20 Amazing Bodies of Female Martial Artists

Female martial artists are so much more than performers in a fighting ring, and definitely more than just a pretty face. These women are training like athletes, and practice the skill and discipline needed to win. Vanity often goes out the window—just ask Ronda Rousey. “I can’t walk into a fight thinking, ‘Oh I need to save my moneymaker.’ I don’t care if I cut my face; I’m in there to win. You can’t walk in there scared of what might happen to you. I walk in there focused on what I have to do,” she says. So how exactly do these superstars train? Here’s how Valentina Shevchenko, Cris Cyborg, and 18 other fighters approach battle and wellness.

1. Felice Herrig

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American kickboxer Felice Herrig follows a healthy diet that encourages fat loss and muscle growth. “I’ve always been really healthy and I’ve done it all,” she says. “I was a raw foodist for about 1 year and then a vegetarian for 2-3. Right now I've been working with a really well known and sought after nutritionist Fakhri Mubarak and all my meals are prepared for me by a company called Fuel-up. So everything is perfectly proportioned out for me. I’m not going to go into complete specifics about my diet because that's my little secret. But my Fakhri has based my current diet on my blood work and on getting me to the lowest weight I can be with the most amount of muscle and strength as possible, with a specific ratio of carbs, proteins and fats.”

2. Ronda Rousey

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Ronda Rousey doesn’t count calories and is very careful about where her meat and dairy is sourced. “I usually eat carbs on alternating days,” she says. “So it will usually be rice or potatoes or something like that. Pretty much I just eat until I’m full. Since I don’t eat all day my stomach has shrunk so I get full fast. So I don’t count calories at all. If I have red meat it must be ‘Grass-Finished beef’ not ‘Grass Fed.’ Grass Fed could be that they fed the cow grass ONE DAY and then fed it corn for the rest of its life – and that qualifies it to be ‘Grass Fed’. Grass-Finished means it has to eat grass for at least 80 percent of its lifetime … so it has to be very high quality. I also try to eat everything organic, even when I eat dairy.”

3. Alexa Grasso

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Alexa Grasso believes all women should learn to fight. “I saw the MMA belt that I had won, how responsible I became, the discipline I acquired, the combinations that I connected, that security I had when I tried to try it and that desire to want to do it again but much better,” she says. “A high impact sport like this is what changed my life. And I know that although it is a relatively new sport, all women should practice it. It feels like the closest thing to what it would be like to fight for your life, so that you can react correctly in dangerous situations.”

4. Valentina Shevchenko

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UFC and MMA star Valentina Shevchenko trains 2-3 hours every day. "Fighters, they have to know how to box, have to know how to kick, how to wrestle, how to grapple, everything," she says. "They have to do it, not just okay, they have to do it in perfection. For me, martial arts, it's kind of [the] same as religion, because you have to believe in what you are doing and your temple is your dream.”

5. Cris Cyborg

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MMA champion Cris Cyborg says mental preparation is a big part of her training. “I believe that everything happens for a reason, so putting in the work as well just helps you in the process,” she says. “When I step into the ring, I know that I have done everything in my power to be prepared for the fight, and I give it my all. If I don’t happen to win, that’s ok too. I will see where I need to improve and continue to train on that until I am better at it, and so I am stronger for the next challenge.”

6. Cynthia Rothrock

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Veteran martial arts star Cynthia Rothrock says beginners should be prepared to put the work in if they want to succeed. “When you take a martial art, try to learn the true art and keep the tradition," she says. “Each style has something different to offer. I started at 13 years old. I had some friends in tang soo do, so I gave it a try. When I was younger, I tried everything — piano, music lessons, other sports — but the martial arts were the first thing I really stuck with… I always get nervous. It is sort of a nervous energy starting the form — but then I tune right in."

7. Gina Carano

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MMA star and actress Gina Carano’s favorite healthy meal is chicken and couscous with green beans. “When I’m home, I cook a lot of chicken or fish and wheat pasta,” she says. “When I was training to fight, literally all I ate was vegetables and white meat, then when I was done training, I’d go the complete opposite direction. I’m a lot more balanced now, and I feel a lot healthier. To be healthy and happy. If you take care of yourself you can take care of the people around you. We take health for granted.”

