-up continues with an hour of prehab (mobility work and stretching), then stability work to ensure none of her muscles are compensating for another.

 

Next on Vonn’s agenda is core activation, followed by exercises such as glute bridges and band walks to get her hips activated before power work, which consists of Olympic lifting, jumping, and agility exercises. Power work leads into strength work, heavy squat movements and the like. Strength is followed by accessory exercises, which looks like lunges, hamstring curls, and additional ab work.

 

Last but not least are balance exercises.

 

“We like to end the session with balance exercises because the legs are tired. Just like if you were skiing, at the end of your run, we want that balance to still be there,” Bunt says.

 

Lindsey Vonn has a reputation for being one of the hardest working athletes on the World Cup circuit, both in season and off-season. She has suffered multiple season-ending injuries and still ends up on the podium consistently. This winter, she looks to break Ingemar Stenmark’s all-time World Cup win record, and earn the title of the greatest skier of all time.

 

Recently, Ski Racing Media had a chance to catch up with Vonn’s personal trainer and conditioning coach, Alex Bunt, a Venice Beach native who has been at Lindsey’s side for the past three years. Bunt travels with Lindsey all year- to every race in the winter, and every camp during the off-season. Not only he does he oversee her regimented training program, he is also her personal chef, making sure that she’s doing everything she can to reach her goals.

 

“She is a true professional,” he says without hesitation. “She treats the training as part of her job. So, she comes in with full focus and demands excellence. She demands that I perform my job as well as I can. That’s refreshing for me, working with an athlete, not only at the top of her game but also extremely motivated and really appreciative of the level of training we are able to give her.”

 

Bunt and Vonn hard at work during a training session this week in Chile. Image Credit: Ski Racing Media

 

After studying Exercise Physiology at the University of Utah where he served as the strength and conditioning coach for the school’s Alpine Ski, Nordic Ski, and Cross Country teams, Bunt was approached by Red Bull to oversee Lindsey’s program full time. He’s been her personal trainer ever since.

 

In addition to working with Lindsey, Bunt recently launched his own program, Alex Bunt Training, which he hopes to utilize as a tool to share how training, nutrition, and lifestyle can bring anyone (professional athlete or not) to realize their full human potential. Although the program is in its early stages, Bunt’s hoping that his collaboration with Lindsey and the way they run their program together will be helpful to anyone looking to take their fitness to the next level.

 

Her 1.5 million Instagram followers hit the follow button not only for the skiing and the glamour shots but for an inside look at her intense training routines, which Bunt helps coordinate behind the scenes.

 

“I think we have a lot to share, not just with people in ski racing but with anyone who is into fitness or nutrition, so we’re just kind of going to try and document what’s going on, the aspects of Lindsey’s training we think can help everyone. Fitness is a huge part of her social media following and she has cool things to share.”

 

During the off-season, Bunt and Lindsey can be found in the gym at Red Bull’s Los Angeles headquarters four days a week, in addition to a cardio session on the bike five days a week, meaning most of Lindsey’s days consist of double sessions.

 

A typical day at the gym begins at 7:00 a.m. The team starts the session with manual therapy of the knee to get her range of motion going before hopping on the bike. Her warm-up continues with an hour of prehab (mobility work and stretching), then stability work to ensure none of her muscles are compensating for another.

 

Next on Vonn’s agenda is core activation, followed by exercises such as glute bridges and band walks to get her hips activated before power work, which consists of Olympic lifting, jumping, and agility exercises. Power work leads into strength work, heavy squat movements and the like. Strength is followed by accessory exercises, which looks like lunges, hamstring curls, and additional ab work.

 

Last but not least are balance exercises.

 

“We like to end the session with balance exercises because the legs are tired. Just like if you were skiing, at the end of your run, we want that balance to still be there,” Bunt says.

 

If the day calls for a double session, after lunch and a quick recovery nap, Bunt and Lindsey will return to the gym in the afternoon for cardio on the bike, which they consider to be just as important as strength training when it comes to skiing. In season, Lindsey will bike each day after skiing, in addition to two strength sessions a week, to make sure her fitness level is maintained.

