Olympian Evan Lysacek Dishes on "Dancing with the Stars"

Olympic champion Evan Lysacek's life has been moving at a whirlwind pace ever since he won gold in men's figuring skating at Vancouver. Besides training for the Stars on Ice tour, he is among the favorites to win this season's "Dancing with the Stars," which premieres March 22 on ABC. That's Fit caught up with the skater before next week's season premiere.

That's Fit: Can you describe the moment you won the gold in Vancouver?
Evan Lysacek: Going into the competition, my thought processes was pretty simple. I focused on the technical aspects of skating and doing my job the best I could. I knew thinking about the results was a bad idea because my finish was out of my control. I could skate my best and still not win.

TF: How are you approaching your appearance on DWTS? In the past, Olympians have won the show.
EL: Right off the bat I could tell that this wasn't going to come easily. On the ice we rotate counter-clockwise and on the dance floor we rotate clockwise. Everything that I'm doing on the dance floor, I'm doing in reverse. When I get tired, I start falling into my skating habits and crash into my partner, who's not happy when I knee her in the chest. My body has moved one way for 16 years and doing it differently is hard.

TF: Your critics say that you are not an incredibly graceful skater. Will your performance on DWTS prove them wrong?
EL: I have never been musical, lyrical, graceful or had great rhythm. I had to work hard to overcome that in my skating, but I had seven or eight months to train those moves. In the show, I only have a week to train, and I want to prove I'm not a robot.

TF: How did your skating scores improve when the new scoring system was implemented?
EL: The new scoring system is very technical and forces the skaters to become better athletes. You're not only being graded on jumps, but on every step from start to finish. A lot of skaters used to be able to skate a program with non-straining movements between the jumps, but now we have to go and go and go the entire time.

TF: How does your DWTS training compare to your Olympic training?
EL: I'm skating everyday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. From 4 to 10 p.m., I'm dancing. When I was training for the Olympics, I spent 8 to 10 a.m. doing different floor training like warm ups, stretching, jumping rope, jumping hurdles and using bands. I was the ice from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 3 to 4:20 p.m. From 5 p.m. until whenever I would finish, I'd do heavy workouts with strenuous cardio, weight training and plyometrics. By the time I finished, I could barely stay awake for dinner. Every day for the last four years has been like that, but I loved it.

TF: How has your diet changed since the Olympics?
EL: My training diet was easy. I'd start the day with five servings of different fruits and two poached eggs. Throughout the day, I'd drink protein shakes because there wasn't enough time to sit down and digest a meal. I would always drink a Vitamin Water or diluted PowerAde to get a little sugar. As soon as I finished my workout, I'd eat a protein and five servings of vegetables. Now, I'm eating whatever I want -- I love burgers, sushi and steak. I look at a menu now, and think "What am I going to eat? I can have anything on here."

TF: Did your DWTS partner Russian Anna Trebunskaya mention the controversy over your gold medal?
EL: We banter back and forth about her being Russian and me being American; but I really respect her and her authority. She's the professional, the teacher and the coach. It's nice to have her holding my hand. She's tough, but I can take it.

TF: Who is the biggest competition?
EL: Everyone. It's such a great cast. Everyone I've seen is either naturally graceful or has some experience with dancing. Nicole Scherzinger (from the Pussycat Dolls) is a professional dancer already.

TF: You must be getting nervous. How do you block those nerves to focus on your goals?
EL: On competition days, I'm very ritualistic. I'll light the same candle so that there's the same smell while I'm getting ready. I always use the same hair gel, which is different than the regular gel I use. Usually I'll drink a vanilla or strawberry protein shake; but on competition days, I'll drink a chocolate one. I listen to the same playlist. They're little signs to get the adrenaline flowing.

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