20 Elite Women Hockey Players Share How They Stay in Top Shape

To play in the big leagues of women's hockey, you have to be skilled, fearless and strong. Some have represented their country in the Olympics, winning medals. Others play in the National Women’s Hockey League. All have one thing in common: a grit and determination to win, and to not be afraid of a smash to the face. They are also all incredibly fit. (You try ice skating at whooshing speeds while people chase you with a big stick.) How do the premier women at the top of their game stay in shape? Here's how.

1. Hilary Knight

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Hilary Knight is the youngest person to play for Team USA. She shared her training secrets in an interview with ESPN. “Our training program is split into different phases through the summer, usually comprised of upper and lower body as well as conditioning, plyometrics, and core work everyday. For us, anything with core strength or legs is huge.”

2. Hayley Wickenheiser

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Hayley Wickenheiser is a former hockey player for the Canadian National Team. She shared some of her workout secrets with The Globe and Mail. “Staying limber when it’s cold out is really important,” Wickenheiser said. “You want to get your core body temperature high enough that you’re not going to pull your muscles or hurt yourself. You need to make sure the joints are oiled up and mobile.”

3. Marie-Philip Poulin

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Marie-Philip Poulin has won two gold medals at the Olympics. She shared how she trained for the Olympics with Best Health Magazine. “To prepare for the Olympic Winter Games, my routine included working out up to three times a day. We train extremely hard, year round in order to be the best country on the ice. Our training methods as a team have evolved, we work with the best trainers and incorporate new technology in the gym. We monitor things like nutrition, body composition and raise our mental focus to new heights.”

4. Amanda Kessel

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Amanda Kessel wants to share women’s hockey with the world. "We've come a long way with women's hockey, but still, I think a lot of people [in America] don't realize that there's a women's league," she told ESPN. "I also don't think a lot of people realize most of the players are also working normal jobs. Probably 99 percent are playing hockey and have a full-time job. My roommate was a recruiter. Another [teammate] worked in the fashion industry, one was studying to be a lawyer and worked at a law firm, a few others teach hockey."

5. Kendall Coyne Schofield

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Kendall Coyne Schofield shared how she and her husband stayed active during the pandemic to ESPN. The other thing we've been doing is committing to biking around the town to local business and ordering takeout food to support them. It promotes exercising, and it promotes supporting local businesses during challenging times. [This weekend] we had a 7-mile ride. I have to say I'm a little more optimistic about biking than my husband is, being a 300-pound man, but he's been a trouper. We go on a bike ride, and then stay inside the rest of the day to follow guidelines with social distancing."

6. Meghan Duggan

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Meghan Duggan shared how she eats healthy with USADA. “Just like everyone else, I also enjoy a meal out every now and then! When I’m somewhere new, I look for restaurants that prepare foods in a healthy way, so that means minimizing the deep-fried foods or added sauces. Again, it’s all about choosing things from a menu that are fresh instead of processed. Freshii is one of my favorite places to grab a meal that is energizing and quick. I’m a sucker for any restaurant that has some version of a power bowl!”

7. Brianna Decker

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Brianna Decker shared her approach to training with Cosmopolitan. "I'm 5-foot-4, and as a forward there are a lot of the defenders that I'm going up against who have a lot of size to them so I have to muscle through a lot of people. The stronger you are the better, but you have to be careful about how much muscle you put on so you can keep your speed up. I play a more physical game, and I have tested my game out at different weights. I didn't like how I played when I was seven pounds lighter because even though I felt a little faster, I felt I was being pushed around. I don't let ‘ideal image’ affect me. Plus, some guys are really into athletic girls and some guys aren't! I'm surrounded by such a mixed group of people — to us the ideal body type is being athletic and being fit.”

8. Shannon Szabados

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Shannon Szabados was the first woman to play in the Southern Professional Hockey League. "I'm just a hockey player that loves to play hockey," she said to AL.com. "If (pioneer) is the word people want to attach with it, it seems weird to me to have that kind of title. But if that's what comes along with it and maybe it opens up some doors for future generations, that's good."

9. Natalie Spooner

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Natalie Spooner opened up about her diet in an interview with Olympic Canada. “In January 2014, when we traveled across Alberta playing exhibition games against boys, we’d often have a pre-game meal as a team. It’s standard to eat about three hours before a game, with maybe a small snack a little bit closer to the whistle. By this time, we had tapered down our training hours, but the scheduling was just as exhausting given all the travel we were doing.”

10. Megan Agosta

ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - JANUARY 24: Meghan Agosta #2 of the Canadian All-Stars poses for a photo ahead of Elite Women's practice during the 2020 NHL All-Star weekend at Enterprise Center on January 24, 2020 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)

Megan Agosta talked about returning to hockey after having her daughter to CBC. “It's not only going back to working shift work, sleeping, eating and training at different times, but I do have Chance and I have my two stepsons," she said. "That's our family. On top of that, training to try to be the best I can be every single time I put on that Canadian jersey, it hasn't been easy. Knowing myself, I've done everything I could to be at the top of my game."