8. Carla Esparza

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Carla Esparza has a scientific approach to her training and diet, and is always thoroughly prepared. “I think anyone’s perfect scenario is like, boom, you walk out, one punch, knockout,” she says. “For me, I’d definitely like a chance to display all the work that I’ve been doing. I’ve been doing a lot of work in jiu jitsu, I’ve been sharpening up my striking, so I’m hoping that I can really display that, and of course, a first-round finish would be great, but just hand up. That’s the goal.”

9. Jeeja Yanin

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Jeeja Yanin has a dance background, and still practices for training. “I started when I was very young,” she says. “I took ballet for about eight years, and then went into Taekwondo, and I reached my second dan black belt at age thirteen. As of now, my son hasn’t quite gotten into martial arts yet, but I am encouraging him! I train for around two hours a day, and it’s a mix of martial arts and flexibility. I also like dance, as well, as it keeps you on your toes.”

10. Holly Holm

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Holly Holm keeps her meals light on a fight day. “[I have a] light protein, maybe fish or chicken. I always have sweet potatoes,” she says. “I might have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I might have trail mix. I like to have light proteins and good carbs. I might have some fruits. I don’t want to only do fruit because the sugar doesn’t last with you as long. I feel good when I have a good sweet potato, and nut butters and honey. I snack on stuff the whole time I’m in the locker room. I don’t want to be too full and have too much at one time, so I’ll eat little bites here and there, all the way up until about 30 to 45 minutes before the fight.”

11. Paige VanZant

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Paige VanZant is careful about her diet when she is training. “Dieting is a huge part of being any sort of professional athlete,” she says. “My husband and I love cooking and we really enjoy making healthy meals together. I like to think of myself as a chef and have competed on many cooking shows. We of course have our occasional cheat day here and there. But once we have a flight scheduled it’s down to business. Then after we fight we go a little bit crazy and eat everything in sight.”

12. Miesha Tate

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Miesha Tate swears by red meat for energy. “I like to eat red meat—it helps me keep my iron levels up,” she says. “I also eat a lot of veggies. If you’re low on calories or missing something in your diet, you can definitely feel it when you’re pushing your body to the limits. Whatever you put into your body is what you’re going to get out of it.”

13. Joanne Calderwood

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Joanne Calderwood supports her diet and training with supplements. “[For lunch] I will have Thorne’s Catalyte during training and take cod liver at lunch, which is usually the Trifecta special of the day,” she says. “Every day I do pads and our MMA pro practice. Monday, Wednesday, Friday in the afternoons I have strength and conditioning training. Saturday, I do cardio and focus on recovery. I usually have a nice meal at home – something I make in the slow cooker, usually chicken. I take a zinc supplement before bed and try to make sure I’m in bed and reading a book by 10 p.m. to get enough sleep and to wind down.”

14. Rose Namajunas

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Rose Namajunas believes in making her own food as much as possible. "You know, something like bread,” she says. “If you do it from scratch you have to make your own starter culture. That takes a week by itself. Then you have to add more flour and water to it over time. That takes another two weeks. So you shouldn't be eating bread every day. If you have a garden, you got tomatoes which we grew in the last camp. You could just eat those real easy because you can just pick it if you need it."

15. Jessica Andrade

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Jessica Andrade loves running as part of her training. “I get a rush when I’m fighting, but it was very unusual – I started to run when I moved down a weight class and got a runner’s high for the very first time,” she says. “I felt like a completely different person. Now I run every single day. It clears my head. I was so surprised how much just actual running helped my life and my well-being.”

16. Jessica Eye

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Jessica Eye believes state of mind is just as important as being physically prepared. “It all starts with the way that you think,” she says. “Your eyes wake up and your brain kicks in. Right now, because I feel like I’m in a much better mental state, my weight has been great. My training has been great. I’m smiling every day. I’m doing things I used to do that made me happy, and it makes my coaches happy. When I see them smile, it gives me the power to want to keep going and keep striving.”

17. Bruna Vargas

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Bruna Vargas used her down time to keep training and improving her skills. "I was stuck in a contract with XFC for two years, waiting for a fight that never came," she says. "It was complicated because I wanted and needed to fight, but had to wait. But I kept training, working on the things I needed to improve, like jiu-jitsu, and waited for a call. I also competed in jiu-jitsu and boxing in those two years away from MMA."