 

“For us the goal of the bike session is to make sure that Lindsey can ski a large volume of runs when we go to camps like New Zealand, Chile, or Copper. Fitness on the bike allows her to ski a run, then be recovered by the time she gets to the top of the chairlift, so she can start her next run fully recovered and have the exact same quality,” Bunt says.

 

When it comes to pushing the program forward, Bunt’s number one rule is “Listen to Lindsey.” Athlete’s like Vonn that have suffered traumatic injuries must continue to manage them for the rest of their careers, and the rest of their lives. Even small amounts of swelling or pain cannot go unacknowledged.

 

“The first question when we walk into the gym is, “how are you feeling today?”. That’s probably the most important thing we can ask,” he says.

 

This summer, the team has been focused on monitoring the amount of work Lindsey is doing with her legs, so when they’ve hit the threshold, they know when to back off. What separates Lindsey from other athletes, in Bunt’s eyes, is her ability to listen to her body and know when something is up.
 

“She can feel things that most other people and a lot of athlete’s can’t. Super coachable as well, tell her one thing and she fixes it. And that’s why she’s so good,” Bunt says.

 

In addition to fitness, Bunt is in charge of making sure Lindsey has proper nutrition, both at home and on the road. In the off-season when the pair are both in L.A., and traffic separates Bunt from consistently cooking at Lindsey’s home, he sets up a meal service for her to make sure she is taken care of.

 

On a typical day during the off-season, Bunt makes Vonn Mexican scrambled eggs and oatmeal for breakfast, so she has fuel to draw from going into her training sessions.

 

After training, a post-workout shake, which Bunt dubbs as his signature, seeing as he’s been making her the same shake for two years without any requests for a change-up. The post-race shake is also a vital component on the road and during race season.

 

“I’ll travel all over Europe with a blender, making that in the hotel room, and that’s our post-ski snack. Over in Europe and traveling, it’s really hard to get good nutrition on the road and make sure we are getting adequate protein, carbs, and calories, so that helps us make sure we get at least one good meal,” Bunt says.

 

A few hours after a post-workout shake, she’ll have an afternoon snack before or after her bike session, followed by dinner at the end of the day.

 

When making meals for Lindsey, Bunt is focused on calories and carbohydrates so that she has enough fuel to rebuild her muscles, recover, and push herself during the next session.

 

“I know people get all hung up on no carbs, carbs, high fat, this and that, but when it comes down to it and you’re training as hard as she is, we just need calories and carbs. And then protein is definitely important, but it comes second to that,” Bunt says.

 

Palm-sized protein, veggies, and variation are also important components to every meal so that the body gets a wide variety of nutrients, and the menu stays fresh and exciting.

 

On the road, getting proper nutrition can be difficult. Other than snacks that they bring from the states, Bunt and Lindsey are reliant on hotel chefs for proper nutrition, which can be hit or miss. Same goes for the gym. Bunt typically travels with a full set-up, spin bike, weights, barbell, and tons of extra equipment to ensure they can get a strength session in no matter what.

 

Going into Chile and Lindsey’s return to snow, Bunt feels nothing but confident about her achieving her World Cup goals this season.

 

“I think working with Lindsey, you’re always confident in her skiing, that’s not a question. The way she approaches her training in off-season, it really never falters. She’s always in good shape, she always puts her training and her skiing as a priority above everything else.”

 

Moral of the story, the work put in off snow is just as important as the work put in on snow. Lindsey Vonn’s dedication to training, nutrition, sleep, and overall health in addition to her work ethic has and will continue to set her apart on the course. Alex Bunt’s role in helping her reach her goals is massive, but Vonn’s drive is what will help her break the glass ceiling.

 

WORKOUTS

Courtesy of Alex Bunt Training

A huge component to Lindsey’s routine, whether on or off the mountain, is ensuring her body is ready to do the work it takes to succeed. Bunt shared with SRM a few exercises Lindsey does during warm-ups that are good for any racer looking to prevent injury and get their muscles ready to work at full strength.