The athletes of the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Games will give their all to go for gold on the snow and ice—but first, they’ll have a chance to share everything you want to know about their sports while they’re on the road. This is the Men’s Health Muscle Car.
ICE DANCING PARTNERS Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik hopped into the MH Muscle Car to join fitness director Ebenezer Samuel for a ride. Zingas (23) and Kolesnik (24) have been skating together since 2022, and already won the ISU Four Continents Championship this year. Before launching into the Q&A portion of the trip, Zingas explained the broad strokes of the pair’s sport for new fans:
“Figure Skating has four disciplines, and Ice Dancing is one of them,” she said. “We skate together as a pair. In Ice Dancing, instead of focusing on the jumps and the bigger ticket elements like Pair Skating, it’s more about the connection the artistry, the depth of edge, the skating skills and telling a story. So our free dance is Romeo and Juliet, and we tell that story through our elements like choreo assisted jumps, lifts, spins and step sequences.”
Watch and read on for more details about Ice Dancing, training, and more from Zingas and Kolesnik, including their favorite Olympic Village protein, their pick in the debate between gloves and mittens, and how they stay warm on the ice.
MEN’S HEALTH: What muscle is the most critical for you guys?
VAYDYM KOLESNIK: When you’re on the ice, you gotta have good quads. Without that leg strength, you can’t pick up the girl, you can’t skate, you can’t do anything. It’s all caring about speed and legs are the most important part of it.
MH: What’s the one exercise you have to do in the gym to work those legs?
VK: You got to do a lot of situps.
EMILEA ZINGAS: I think actually core is really important in skating. We do a lot of core work—but I would say Nordics.
MH: What’s the exercise you hate doing?
EZ: Just running. I’m not a huge fan of running, and we have to do a lot of sprints.
VK: That’s opposite for me!
EZ: He loves it, and I hate it. I just start to feel pain after a while.
MH: And what song gets you guys hyped to compete?
EZ: This is gonna sound really random, but I was listening to “My Way” by Frank Sinatra before free dance, and I was like, ready to go. I was like, This is my way. I’m doing it. And it just really got me in the mood.
VK: Eminem.
MH: If there was any athlete living or dead that you guys could compete against, or any pairs team?
EZ: In Ice Dance, I’m saying Torvill and Dean [Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, 1984 gold medalists] but I think they kick our butts. Honestly, they were so good.
MH: Winter Games, we think cold. How do you guys get warmed up? How do you stay warm?
EZ: I wear a lot of layers on the ice. I’m always in a long sleeve. You cannot catch me on the ice in the tank top, and you just gotta keep moving. If you let your sweat freeze, it’s game over.
VK: You know, usually I have a flag on the left side, so the American flag beats my heart up. Feel good.
MH: Let’s shift gears. Strength or cardio?
VK: Strength.
EZ: Cardio.
VK: 50 percent of each!
MH: Fiber or protein?
EZ & VK: Protein.
MH: What’s the best protein you guys have in the Olympic Village?
EZ: That’s rough. I have to say the food has been a little hit or miss, but I’m saying mozzarella is the best protein.
VK: I agree.
MH: What’s a non-sport you both could win Olympic gold in?
EZ: I don’t know what I would pick!
VK: Shopping.
EZ: 100 percent, online shopping. I’m winning.
VK: What was your New Year’s resolution?
EZ: My New Year’s resolution was to only buy one thing, like per month. I’ve failed miserably already.
MH: Gloves or mittens?
EZ: Gloves, especially for skating, has to be gloves. Has to be gloves.
VK: Mittens are just not as comfortable.
MH: What’s your Italian coffee order?
EZ: Cappuccino. Or I do a quad shot latte when I’m at home. So if they could make that for me here, I’d be very happy.
VK: Just espresso is good for me.
MH: What sponsorship you guys want? Aside from Maserati.
EZ: My number one would probably be Alo or Delta. I would love to have a Delta sponsorship. That would be amazing.
VK: I’d have two. It’s Delta and Costco.
EZ: He’s a Costco fanatic. He’s like, their biggest fan.
VK: I’m actually gonna start my own thing in offseason: Going to have lunch at Costco until they notice me.
EZ: You do that already, honestly.
MH: One more question, do you guys train upper body?
EZ: We do. I do less than Vadym, but we definitely do. I like a triceps kickback. We do bench press, we do everything.
VK: Pullups are the best.
EZ: If you skate with a partner, you have to be strong.
MH: Hope this was a ton of fun for you guys. Good luck.
EZ: Yeah, here we go. Go Team USA, baby!
Brett Williams, NASM-CPT, PES, a senior editor at Men’s Health, is a certified trainer and former pro football player and tech reporter. You can find his work elsewhere at Mashable, Thrillist, and other outlets.