18. Diana Lee Inosanto

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Bruce Lee’s goddaughter Diana Lee Inosanto says Filipino martial arts is the bread and butter of what she does. “It was my heritage, it was my culture,” she says. “So as a little girl, my father said not only do I want you to learn how to defend yourself as a woman, or as a little girl at the time, but I also just want you to be proud and know your heritage, know your culture.”

19. Tatiana Suarez

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Tatiana Suarez is diligent about her diet and hydration. “I stay on a strict diet, and I train four to six hours a day,” she says. “I always make sure I’m fully hydrated before going into a practice. My favorite drink is BODYARMOR LYTE because it has electrolytes, is high in potassium and is low in sugar and calories, and nutrition and hydration is something that's important in fighting.”

20. Jinh Yu Frey

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Jinh Yu Frey stays focused on her health and training even when she isn’t fighting. “When I'm not fighting I [train] 4 times a week,” she says. “I’ll go to the classes at my jiu jitsu gym and do like 40 minutes of rolling and technique work but then I will also do wrestling or situational drills in the cage. A lot of times there’s fights about to happen so I'm always helping them get ready in the cage and do rounds with them. I always eat healthy, so I always try and keep lean—I don’t have a lot to lose but I do extra cardio and cut out dairy products and cheese which are high in fat, and cut down on portions too.”

Professional wrestler Valerie Loureda encouraged fans to watch both UFC and WWE NXT Great American Bash 2023 via a social media update. Loureda, 25, shared a video of herself looking fit and beautiful in an aquamarine bikini with matching coverup, telling fans who her picks are for the fights. “I’ve been working hard to bring a different touch to WWE that they’re never seen before,” she explained in the video. How does she stay so fit? Read on to see 5 ways Loureda stays in shape and the photos that prove they work.

1. Proud of Her Roots

Loureda is proud and confident about her fighting skills. “I’m an amazing wrestler,” she says. “Cuban wrestling is very different, and I was lucky enough to be taught wrestling by Yoel Romero and Alexis Villa and Gustavito (Balart), a lot of Olympic wrestlers, so they really taught me that Cuban wrestling, and I’m gonna take it into the cage. I just haven’t been given a chance to show it because I’m playing my game, but the moment I get the opportunity to show it, people are gonna be shocked by my wrestling skills.”

2. Taekwondo Background

Loureda grew up doing taekwondo, which set the tone for her future career as a fighter. “I never in my life thought for one second this is eventually what I would do,” she says. “I always had the vision of the Olympic dream [in taekwondo] in my mind, but at some point… that changed, and I saw MMA on TV. I saw the way it was blowing up, and people were falling in love with it. I said, ‘Wow, I can do that. I could fight like that. I could beat those girls, and I could change the world one day with that platform and all their viewers.’ So I was very excited about MMA, and that’s when it was born for me.”

3. Wrestling Training

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Loureda says switching from MMA to wrestling was no joke. “It’s extremely tough. For me, it’s actually harder than MMA,” she says. “My first bump, I just knew I could do it. I had this feeling in my gut and my first bump, hitting the ropes, I just fell in love with it and I knew I could do it. It’s tough, it’s a hard transition, it’s different than what I’m used to, but if you can rewire your brain and change your mentality and realize what this is and how to be the best at it, you can be successful. I was with coach (Norman) Smiley the whole time and he was amazing and taught me so much. He stayed in an open ring after for like two hours and we worked and he taught me stuff and taught me different things that would work with my style.”

4. Building Muscle

Loureda is careful to build muscle rather than lose weight as a result of MMA/wrestling training. “I might not be sparring as much, but I’m doing physical training (and) conditioning,” she says. “I lost a lot of weight after ‘Exatlon,’ and in these times, I’ve used time to concentrate on what I want to do with my life. While many are eating and gaining weight at home, I’ve been working to be on weight and be ready for this fight. So I haven’t had many partners for this training camp, but I’m very confident in my level and the years of training in martial arts.”

5. Beautiful and Strong

Loureda has neither time nor patience for those who criticize female athletes for bikini pictures. “If women do it, it’s being seen as doing it for social media and doing it to be an object for men and marketing. And that’s not the case,” she says. “It’s not for any man, it’s for us as women showing we can be badass and beautiful and strong, and we could still be animals in the cage and know how to defend ourselves.”