11. Meaghan Mikkelson

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In the same CBC interview, Meaghan Mikkelson talked about playing hockey after having her kids. "I think I said to [teammate Natalie] Spooner a couple of weeks ago 'I'm 34 years old. I've been on the team for 12 years and I've had two babies and I think I'm the strongest and fittest I've ever been in my life.’ I don't know if it's the mom strength kicking in. Physically, mentally I think I'm the strongest I've ever been in my career."

12. Rebecca Johnston

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Rebecca Johnston talked about how she got interested in hockey to The Calgary Journal. “I would say my inspiration for getting into hockey would be my dad and my siblings. I have five brothers and sisters and we all play hockey. So, it was instilled in us when we were born as a big part of our family, as we all love it. So, it’s something I wanted to do.”

13. Jennifer Wakefield

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Jennifer Wakefield shares some of her favorite workouts on Instagram. One thing she likes to do is strength train. She shared these photos of herself doing a lunge with a dumbbell and doing a twist with a band. Wakefield captioned the post, “@aycane.circle gear is 🔥”

14. Kacey Bellamy

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Kacey Bellamy opened up about dealing with failure in a letter to her younger self on The Players Tribune. “You’re going to get your heart broken. You’re going to have sleepless nights filled with tears and emotion. You’re going to think about quitting hockey for good. But you’re not a quitter. You’re going to use the adversity as motivation. You are going to stitch up every interior wound through work and sweat. Every 5 a.m. wake-up. Every sled push. Every shuttle run. They’ll all be worth it — eventually.”

15. Lara Stalder

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After the 2022 Olympics, Lara Stalder called for her native Switzerland to support women’s hockey. "My message is to build a league in Switzerland. Make the best league in Europe. Obviously, there should be one league, like the NHL, for all of us to compete against the best players. But I think we're far away from that in Switzerland, and that needs to change.”

16. Sarah Nurse

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Sarah Nurse opened up about not wanting to pressure herself to Fashion Magazine. “During these times I’m very careful to not pressure myself into productivity or comparing what I’m doing to what anyone else is doing. We have to respect that we all handle this changed way of living differently. Some days I may work out, clean the house, go for a walk and cook dinner while other days I may sit and watch TV all day and that is OKAY. I try to filter my news and information to stay informed and not consume an amount that will leave me with anxiety. It’s important to surround myself with positivity and stay connected to the people in my life that matter the most. We’re all on the same team and with some patience, discipline and love, we’re going to come out of this together.”

17. Julie Chu

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Julie Chu talked about her approach to dieting with The Huffington Post. “Nutrition is huge for us. We work with a nutritionist who is part of the U.S. Olympic Committee. She does amazing things for us, like teaching us how we can better fuel our bodies immediately before and after a workout. What we do in those time frames really makes a difference in both quick recovery or to keep our energy up. Of course, it's also about balance and moderation: I like a burger and fries like everyone else. But having a balance diet helps us perform our best.”

18. Melodie Daoust

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Melodie Daoust opened up about being an openly queer athlete to Mombian. “We know that Hockey Canada is behind us and also is behind every player, whether they’re from different nationalities or have different skin colour or who you’re with in your personal life. And that makes it way easier to be who you are and open about it all.”

19. Cassie Campbell-Pascall

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Cassie Campbell-Pascall opened up about her workout secrets with Health Insight. “I still exercise a lot but I’ve learned to exercise properly according to my age and my body. I have a mindset where I can always try and push myself through things, but as I mature, I also understand I have to be smarter with how I work out and make sure that I’m eating healthy and taking care of aches and pains more and more. It’s taken time for me to fully understand that, as far as the way I can train, I’m not an Olympian anymore. It’s been a challenge to figure that out, but I feel that I’m in my best place ever as far as fitness in the post-athletic career stage of my life.”

20. Caroline Ouellette

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Caroline Ouellette was inducted into the Hockey Hall Of Fame in 2023. She talked about being a female hockey player in her speech. “I played with boys from 9-17 years old and all those years I was the only girl on my team. I heard about every possible name-calling. These challenges helped me develop a deeper appreciation of how lucky I was to play hockey when so many women around my age couldn’t have this same opportunity.”

To remain at the top of professional female sports requires grit, determination and a comittment to health and wellness. For proof, look no further than these iconic athletes at the top of their game. Soccer star Alex Morgan values recovery and sleep after a training session, MMA fighter Paige VanZant hits the gym twice a day and WNBA star Sue Bird is gluten-free. Read on to see 20 amazing bodies of these superstars and how they stay so fit.

1. Alex Morgan

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Former soccer player Alex Morgan shared her wellness secrets with Buzzfeed. “For my daily wellness routine, I always make sure to take my vitamins, get some form of recovery in chronotherapy or infrared sauna, and sleep for 8 to 9½ hours, which is a lot more than a normal person, but I feel like that amount allows me to reach my full potential the next day. It's important for me to have some ‘me time,’ so I try to make sure every couple of days that I do something just for me, like getting a manicure or pedicure.”

2. Carli Lloyd

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Former soccer player, Carli Lloyd, talked about her diet to NJM. “I usually eat the same thing at breakfast and lunch, such as a salad, and switch up what I have for dinner each night. Some days, I make myself two eggs over-easy with a side of avocado, or oatmeal with strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. Otherwise, I'll keep things light and make myself a green smoothie. My go-to ingredients are water, ice, spinach, kale, pineapple, cinnamon, green grapes, juice squeezed from half a lemon, avocado, kiwi, ginger, and mint, which really make a smoothie good.”

