Nick Jonas, one of the three Jonas Brothers, was diagnosed with diabetes two years ago, at the age of 13, and he remembers thinking, "Why me?" Diabetes was a disease he'd heard of, but he didn't know anybody who had the disease, which it even scarier. However, he didn't stay scared for long.

"There was no familiar face in music or sports that I could connect with ... [but] I started to see it as an opportunity to be an inspiration to a generation that doesn't openly talk about having diabetes and not feeling embarrassed by the disease," said Nick.

He's also quick to point out that, while diabetes is manageable, there's nothing wrong with asking for help. There are some days where he can handle it all on his own, but there are other days he asks his brothers to help him with his needle, and said, "It's OK to rely on other people and just be positive and keep going."

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Sarah Haskins is a hard core athlete. She's participating in triathlon in this year's Olympics, and between the three sports, she spends a good five hours a day training, incorporating strength training twice a week. Her strength training routine really focuses on the core, because, "In triathlon, every discipline extends from your core. If your core isn't stable, your form will fall apart, and it can even lead to injury."

To keep her core strong, Sarah incorporates ab roll-outs, side planks, walking lunges with a medicine ball, stability ball tuck-in push-ups, and a variety of balance exercises using a balance pad.

While her workout looks amazing -- I can't wait to try it out myself -- I was more interested in reading about how she overcomes challenges, like waking up when she's really sore or tired. She has specific training goals set for each session, and by concentrating on that goal, rather than the fact that she's spending five hours doing what made her so sore and tired in the first place, she's able to really get into her each session. And, of course, once she gets going, she's in the zone.

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Lolo Jones is one focused woman. She knows that, in order to win the gold medal in Beijing, she needs to focus on just that -- if she allows herself to settle for silver, she might not even make that, so gold is the only color on her mind.
Like many of us, her training fluctuates throughout the year, but while many of us change our workouts because we want to get in shape for bikini season, hers changes simply because her coach keeps her on a cycle. Throughout the fall, she does longer tempo workouts, including Pilates-inspired moves, but in the spring her focus turns to sprinting. She lifts weights year-round, every day but Sunday and Friday.

Lolo is aware that, training the way she is, she could eat whatever she wants and not gain weight, but she still chooses to eat healthfully, quoting her coach in saying, "Your body is like a car, and food is like your fuel. I am a race car so I can't just put unleaded fuel in my car. I need that good premium fuel." Mostly, anyway -- she loves wings, and generally eats them once a week.

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This year will mark Alicia Sacramone's first Olympic games, but she's planning to come home with the gold. In fact, the gymnast often spends seven hours or so a day working on her sport to ensure she's ready for the biggest competition of her life, and while most of us wouldn't want to try many of the exercises Alicia does on the beam or the bars, she still has some great strength training suggestions for us mere mortals.

Her workout consists of hanging leg lifts, lunge walks holding a bar, pikes on an exercise ball, and standing side jumps onto a box or step. These moves help her gain the power to do the amazing flips and jumps required for her sport, but will help the rest of us to sculpt fabulous butt and thigh muscles and work our abs. Most of Alicia's cardio comes from her gymnastics work, but she spends about three hours a week focusing on cardio.

As far as diet goes, Alicia is careful to eat healthfully, but doesn't follow any strict diet and doesn't leave out any food groups. To relax, she relies on her iPod (she says it's her best friend), which is filled with R&B, hip hop, and energetic dance music.

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Shannon Boxx was part of the 2004 Olympic gold medal-winning soccer team, and she's back this year, ready for more. Leading up to Beijing, the team lived and trained together, and believe me, these girls have been working hard. Fortunately, they've also been working smart, and Shannon shared some of her fitness tips with Women's Health.

She does a lot of upper body strength training because, in soccer, just playing works the legs, but their arms need to be strong in order to fend off opponents. She also works her core because it makes her faster, more agile, and allows her to come back from an injury quicker. The teams uses ice baths from the waist down after practices to help with recovery.

Because she burns so many calories working out, Shannon doesn't have to watch what she eats too much, but she eats four or five smaller meals instead of three large meals, and doesn't overdo on anything. If she wants dessert (and she normally does), she'll have a bit of ice cream, but everything is in moderation.

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At 30 years old, Laura Wilkinson intends for this to be her final trip to the Olympics, and does not intend to repeat the last Olympics. She was a big winner in 2000, but didn't end up with a medal in 2004.

She's been training hard to get ready for Beijing -- considering she'll be going up against divers as young as half her age, that's not a surprise. She works in and out of the pool from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 or 5:00 p.m., breaking for lunch in the middle of the day. A typical day includes stretching, ab and somersault work, drills and technique work in the pool, plyometrics, cardio, and/or weights.

Laura has so much experience with what goes into making a good diver that she has released her own training video, called Personal Best. In it, she shares dry land exercises and stretching tips to become a top diver. For the rest of us, Women's Health picked out a few of Laura's exercises from which we could all benefit, like side to side jumps, shoulder lifts, back lifts, bicycles, and hanging leg lifts.

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