In the world of professional female boxing, these 20 remarkable athletes stand out not only for their prowess in the ring but also for their dedication to maintaining incredible bodies. From Olympic champions to rising stars, these boxers share insights into their training routines, diets, and the mental fortitude that drives them. Learn how Claressa Shields listens to her body, Amanda Serrano's strength and conditioning regimen, Jessica McCaskill's daily grind, and the unique strategies that keep these fighters at the top of their game. Discover the stories of resilience and determination that fuel these amazing bodies, inspiring a new generation of athletes.

1. Claressa Shields

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Claressa Shields tells Muscle and Fitness that her workouts are dependent on how she feels and what she’s done that day. “Having a routine is a great thing for any athlete, but sometimes adding something new to a routine or just giving yourself a break is necessary. If you’re training several times a day all week, by Friday, your body will wear down. I think that messes with some people when they’re unable to finish out the week. When my body says, ‘Hey, chill out, Claressa,’ I’m more than willing to chill out and give my body a rest or cut a workout short.”

2. Amanda Serrano

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Amanda Serrano shared her daily routine with Muscle and Fitness, including her workout routine. “I arrive back at the gym for my strength and conditioning training which includes: Squats, bench presses, military presses, barbell rows, pulldowns, barbell/dumbbell curls, triceps extensions, calf Raises. And on alternate days, I do my calisthenics (4 sets of pullups, pushups, chin-ups, and dips) back-to-back.”

3. Jessica McCaskill

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Jessica McCaskill shared her training routine in an interview with Front Proof Media. “We have strength and conditioning four times a week; we have sparring three times a week, just regular cardio every day, multiple times per day. I’m up at about 3:30 every weekday just to make sure I’m getting all of my workouts in. I still have my 9-5 job, which is more like a 6 am to 3 pm job, so I have to work around different schedules and different things I have on my plate, and it just kind of helps me stay consistent.”

4. Katie Taylor

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Katie Taylor likes to run to stay in shape. She shared her process in an interview with Sky Sports. “I don't really have a set distance. It changes from session to session. It could be maybe a sprint session, a hill session, or we could be running up mountains. A lot of hill runs actually, it's so important that your legs are strong. I train in Connecticut, so there's a lot of mountains there, and even the road ones are very hilly at times. That's probably my worst kind of session. I absolutely hate running sessions, but it's part and parcel, and those are the sessions that make the difference.”

5. Mikaela Mayer

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Mikaela Mayer shared how she stays motivated in an interview with Men’s Journal. “Sometimes I wake up sore, tired, and I don’t feel like sparring with a 175-pound dude who’s going to hit me,” she says. “But I really need to make sure I’m pushing myself, that I’m going to be able to push through four rounds straight. One of my favorite quotes is that practice doesn’t make perfect—perfect practice makes perfect. It’s better to hit the bag perfectly for five rounds than to hit it for 20 rounds.”

6. Seniesa Estrada

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Seniesa Estrada shared her career goals in an interview with Athleisure Magazine. “In the sport, I just want to continue to elevate the sport of women’s boxing to be better. It won’t be easy for all female fighters, but all I can do is continue to accomplish my goals and for people to see me and recognize me so that they can be more open minded to watching women’s boxing and supporting other women in the sport. Of course, my goal is to win multiple titles in 3 different weight divisions – which is definitely something that I want.”

7. Natasha Jonas

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Natasha Jonas shared how she handles her nerves with Stylist.co. “Nerves are good, it just depends on how you control them,” she says. “Some people need to be nervous, but I’m lucky that I’m one of those people who’s laid back and calm. Some people get nervous and can’t cope with those nerves, so it affects how they perform. For me, every time I get in the ring it’s a big buzz. I love the feeling of competing, I love being in the ring and I love hearing the crowd cheering.”

8. Terri Harper

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Terri Harper shared her training process in an interview with Venum.com. “I’m training twice a day, Monday to Friday, once on a Saturday. Working on power, endurance, and conditioning. Now I’m carrying this extra weight… it has more of an effect on your body thank you’d think. The lactic levels in your body will be much higher, you’re putting a lot more demands on your body… so it’s really a question of focusing on conditioning and getting used to the greater demands on my body as well as keeping my strength, eating well, fueling properly – following a strict nutrition plan.”