3. Megan Rapinoe

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Former soccer player, Megan Rapinoe, shared her approach to wellness in an interview with Bustle. “It’s about figuring out what I need from a mental, emotional, and physical standpoint, and allowing it to change over time. Sometimes I feel like doing more yoga, or I feel like taking more baths or taking more walks. Instead of approaching it as, ‘Oh, I have to do this for my health and wellness,’ I’ll think, ‘Oh, I'm actually feeding my body and this is really all just for me.’ It frames it in a different way and allows me space to change and move with the different seasons as I get older.”

4. Julie Ertz

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Julie Ertz is a former soccer player. She shared what she eats when she trains to Forbes. “My go-to's are fruit, veggies and protein-packed snacks like almonds. I also like to plan ahead in terms of meals and snacks because it easy to make an unhealthy choice when you don't have a snack in your bag or meal pre-planned. My husband and I love to cook at home so we're very mindful about planning out our meals. We want to make sure we have the healthiest choices for us because we both train all day, every day.”

5. Simone Biles

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Simone Biles is one of the greatest athletes of all time. She shared her favorite beauty products with People. Biles says that she uses a facial essence from Pitera. "This Pitera essence is seriously like a miracle water for my skin: it hydrates, moisturizes, evens out my skin tone and leaves my skin glowing. I love that it's super powerful, yet really lightweight. When I heard the legendary story – that it was discovered in a Sake brewery in Japan where all the elderly brewers had soft hands with no wrinkles – I knew I needed to try it, and now I love it."

6. Aly Raisman

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Aly Raisman is a former gymnast, who competed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. She tells Shape that after retiring, she does a lot of Pilates and stretching. "I'm not able to do [Pilates] every day, as much as I would like to, just because I don't physically have the stamina to do it," she says. "But Pilates has really helped me with my workouts and even mentally, too, because I like how I can focus on different parts of my body, and it helps me feel more strong and confident."

7. Paige VanZant

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Paige VanZant is a very successful MMA fighter. She shared her workout secrets in an interview with Women Fitness. “I of course have a very strict workout regimen. I’m in the gym every day twice a day. Since I have switched over to professional boxing my schedule comprises of boxing every day, sometimes twice a day. And strength and conditioning three days a week. I do all of my training at American top team, A world renowned MMA and combat academy.”

8. Sue Bird

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Sue Bird is a former WNBA player. She shared her diet secrets in an interview with GQ. “I don't eat dairy, and I've been gluten-free ever since I took a blood test that showed I have a mild allergy to gluten. I stick with all anti-inflammatory foods: tons of veggies, eggs, chicken and fish. I will have some red meat, but only every now and then. There’s very little sugar, if any, because I save that for my cheat days. I like rice bowls a lot. That's been my new thing this year—I’ll have some brown rice, sweet potatoes, chicken, and mixed veggies.”

9. Candace Parker

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Candace Parker is a very successful WNBA player. She tells New York Magazine that she loves to cook meals for her family. “I love grilling. I think it’s super-fast and efficient, and there’s not a lot of cleaning up, so I’m kind of the griller in the family. My dad is actually the grill master, and I’m learning from him. I can do all red meat and stuff like that, but I’m working on perfecting my barbecued chicken, my cedar-plank salmon, my beer-battered chicken. I love grilling Hawaiian rib eyes and lamb chops.”

10. Allyson Felix

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Track and field athlete, Allyson Felix, shared her training routine with EatingWell. “I train about five hours a day. Three of those hours are on the track -- warming up, stretching, doing drills and then the actual workout, which may be anything from very technical work on the starting blocks to speed work. From there, I go to the gym and spend a couple of hours doing strength and conditioning.”

11. Suni Lee

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Suni Lee is a gymnast who competed in the 2020 Olympics. She opened up about training for the 2024 Olympics and moving past what people thought of her to NBC Olympics. "I still struggle with that daily. I mean, whenever I'm talking to my coaches, I always get really sad because I'm like, 'I'm never going to be the same. I'm not the same Suni; not the same athlete.' And they're like, 'Good! You don't want to be. You're doing everything and more right now. And you should be proud of the way that you've been able to come back from everything, because you never thought that you would be in this position.' And I was like, 'You're so right!' It's just hard mentally because I'm like, 'Wow, I was in a really good spot last year or last Olympics (when) getting ready.'"

12. Ashleigh Barty

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Tennis player Ashleigh Barty shared her diet secrets in an interview with Body & Soul. “Everything in moderation and listen to your body. If I’m feeling run-down, I make sure I’m eating well and looking after myself by having plenty of fresh fruit and veg. A steak or red meat usually helps when I’m run-down, too.”

13. Chloe Dygert

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Chloe Dygert is a professional cyclist. She shared with Velo that she is always trying to improve herself and her performance. “There’s not one thing that I would consider myself good at. Even if I won the stage at RideLondon, what could I have done better? I’m always looking to better myself, even when things are perfect. I never want to stop. That’s how I’m going to get better.”

