When Tara Lipinski won an Olympic gold medal for figure skating in 1998 at just 15 years old, she rose to athlete hero status. Now, she's extending her legacy to Equinox gyms with a new workout class called Goldbarre, designed to give an award winning skater body without stepping foot (or skate) on the ice.

"I skated my whole life and had a training program laid out for me on a daily basis that kept me in shape. When that ended, I was always just looking for a workout that could keep the line in my body as strong as it did on the ice," Lipinski says. Goldbarre marries barre with elements of figure skating: for example, using yoga straps and gliders to mimic ice's stability-challenging surface, adopting various single-leg spin positions, and incorporating jumping exercises. "You're working the exact same muscles a skater does," she explains, "You'll definitely get a skater's booty from this." Sign us up. 

You've said that since you stopped competing you don't have a personal trainer. What's your routine like?

I love working out and when I'm home. I try to do four to five days a week. I love the feeling of walking out of a class. That's just an addictive feeling for me. I'm pretty lucky that one of my best girlfriends is a barre teacher. She will come over a lot and we will just set up our yoga mats by the pool. Even if we only get a half hour in, I still feel like I've done something. I also live in Santa Monica and I have a big dog, Dublin, and he's very energetic so trying to be a good mom as always, I try to take him out for a run down San Vicente [Boulevard] which is beautiful. I also love this place in Santa Monica called YogaHop that I'm addicted to. I'll go on binges when I realize every single day I went to YogaHop. Of course, I go to the rink sometimes.

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Lipinski and Nicole De Anda, Equinox National Barre Manager

You went pro really young. What lessons about training have you held on to since then?

It just goes back to the fact that I love the feeling of challenging myself, challenging my body, and waking up early when I don't want to. Getting through a workout is just very fulfilling. That 'Ah, I didn't want to do it but I did it and now I feel 10 times better.' I feel like that was a lot of my skating life. I had to be at the rink every single day. Sometimes it was really difficult, but I don't think there was really ever a day where I walked off the ice and was like meh. I was always excited, so I feel like I do bring that to my life now. I may not be on the ice every day, but I just always feel so much better [after] working out and challenging myself that way.

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What is the best advice you've gotten from a coach?

As an athlete, everyone was always like, 'Listen to your body.' Whether it's an injury or whether it's just a nagging ache, that can affect your progress just because you think 'Oh, I'll push through it today' and then you can't work out for two weeks. I've learned that, as a skater, I'm very aware of that. So, when I'm headed to spin and my knees start to bother me, I'm like, "Oh, I'm fine, I'll go tomorrow." In the past, I've [pushed through an injury] then was off for two weeks, which defeats the purpose of everything. 

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Tara Lipinski

What motivates you when you work out?

Music moves me a lot so I'll have my headphones and listen to music on the way to work out to get all pumped up. I feel like I like a mix of everything. Currently I'm listening to: 

"White Iverson" - Post Malone, "Bloom" - Odesza, "Whole Lotta Lovin'" - DJ Mustard, "Jumpman" - Drake, "500 Miles" - Jefr Tale

Describe your go-to healthy meals.

Living in LA makes eating, well, very easy, so I don't have to cook all the time. I might live at Lemonade. Oh my goodness, it is so good. They have a veggie bar where they have 10 different things like broccoli, snow peas, chicken and beans, and that's my favorite. I do Lemonade for lunch a lot of times, and I also do Tender Greens. I just love to keep romaine, spinach, grilled chicken, and other veggies at home so I could always have a salad with grilled chicken or grilled salmon for lunch. I do love sushi too so a lot of times I'll do that. I think I'm just a big grilled chicken, grilled fish, sushi, salad girl. In the morning I love eggs, so I definitely have eggs almost everyday. I'll make sure I switch it to egg whites [sometimes]. I also grew up on complete bran cereal so there are many mornings when I fall back into that. 

Do you have any favorite pre- or post-workout snacks?

I do like to make smoothies. I love almond butter. Typically after a workout, I stop by Juice Press for a Harvey Wallbanger smoothie. Growing up skating, I also always went to the rink with a banana in hand, so when I'm working out I'll grab a banana. A lot of times I'll also just snack on granola.

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Tara Lipinski

If you have a cheat day, what would you eat?

I try to eat pretty healthy, but I do love carbs. So, I'm not the person who could stick to a perfectly healthy diet. A lot of times I'll have a bagel for breakfast, then a grilled cheese for lunch [laughs]. I love chocolate too so I always have dark chocolate Hershey's kisses in my purse ready for me to have throughout the day. Dark chocolate is my weakness!

Goldbarre classes are currently available to Equinox members in California, coming to NYC and Boston in May 2016.