9. Ewa Brodnicka

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Ewa Brodnicka does a lot of things to keep herself in shape. She likes to spend a lot of time outside. Brodnicka shared these photos on Instagram of herself on a hike. She captioned the post, “Contact with nature gives calmness and relaxation.” She also posted this video of herself swimming in a pool.

10. Chantelle Cameron

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Chantelle Cameron shared her daily routine with Lessons In Badassery. She says that she likes to workout first thing in the morning. “My first morning session might be a steady run around 8.30am on an empty stomach to kick-start the day. A steady run will vary from 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how I feel. Sometimes, [if I don’t run] I’ll train later instead, with my first session at around 10.30am. This might be a strength and conditioning session or maybe a sparring session.”

11. Marlen Esparza

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Marlen Esparza shared her typical diet with StyleCaster. She makes sure to eat healthy, and that includes what she snacks on. “I love Mango Chobani Greek yogurt, it’s one of my favorite snacks. Another snack that I pre-make is a special oatmeal, which is whole-grain steel-cut oats with cashew milk, powdered peanut butter, organic honey, and chia seeds, and I let it sit in the refrigerator overnight and eat it cold.”

12. Alycia Baumgardner

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Alycia Baumgardner broke down her workout routine with Muscle and Fitness. “We start with a 5:30 a.m. run. We’re doing 800 meters at the track. With where I’m at in camp, that’s probably about eight of those, which is tough. We go back home, relax, have breakfast, get back up at noon. That will be when the second workout is. If it’s a sparring day, I’m probably doing about eight to 10 rounds. After sparring, I’ll hit the bag, might do a cooldown run. After that, I go back home, relax. The third workout of the day could be swimming or a recovery workout. I’ll go to sleep after that and then do it again the next day.”

13. Heather Hardy

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Heather Hardy shared her training secrets in an interview with AMNY.com. “I’m either sparring or working to enhance my boxing skills with my head coach, Devon Cormack. We work on everything from proper punching form and execution to footwork. I have a few different trainers. Devon is in charge of everything boxing, inside the ring. I put in a minimum of two hours of training per day.”

14. Hannah Rankin

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Hannah Rankin talked about how she won the super welterweight world title to GymBox.com. “I went into the ring with the mindset of ‘I’m not leaving this room without the belt around my waist.’ ...I knew I’d won it, I knew it when it was getting called out, but you always have these horrible little moments where you think ‘what if it isn’t me?!’”

15. Shannon Courteney

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Shannon Courteney shared her typical diet in an interview with The Skinny Food Company. “Because of the amount of training I do, I have a high carb and protein diet. I have porridge, oats & water for breakfast, fish with veg or salad for lunch with rice, and then chicken & salad for dinner, and as a non guilty treat I’ll have one Skinny Food snack a day, for example, some Chocolate Crispies or Choco Drops.”

16. Kali Reis

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In an interview with the Philly Voice, Kali Reis shared how she processed her trauma. "It's taken awhile to like myself, oh, yeah, absolutely. I was ashamed about a lot of things that happened to me for years, and I didn't understand why. I was punishing myself for reasons I didn't know. I used to think there was a black cloud following me everywhere. But if I didn't go through all the things I did, I wouldn't be where I am. I can look myself in the face and be proud of the little 12-year-old girl still inside of me."

17. Kim Clavel

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Kim Clavel opened up about how she recovers from losing a fight to Yesica Nary Plata to The Montreal Gazette. “I believe in my promotion,” she said. “I was ready to fight a girl like Plata. Maybe it wasn’t my best night, but it’s ok and I have no regrets. I believe this happened to make me stronger and better.”

18. Nicola Adams

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Nicola Adams revealed her workout secrets in an interview with Glamour. “I workout five days a week, twice a day. I’ll either go for a run – usually no more than 3 miles – or do strength training, such as bench presses, squats, dead lifts, press ups, or pull ups. In the evening, I do a boxing session. On my days off I also enjoy bikram yoga as a way to stretch my body out and mentally recharge.”