14. Dina Asher-Smith

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Dina Asher-Smith is a sprinter. She revealed to Vogue that since she spends so much time outside, she has to wear sunscreen. “I’m a big skincare girl. The most important things for me in the day are a good cleanser and SPF, especially now I’m training in Texas, where it’s super hot and I want to make sure my skin is clean and happy. I love a double cleanse, with Estee Lauder’s Cleansing Balm followed by Sarah Chapman’s Rapid Radiance Cleanse. For keeping my skin hydrated I love the Noble Panacea serums, and then for sun protection, I’ll typically go in with Estée Lauder’s antioxidant sunscreen.”

15. Katie Ledecky

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Olympic swimmer, Katie Ledecky, opened up about her diet with E! News. “I keep it pretty consistent. The only day that I don't train is Sundays so even right now when I'm taking a little bit of time off, I'm trying to stick to a pretty regular routine. So oatmeal for breakfast, some sort of egg sandwich for lunch, or eggs with toast and then dinner is what varies the most but it is either carbs or some sort of protein: chicken, steak, salmon, something along those lines.”

16. Naomi Osaka

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Naomi Osaka is a very successful tennis player. She shared how she takes care of her body to Harper’s Bazaar. “I've actually gotten super into hot yoga lately. I had never tried it until a few months ago, and now I love it. I started out with 60-minute classes, and now I'm doing 90-minute classes—I feel amazing afterwards. I also usually get a post-training massage treatment a few times a week. But in between massages, I always use my Hyperice Hypervolt Go, because it's super lightweight and portable, which makes it easy to carry it wherever I go. It really helps keep my muscles loose and soothed after tough practices and matches.”

17. Chloe Kim

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Chloe Kim is a very successful snowboarder, and competed in the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics. She shared some of her skincare secrets in an interview with Allure. "I have pretty dry skin, so I like to just slather my face with thick moisturizer,” Kim explains. “The important thing is I have to wear sunscreen because I get really bad goggle tan. I still do, but sunscreen makes it much better."

18. Mikaela Shiffrin

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Olympic skier, Mikaela Shiffrin, revealed to Sports Illustrated that her coaches record her practice sessions. She says that this helps her figure out what she needs to improve on. “We can objectively rate what my energy levels should be, across a period of time, given this data,” Shiffrin says. “There’s a graph showing the peaks and valleys of my training, and the highest intensity blocks versus the lowest intensity blocks. The last couple of years we’ve collected enough data to see when I get tired in a really intense training block.”

19. Madison Keys

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Madison Keys is a very successful tennis player. She talked about what she focuses on when she trains to Thorne.com. “I think the most important areas to me are energy, recovery, and sleep. If I’m training or in a tournament with matches on back-to-back days, then I focus on those things that make sure I’m physically at my best. I do really long training sessions outside when it’s hot in Florida, where I’m based, so I have to be on top of putting the right things into my body to stay hydrated and energized. Depending on where I’m playing a tournament, it could be just as hot as Florida and a match could go a few hours. If my body is feeling good physically, then it allows me to play more freely and focus on my tennis.”

20. Katarina Johnson-Thompson

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Track and field star, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, talked about her training routine to Bulk.com. “What I eat and how you fuel your body is such an important part of the program. It literally gives me the energy I need to train and compete. Having the right nutrition helps with allowing my body to rest and recover correctly, repairing muscle fatigue after a tough session or competition. You are dealing with such small margins in elite sport that not paying attention to your nutrition would be like not having a training plan.”

In the world of sports, the dedication, perseverance, and tenacity of female athletes often shine brilliantly. From tennis courts to gymnastics mats, from racetracks to swimming pools, these women defy norms, push boundaries, and set remarkable standards. Here we delve deep into the lives, routines, and mindsets of extraordinary sportswomen like Serena Williams, Simone Biles, and Lindsey Vonn, to name a few. Each athlete offers a unique perspective on training, diet, mental well-being, and the challenges they've faced. This compilation is not just about physical prowess but also about the spirit and resilience of these incredible women. Dive in to get inspired.

1. Serena Williams

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Serena Williams leads a busy life. For this reason, making time to herself is important. “Something I do every day is [to] completely turn my brain off,” she told CNBC’s Make It. “Which sounds weird but because I work so much between tennis and running my other properties—Serena Ventures and Serena Clothing. But it’s a lot so I just need to turn my brain off and not think about anything.”

2. Simone Biles

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Simone Biles opened up about her journey with therapy to Glamour. She says that she was resistant at first, but has found the sessions extremely helpful. “I thought I could figure it out on my own, but that’s sometimes not the case. And that’s not something you should feel guilty or ashamed of. Once I got over that fact, I actually enjoyed it and looked forward to going to therapy. It’s a safe space.”

3. Ronda Rousey

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MMA Fighter Ronda Rousey broke down her training routine to StyleCaster. She says that it consists of, “Usually judo, striking, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, conditioning, and swimming six to 12 times a week, depending on where I am in my training cycle. The boxing workout consists of sparring, back work, mitt work, and shadow boxing. My strength workout is a lot of core-work exercises, and judo, wrestling, and jiu jitsu is drilling and open sparring.”

4. Allyson Felix

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Allyson Felix opened up about the diet she eats during competitions and training in an interview. “I love food,” she said. “I can eat quite a bit. I try and keep it really high-protein and eat things like grilled chicken and fish with the right amount of vegetables and fruits. I also keep a bunch of snacks around, healthy things that I can snack on throughout the day.”

5. Misty Copeland

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Misty Copeland broke down her diet in a 2015 interview with Glamour. “I'll eat fruit right after class. Then throughout the day I'll eat nuts and dried fruit—lots and lots of nuts for energy. I'll also eat light stuff during the day—maybe salad or sushi. I'm a pescatarian, so I don't eat red meat or pork. So my dinners usually consist of seafood in some way. And maybe cookies after!”

6. Lindsey Vonn

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Lindsey Vonn opened up about her struggles with body image and body positivity on Instagram. "I've posted quite a few swimsuit pics lately, which is scarier than it seems,” she wrote. “Even as an athlete there are ruthless comments and media stories that tear apart my body and I admit it sometimes hurts me. I'm a normal person and sometimes I slouch, my stomach folds over, my cellulite shows on my butt, or I don't fill out my swimsuit top just right. I always remember how my body has helped me achieve amazing things in my life and I am proud of how strong I am. I'm not a size zero and that's perfectly fine with me.”

7. Lolo Jones

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In an interview with Stack, Lolo Jones talked about her workouts and how she lost weight. “You can’t do the same workout every day and expect results,” she explained. “Our method is based on cycles. We build up to hard workouts within three weeks and then take a rest week. Also, if you increase your volume, you need to decrease your rest. For example, if I’m running for longer and slower, then I get less rest time. But if my run time is faster and shorter, I get a longer time to recover so that I can run at a higher velocity next round. Rest is really important.”

8. Alex Morgan

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Prior to the 2021 Olympic, Alex Morgan shared her mindset with The Beet. “Going through these big moments, the World Cup, and the Olympics, and I try to live in the now. I will have so many intense moments coming up in these next two weeks, I try to remember to take a breath and tell myself to just ‘Live in the now.’ I have found over the past ten years on the national team, I know that there is more to it than just the journey. Live in the now and remembering to breathe. And enjoy the moment.”

9. Kayla Harrison

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Kayla Harrison is open about being a survivor of abuse. She told Muscle and Fitness that she has learned to keep going forward when she feels down. “I think, because of my life story, and because of the ups and downs, I’ve learned that life is a rollercoaster,” she said. “And, I think that this helps with the bad times and the down times, and the times where I want to quit, or when I feel like I suck, or the times when I just don’t know how I’m gonna get through this. The bad times don’t last forever. The good times don’t either, but it gives me courage to know that nothing I go through now will ever be harder than what I went through when I was 16 or 17. That mental toughness carries me through.”

10. Maria Sharapova

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Maria Sharapova talked about her diet in an interview. “I start my day healthy, drink lots of lemon water, have done this my entire career, then green smoothie with kale, lemon, spinach and sometimes a small apple or an avocado. I usually pair that with rye toast. These days I'm not too fussy about food and I have to say I'm a lot less fussy than when I was playing."

11. Mikaela Shifrin

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Mikaela Shifrin shared her training secrets with Sports Illustrated. She says that she and her team look for external factors that could be affecting her performance. “We can objectively rate what my energy levels should be, across a period of time, given this data,” Shiffrin says. “There’s a graph showing the peaks and valleys of my training, and the highest intensity blocks versus the lowest intensity blocks. The last couple of years we’ve collected enough data to see when I get tired in a really intense training block.”

12. Lisa Carrington

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Lisa Carrington shared her fitness secrets in an interview with NowToLove. “I do lots of strength work," she says. "Pretty much all my cardio is done on the water, although we do mix in a little cycling or running to give my body a rest from it. And then I'll also fit in some Pilates – a one-on-one session with some really challenging core and stability exercises."

13. Tianna Bartoletta

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Tianna Bartoletta opened up about her decision to use InsideTracker to help track her wellbeing to Sports Business Journal. “I really committed to my InsideTracker journey around that point because so many things converged at the same time. I learned I had the tumor that was hemorrhaging and causing the blood loss that was causing the anemia. COVID happened. The Olympics, at that time, were still meant to go on as planned. And I was barely holding on to life at that point, as the reigning Olympic champion. There was no way I could think about defending the title until I actually got baseline healthy. You can't skip steps. I cannot become the Olympic champion, and then I'll revisit and circle back to surviving. So yeah, I buckled down on InsideTracker. I was like, 'Oh, I really have to take care of this. I have to give myself a fighting chance.’ All of these places where it says ‘need to be optimized,’ I need to kill it. I need to maximize, optimize and that is the thing that flipped the switch for me.”

14. Katie Ledecky

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Katie Ledecky opened up about her training process to E! News. “On a hard day, I'll have two swim practices and a weight session. I swim twice a day, four times a week and once a day, twice a week and then I have Sundays off. I swim nine to ten times a week and then three weight sessions per week.”

15. Maya Moore

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Maya Moore shared some of her diet secrets with Stack. She says that she has learned to limit the amount of sugar in her diet, and reads labels on food. “You start to realize just how much sugar is out there,” she says. “A lot of times, it’s just empty calories. I started to find different recipes and learned to cook for myself.”