19. Melissa St. Vil

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Melissa St. Vil revealed how she got into boxing in an interview with BoxingInsider.com. “I grew up in an abusive household and I found boxing,” St. Vil said. “I used boxing as an outlet to let go of my anger and I just stuck with it. It was a safe haven for me. I had my first fight when I was 17 and it just took off from there. I always liked fighting before boxing; I always got into street fights. Like I said before, boxing was a safe haven for me because I was going through a lot mentally and I just needed to get away and boxing was that for me.”

20. Lauryn Eagle

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Lauryn Eagle shared her workout secrets with Women Fitness. “I absolutely thrive on a regular planned exercise routine. Average 2 -3 hours a day, depending on my work commitments. I love running. Nothing beats putting on my music and pounding the roads and beaches of this beautiful city we all live in. I can sometimes run up to 10km a day. I also do lots of core strengthening with weight assisted crunches, lengthy sustained leg raises, and a punishing medicine ball workout. Skipping is a specialty and a great cardio and rhythm workout for me. My routine becomes way more intense leading into a fight with regular sparring and shoulder strengthening together with hundreds of squats and lunges. For a change I sometime do my whole workout in a swimming pool. The added water resistance really builds your strength.”

MMA fighter Cris Cyborg (real name Cristiane Justino Venâncio) is training with Holly Holms—who she says is the greatest female boxer in the world. Cyborg, 38, shared a picture of herself wearing yellow leggings and a black sports bra, posing next to Holms in the cage. “Now we are only 2 weeks away from the greatest female boxer to ever compete in MMA @hollyholm return to the cage. Don’t Miss Holly Holm X Judo Kayla at UFC 300. Holly is coming for all the glory,” she captioned the post. Here’s what Cyborg’s diet, fitness, and training looks like.

1. Cyborg Origins

Cyborg chose her name as being reflective of her tough personality and focus. “I always was very disciplined in all of the sports that I practiced and always tried to make it my objective to do everything it took to do my best and not to worry about the consequences," she told Soul Brasil Magazine. "So then, when I was training at kickboxing I met my husband Evangelista 'Cyborg' who also is a fighter. So from then on my last name was stuck being Cris 'Cyborg'. I competed a lot as a fighter in Brazil, but it got to the point where there was no one left to fight. There were two years when I didn’t fight competitively at all. It was then that there came the opportunity to come to the United States to train and fight."

2. MMA Diet

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Cyborg details the ideal fighting diet on her website: it should consist of a good protein, starch, and salad, two hours before a fight. “You’ll want to eat a high-protein, high-carbohydrate meal about two hours before your fight. A pre-fight meal like this will give you a slow and steady release of energy that lasts for hours. It will also help to reduce the amount of lactic acid your body produces as you train, which can cause soreness and fatigue. Pre-fight meals should also be low in fat, fiber, and sodium. The last thing you want is a full stomach during a fight, so you want to eat a meal that is high in calories but that doesn’t leave you feeling overly full.”

3. Martial Arts Expert

Cyborg’s training is solidly based in martial arts—several different types. "I began with Muay Thai and then I learned to incorporate others important martial art forms, among them Wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu," she told Soul Brasil Magazine. "This fusion is very important if you think seriously about competing on MMA, and in particular the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on floor technique."

4. Healing Meals

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Cyborg advises fighters to choose healthy foods that help repair the body post-fight. “This means eating lots of protein and healthy fats like avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, and salmon. You may also want to consume a sports drink like Gatorade or Powerade to replace the electrolytes your body lost while fighting,” according to her website. “Pre- and post-fight meals are also an excellent opportunity to add in foods rich in vitamins and minerals, which will help you recover faster and minimize post-fight soreness and inflammation.”

5. Proud Role Model

Cyborg is thrilled more women are going into the fighting world. “The female MMA is getting more and more popular and I am really happy about this,” she told Soul Brasil Magazine. “I will do what is within my reach to be able to contribute to its greater popularity and to see more doors opening for women in the MMA. The perspectives really are great. I think that by fighting well competitively and showing all of my potential I can contribute to the MMA attracting more and more interest from the public in general.”