16. Megan Rapinoe

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Megan Rapinoe talked about her workout secrets to Bustle. "Weight training is really big for me. Obviously, I run a lot playing soccer, but I also make sure that I strength train and pay attention to how everything's working in my body, especially as I get older."

17. Ashlyn Harris

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Ashlyn Harris talked about her plant-based diet to Green Matters. “I think people can feel intimidated by plant-based foods and the idea of completely changing their diet. But making small changes like avoiding animal products even just a couple of days a week can have positive effects on your health and the environment. So if you’re nervous, start with something small and easy and go from there. In my house, we really love JUST Egg Folded, which you pop in the toaster to make a quick sandwich. It's delicious and so easy, and you’ll totally forget you’re eating an egg from a plant.”

18. Holly Holm

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In a 2015 interview, Holly Holm talked about how she approaches fights. “The whole plan is to not get hit. That’s what I’m focused on. I spend a lot of time in the gym. The more I fear my opponent, the more time I spend in the gym. The more I learn the more confident I feel, which helps me feel more comfortable and not be overly anxious or be too nervous where I can’t focus and perform. Hard work helps me to get through that.”

19. Dame Valerie Adams

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Dame Valerie Adams might no longer be competing, but she’s still working out. "It's not my job to perform physically any more, but it is my job to perform emotionally and mentally,” she said in an interview. "Exercise is how I fill my cup and it's how I get what I need to release my stress. But other people have their own ways of thriving. It could be as simple as going outside for a 30-minute walk or putting on your favourite playlist and having a boogie in your lounge. It really gives you a boost."

20. Jessica Ennis-Hill

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When it comes to wellness, Jessica Ennis-Hill is all about variety. “I think it is important to enjoy food and not just see it as sustenance,” she told BBC Good Food. “I love to cook and am always trying out new recipes.” She also says that her biggest wellness advice is, “To try and keep both your diet and the exercise you do varied and interesting. You’re more likely to keep it up if you don’t get bored with it.”

21. Claressa Shields

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When it comes to her diet, Claressa Shields makes sure to eat healthy, but also doesn’t like to deny herself. “I have a cheat day every week in camp at least once,” she said in an interview. “I don’t care if I have some Doritos, if it’s a donut, if it was a cream cheese filled pretzel. I have my cheat days, but for my [main] diet it’s very, very strict.”

22. Michelle Waterson-Gomez

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Michelle Waterson-Gomez shared her secrets for MMA fighting to Women Fitness. “I think it is important to drill over and over again until you are sick of drilling, then drill some more. I also like to shadow boxing which is like fighting an imagery opponent. Shadow boxing allows you to fix your mistakes and make your movement smooth so that it becomes second nature. Doing bag work is also a good workout routine. It allows me to work on my power and footwork.”

23. Lisa Leslie

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In an interview with Stack, Lisa Leslie shared her secrets for success. “Be hungry about your sport or whatever it is you are passionate about,” she says. “You can’t reach perfection—that’s what drives me. I am a perfectionist, but you can’t reach perfection, so I am always looking for ways to get better.”

24. Dafne Schippers

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During the pandemic, Dafne Schippers made sure to stay in shape. She did a lot of at-home workouts. NBC Sports shared this video of her working out in her yard. In it, Schippers is seen doing box jumps onto a table with her dog.

25. Misty May-Treanor

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Gold medalist Misty May-Treanor shared her diet secrets with Women Fitness. “I like to listen to my body, but I do watch what I eat,” she says. “I try to eat whole nutritious foods because that is what is going to fuel my body and it is especially important that I eat enough calories with the amount of training that I did. I would work with my trainers too in order to make sure I came in at my playing weight that I feel the strongest at. Drinking plenty of water even throughout the night is important. Carrying small snacks helps to keep energy up.”

26. Elana Meyers Taylor

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Elana Meyers Taylor shared her workout secrets in an interview with NBCOlympics.com. “On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I do double days of running in the morning and lifting in the afternoon. Tuesdays and Saturdays, I do a running workout or recovery workout. Thursdays are off. My schedule changes every day based off of what other duties I have with Nico -- he has multiple therapies a week.”

27. Kerri Walsh-Jennings

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Kerri Walsh-Jennings shared how she stays in Olympic shape to Muscle and Fitness. “Staying strong and flexible is how I stay healthy. I’m a big fan of weightlifting to make me strong and prevent injury. It’s also great for metabolism, confidence, posture, and bone density. Pilates has helped me so much in my career as well. I worked hard to get my strength back in my core and strengthen my upper back, especially after breastfeeding.”

28. Michelle Kwan

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Michelle Kwan broke down her daily routine to Repeller.com. In it, she shared her go-to workouts. “Yoga helps clear my mind. It helps me maintain a sense of mental ease throughout the day, so when I’m stuck in traffic, or I get in an argument, or something chaotic happens at work, I’m able to take a step back to pause and reflect before I react. That’s why I practice so much: for the safety of others [laughs].”

29. Paige VanZant

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In an interview with Women Fitness, Paige VanZant talked about how she approaches recovering from injuries. “My husband kept me training and pushing very hard through every injury I encounter.” VanZant also shared some advice for other fighters. “For young fighters who experience injuries my advice would be to keep your mind busy and heart focused on why you started. And remember fighting is not who you are it is what you do. The light always comes after the darkness.”

30. Tara Lipinski

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Tara Lipinski broke down her typical diet to People. She says that she believes in moderation when it comes to food. “Since exercise and diet have been a part of my life since I was young, I know balance and moderation are key. One of the biggest lessons I learned from my athletic career is that I must listen to my body to stay at peak performance levels. But when I need to splurge, I splurge. And then when I need to bring it back to greens and fruit, I do.”

Belinda Bencic is an Olympic athlete known for her incredible skills on the tennis court. The tennis player from Switzerland has ranked as one of the best players in the world and has even won a gold medal in the 202 Olympics in Tokyo. “Here we go again😅 did I miss this?😁💪🏽 physical testing and.. Let’s go! 🔥🚀#podpodpodpodpod,” she said, with a positive attitude. Bencic is always willing to put in the work for her career.

1. She plays tennis

As a professional tennis player, a big part of her workout routine involves her practicing. According to Better Health, “playing tennis is a good sport to maintain your health, fitness, strength and agility. It has been calculated that an hour-long game of singles tennis burns around 600 calories for men and 420 calories for women.”

2. She eats healthy

She watches what she eats and prioritizes healthy dishes to keep her fueled and energized. “I’m watching what I eat. I need to stay fit, of course, and healthy and of course, watch my weight all the time. So I’m just trying to eat healthy and just see what works best for me. I have like a routine before the match. I eat rice with olive oil and salt. I think it’s the best for me,” she said.

3. She wears sunscreen

She makes sure her routine involves sunscreen. “I always wear sunscreen when I go out. I think that’s the most important rule. Of course, because we are always playing in the sun and my skin is all the time hydrated and sometimes even oily. So I don’t use much extra hydration and just kind of cleaning, always removing makeup before I go to sleep,” she said.

4. She takes the time to warm up

She warms up before diving into her workout. “We make some mobility and then we do the active up. So the active warm up for the muscles. And I think for me it’s really important to make some core before practice to stabilize and also to stabilize my ankles,” she said. According to the American Heart Association, “before you exercise, think about warming up your muscles like you would warm up your car. It increases the temperature and flexibility of your muscles, and helps you be more efficient and safer during your workout. A warm-up before moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic activity allows a gradual increase in heart rate and breathing at the start of the activity.”

5. She bases her workouts on what's best for her

As far as good workouts, she thinks it can vary depending on the person. “I think it’s very individual, especially for preventing injury, of course, depends on how your body is and what you have. I’m really glad I found a routine with my fitness coach, and we are doing this before every match and on the tournaments,” she said. “It’s basically, it’s a warm up where he just activates my muscles by massaging them or like, with the hyper ice machine.”

To reach the pinnacle of FIFA Women's World Cup soccer, you have to be physically fit, mentally strong and dangerously determined. The women here are all of those things and more. How do they stay so in shape? Alex Morgan hydrates her skin. Megan Rapinoe is really into weight training. And Ashlyn Harris treats her body as a temple, eating plant-based 80% of the time. Inside you'll find these health tips and more from winners of the FIFA Women's World Cup.

1. Alex Morgan

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Alex Morgan has amazing skin, and shared her tips with Buzzfeed. “I think all my toiletries are a big thing. I always make sure to bring enough lotion for my face and body, because we go to a lot of dry places, like Salt Lake City, St. Louis, and Arizona. Combine that with being in the sun all the time, and keeping my skin hydrated is essential. It’s important to find the right moisturizer, serums, and, of course, sunscreen to moisturize and protect my skin.”

2. Carli Lloyd

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Carli Lloyd likes to cook, and shared some of her favorite meals with NJM. “I love cooking! It's hard because I'm not home very often. But when I am, it's fun to cook different recipes. I make some good baby back ribs and stuffed peppers! And we always grill fish, chicken and steak on the charcoal grill.”

3. Megan Rapinoe

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Megan Rapinoe shared her fitness secrets with Bustle. “Weight training is really big for me. Obviously, I run a lot playing soccer, but I also make sure that I strength train and pay attention to how everything’s working in my body, especially as I get older. I love Pilates, which is amazing for that. I feel like it strengthens you from the inside out. Rest is also really important. It’s how I get the maximum out of my workouts and how I make sure my body's recovering.”

4. Julie Ertz

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Julie Ertz tells Forbes that she now understands the importance of self-care, and wished she realized this earlier. “I would have loved to realize how important my alone time is for me to make sure I am in a good place. Sometimes just being able to reflect on my goals and relax helps me have a better plan or perspective going forward. It's all about finding what works for you. I've also become more comfortable talking to my support group to help me with those goals.”

5. Alyssa Naeher

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Alyssa Naeher told The Los Angeles Times that she has a lot of supportive people in her life. “Lean on your teammates. Lean on your family. Just focus on what you want. For me it was showing up every day and controlling all the things that I could control. And that was being a good teammate.”