Get into the training, mindset, and lifestyle choices of twenty remarkable athletes. From Simone Biles to Carli Lloyd, who believes in balance and occasional indulgence, each athlete brings their unique approach to their respective sports. Misty May-Treanor's rigorous exercises, Kerri Walsh-Jennings' focus on recovery, and Serena Williams' varied workouts all demonstrate the dedication required to reach the pinnacle of their fields. As they share their secrets to success, it becomes clear that physical fitness, mental strength, and self-care are essential components of their journeys.

1. Simone Biles

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Simone Biles isn’t just a great athlete, she’s also an advocate for survivors. She opened up about testifying against Larry Nassar on Today. “For so many years to go through everything that I’ve gone through, put on a front, I’m proud of myself, and I’m happy that I can be a leader for the survivors and bring courage to everybody speaking up, so I’m happy to be a voice for them.”

2. Misty May-Treanor

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Gold medalist beach volleyball player, Misty May-Treanor shared some of her favorite exercises in an interview with Women Fitness. “I love olympic lifting (cleans, jerks, snatches), squatting and explosive jump drills. I also implement track and hill workouts with a running instructor. Pilates helps me maintain a strong and healthy core since that is important in our sport. Since I am not the tallest player out there at times, my jump has to be strong from the very match to the very last match. Recovery is equally as important to the lifting as well and that comprises of massage, ice baths, and stretching.”

3. Kerri Walsh-Jennings

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Olympic gold medalist, Kerri Walsh-Jennings, opened up about her approach to training in an interview with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. “When at home, we will have double and triple days all the time. When I get into competition, I want to be fresh and play good volleyball. It is like a mental game. For me, I am going to try something new, add another workout and see how I feel. You need to be humble enough to keep it and push through, or if to much, adjust. It is so important to listen to your body and sometimes the hardest work you have to do is chill out and recover and fine tune.”

4. April Ross

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Bronze-medal winning beach volleyball player, April Ross, opened up about her diet to Today. She says that there’s one thing she makes sure to cut out of her diet. "Sugar is so bad for your body. If you drink soda, the sugar causes inflammation. And it's bad for your joints, so, as an athlete, your joints are going to be more inflamed and you're going to be more prone to injury.”

5. Gabby Douglas

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Gabby Douglas tells HollywoodLife that she does a variety of things to keep herself in shape. “I’m used to doing the same thing every single day, whereas now I get to switch it up. Like, today we’ll do HIIT. Today we’ll do trampoline. Today we’ll do a dance workout. Today we’ll just dive in and it’s been fun even to be creative with myself, coming up with workouts that I find enjoyable because I believe you should be having fun when you workout. I love hard work and I love to sweat but at the same time though, you should love what you do.”

6. Serena Williams

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Serena Williams is considered one of the greatest athletes of all time. One of her secrets for staying fit is doing a variety of workouts. “For me, it's so important to mix it up,” she told Fitness Magazine. “I ran, and then I biked. Then I did elliptical. That didn't work out so well, because it was boring, so I tried yoga. I started dancing because I couldn't train when I was sick. We started making up moves, and it was fun. Now I run for 10 minutes, and then I dance.”

7. Venus Williams

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Tennis legend Venus Williams opened up about her decision to go on a plant-based diet with The Beet. “When I was diagnosed with Sjögren's syndrome back in 2011, I had to make some major lifestyle changes in order to put my health first. After trying everything the doctor suggested, I continued to experience muscle and joint pain, and constant fatigue. But when I started exploring a plant-based diet to help reduce my inflammation and support my immune system, I loved the way it made me feel, so I kept going.”

8. Julie Johnston ErtzUS Women’s Soccer Team star, Julie Johnston Ertz opened up about her exercise routine with Prevention. “I think core is really important,” she says. “Cause it’s the center of your body. C​​ore machines are great but I do everything on the floor. If I’m doing a plank, I like to do step outs with my feet. I like to elevate even a little more."Alex MorganIn addition to taking care of her body, Alex Morgan also takes care of her mind. She shared how she manages any anxiousness with The Beet. “I tell myself: ‘Take a breath and enjoy the journey I'm going on now.’ It's overwhelming to think about going somewhere in the future, so I am living in the now and remembering to breathe.Candace ParkerWNBA champion Candace Parker talked about how she approaches basketball with SBNation.com. “I think simplicity has always been difficult for me. I think physically because you know, I’ve been versatile and have played multiple positions. I think simplicity was always, you know, me dribbling and me doing this and whatever. And now I’ve just learned that simplicity is key, doing things with the least amount of motion is going to benefit me greatly. So I think that is the biggest thing to me is just yes, I can dribble and do that, but it’s more beneficial for me to be able to do it with less motion.”Nastia LiukinOlympic gymnast, Nastia Liukin, shared some of her wellness tips with Today. "I think the most important thing to know is, you'll never regret a workout when it's over. And it's just hard to tell yourself that before you've done it. But just try to remember how you feel after your workout, and know that when you feel good, you look good, and you have more confidence, and so I think that that's really important."Shawn JohnsonWhile expecting her first child, Shawn Johnson and her husband Andrew East did a lot of workouts together. She told Us Weekly, “We always thought [when we were] dating that we were going to be that couple that works out together, but we really can’t work out together because he says I’m too intense. And then I got pregnant, and then we’re matched now, my intensity. So we work out now that I’m pregnant, which is funny.” Adds the gold medalist, “Hey, gymnasts are intense.”Jordyn WieberGymnast Jordyn Wieber told StyleCaster that she struggled with insecurities growing up.“The older I got, the more I realized my body can do amazing things that not a lot of other kids at my school could do,” Wieber says. “So I tried my best to embrace that, and once I made the Olympics team, I was like, ‘Woah! OK. Now I know where you are all the time.’ I started to appreciate my muscles a lot more rather than thinking my body was not as good as the other girls in my school because I looked different than them.”Carli LloydCarli Lloyd opened up about her diet to NJ.com. She says that while she eats healthy, she also believes in indulging once in a while. “Well, I rarely eat carbs, like pasta, pizza or bread, or fried, greasy foods. They just don't make me feel good. But I do enjoy stopping at my favorite pizza place in Philly!...Only every now and then, and only in moderation.”Lindsey VonnLindsey Vonn tells Women’s Health that when she was competing in skiing, she wanted to break the mold. "I was always just myself,” she says. “You can be strong and feminine and opinionated and wear makeup and do all those things at the same time. You don't have to be the stereotypical athlete. You can be different. There's no limit to what opportunities are out there [for you], you just have to go get them."Lindsey JacobellisLindsey Jacobellis opened up about what exercises she likes to do on the road in an interview with Women Fitness. “On the road workouts can be challenging when gyms are hard to find, but not impossible. 1. Walking lunges with dumbbells 2. Single leg RDL (Russian dead lifts) 3. Hanging leg raises 4.Traditional or wide leg back squats 5. Bent over single arm rows (These exercises can be done when there are limited weights to work with in a hotel gym.)”Mirai NagasuFigure skater Mirai Nagasu opened up about her mindset for competitions in an interview with TeamUSA.com. “I just want to believe in myself, and, I know it’s the cheesiest thing to say, but believe in that 5-year-old girl who started this dream,” she said. “I know I’m mentally strong. I went to the Olympics when I was 16 and ended up in fourth place, beating all these people who were beating me consistently. I know it’s within me. I just have to pull it out at the right moment.”Carissa MooreCarissa Moore shared some of her favorite workouts in an interview with Balance The Grind. “I work out with my trainer three times each week, and we do a lot of circuit training. I don’t actually use too many weights; it’s mostly body weight. I train to make sure I can get in the water and do what I love every day. I love burpees, skaters and mountain climbers. I do intervals, like 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off. My regimen is always changing, because I get bored if it’s the same workout. Each week I go to Pilates once and I usually go for a run twice.”Tia BlancoTia Blanco shared some of her favorite wellness products with POPSugar. She says that she owns a juicer, and puts it to good use. “I love to go to the farmers' market and load up on a bunch of local produce in season that is great for juicing," she says. "I always find myself juicing celery, lemon, apples, and parsley. Sometimes I will do shots of turmeric and ginger to spice things up."Louise HazelLouise Hazel opened up about her diet in an interview with WhoWhatWear. "I grab a banana and a bottle of water and a bowl of gluten-free muesli with almond milk. I recently found out that I am lactose intolerant using a DNAFit test, and I would recommend this to anyone who is taking their health and fitness seriously. It will give you a blueprint from which to make informed decisions about your diet and fitness regimen."