6. Kelley O’Hara

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Kelley O’Hara likes to run to stay in shape. She talked about this in an interview with Women’s Running. “I love the way I feel when I’m done running. Nothing is better than the feeling after a grueling workout. And if I’m fit, I love the feeling of pushing beyond what you think you can do during a run.”

7. Rose Lavelle

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Rose Lavelle shared her wellness secrets in an interview with Well + Good. She says that rest days are very important to her. “Today, rest is vital and I can’t play as much as I did as the load is so much more,” she says. “Now it’s a balance, and I have to prioritize the off-field piece and everything that I’m doing to help best prepare my body to be able to perform on the field.”

8. Ali Krieger

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Ali Krieger shared her wellness secrets in an interview with Muscle & Fitness. She says that one workout she enjoys doing is using battle ropes. “Being explosive and power­ful, hav­ing good footwork and quality speed are es­sen­tial for me. Battle rope drills are one of the toughest yet most rewarding exercises I do at the gym. They are a full-body workout, making me feel every muscle!”

9. Crystal Dunn

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Crystal Dunn shared her skincare secrets in an interview with Cup of Jo. “After breakfast, I wash my face, mostly to make sure I’m nice and awake. I wait until training to apply lotion or sunscreen. Lately, I’ve been really into It Cosmetics tinted moisturizer. It’s really light for daily use and provides a lot of things besides moisturizer — like coverage, a hydrating serum and SPF. So, I feel like I’m getting sunscreen protection and I also get to look cute. If I go out at night, I’m usually wearing Bobbi Brown’s line.”

10. Ashlyn Harris

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Ashlyn Harris talked about her diet in an interview with Green Matters. “Having been a professional athlete for many years, my body is a temple; my body is an engine. It’s something I have to treat extremely well if I want it to function at the highest level. I’ve always been very thoughtful about what goes into my body, and over time that has evolved to where I am now, which is eating plant-based about 80 percent of the time.”

11. Christen Press

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Christen Press talked about how she approaches a soccer game to ESPN. “I find the ball and I think, Where's the ball going, and where do I need to go? It just puts me back in the game, and it's the simplest thing, but it's become sort of like my soccer mantra. I simply use the ball as my focus point and move back into position and the distracting thoughts disappear, and I'm right back in the game."

12. Mallory Swanson

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Mallory Swanson opened up about having young people look up to her in an interview with People. "I always try and take the time with fans because you never really know what that moment can do for someone, and how that moment can change the trajectory of their career or their school life or whatever it is. There have been some times where people have definitely cried and I've been like, 'It's okay. It's like me, I'm literally you.' So connecting with those girls and those fans is super for sure."

13. Tobin Heath

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Tobin Heath talked about the importance of highlighting women’s sports to E! News. "Women's sports has been put through such a narrow lens," Heath explained. "Our sports structures were created by men and for men because, at that time, men's sports was kind of the only thing that existed. We were completely being missed. So those lenses were very much through the lens of, like, what the patriarchy would want to see in women's sports, not what women's sports actually are and certainly not the fullness of it."

14. Allie Long

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Allie Long shared how she prepares for soccer season in an interview with Oxygen Magazine. “Every off season, I make specific goals and go to training with a purpose. There’s always something that I want to work on and I leverage the off season to work on my long-term goals by setting and achieving the short-term goals to get me there.”

15. Sam Mewis

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Sam Mewis opened up about her recovery process in an interview with Outside Online. In it, she talked about how she eats healthy. “As women, we’re trained so much by society to watch what we eat. But as an athlete and as someone who is trying to heal, recover, and be strong, I need to eat a lot.”

16. Emily Sonnett

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Emily Sonnett shared her training routine in an interview with US Soccer. “We don't often lift heavy weight, but we do get a lot of reps in. We've also did a lot of testing at the beginning of camp to measure our range of motion, agility, flexibility, etc. We really appreciate having that kind of feedback because of course we want to do everything that can help us win, always.”

17. Jessica McDonald

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Jessica McDonald likes to strength train to stay in shape. “Strength training has definitely helped improve my game,” McDonald told BarBend. “Since I’m older, I have to up keep my body in a different way than a younger player. Strength training has helped me with longevity. I feel quicker and stronger than I have before.”

18. Lindsey Horan

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Lindsey Horan talked about the importance fitness has on her life to Tonal. “Fitness was never the main component in my game when I was younger,” she says. “I wish it was. I wish I knew what I know now. I wish I knew everything that goes into fitness because it’s not just running. It’s not just kicking the ball and chasing it.”

19. Becky Sauerbrunn

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Becky Sauerbrunn is always trying to improve herself. She talked about this in an interview with Soccer.com. “For someone that’s just trying to find their stride in their game, that’s kind of harsh criticism to get, but I took it to heart,” Sauerbrunn said. “I did everything I could to try to counteract that…Don’t be afraid to push your boundaries. I think you need to discover more about yourself, and you need to do that by making mistakes.”

20. Abby Dahlkemper

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During the pandemic, Abby Dahlkemper made sure to stay fit. She talked about her goals with Yahoo Sports. “My goal during the quarantine is to maintain as much muscle mass and I can,” Dahlkemper explained. “I don’t want my body to go into shock after months away from the pitch and risk some sort of injury. These workouts are slightly simpler versions of what my teammates and I do during normal training sessions.”