Hunter McGrady In One-Piece Jumpsuit Shares “Hotel Fit Check”

1. Trailblazing Cover

McGrady is immensely proud of her SI experience. “The moment the issue dropped, my life changed in drastic ways,” she told PEOPLE. “I was given this platform and this responsibility, and I remember thinking, ‘Okay. This is a blessing. This is a huge, huge gift. Do with it what you will, but do it wisely.’ Ever since then, and every year I've been back, I've felt a little bit more like, ‘Okay, I feel even more confident, and I feel like I'm really growing as a woman.’”

2. Dream Come True

McGrady hopes her SI cover inspires others. “It was such a surreal moment,” she told PEOPLE. “I automatically thought back to little me and what that would mean to me, seeing somebody like me on the cover of any magazine, let alone Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. It's huge.”

3. Yoga and Spin Classes

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McGrady loves both gentle and more intense exercises. “When I run, my mind can clear,” she told Teen Vogue. “I love doing yoga, and my new all time fave is Soul Cycle. It's nice for me to get out of my head and work myself to this goal. They like to push you [at Soul Cycle]...and it's really rewarding, and all the while being great for my physical health as well.”

4. Self-Care Days

McGrady takes a rest day whenever she feels overwhelmed. “If I feel like it's time to rest, if I need a spa day, to get my nails done, or to take care of [myself] in other ways,” she told Teen Vogue. “Self care is not just working out, it's reading a book, taking an hour of quiet time. I love getting massages. I get one once a month. It's a time when I can turn off my brain, work out my muscles.”

5. Meditation Every Day

McGrady meditates whenever she can. “Because of my job, I'm constantly traveling,” she told Teen Vogue. “Any time I can get [a workout] in, any time I have a free hour I try to do anything: at home, on a plane. I consider meditating my own little work out. A lot of people focus on physical activity, but for me I take time to meditate and work out my brain. To just take time for myself to find that peace. I wish I had a more set schedule.”

WNBA star Te'a Cooper is upping her fitness game by working out with personal trainer Tisch Tosch Training, and developing her strongest physique yet. Cooper, 26, tagged the trainer in an Instagram video of herself working out in black two-piece workout gear and black Travis Scott sneakers. @mstischh getting the body together,” she captioned the post. Here’s what Cooper does on and off the court, and what’s next for the champion.

1. Plant-Based Diet

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Cooper took part in a cooking competition with plant-based ZENB pasta, which she says has changed the way she eats. “Having more ideas and more recipes is fun and meeting new chefs that own businesses and stuff has been fun,” she tells Blavity. “I think the fact that the noodles are yellow peas is the most interesting thing to me because it tastes just like the noodles that I use that are not yellow peas. It’s way healthier and I love pasta. They had mac and cheese, stuff that I normally eat that I would love to have made plant-based or healthy.”

2. Self-Care Sessions

Cooper takes self-care seriously (as she should!). “For me, that looks like working out, taking care of my body, eating healthy, getting my hair done, getting my nails done — looking cute,” she tells Blavity. “Taking pictures of myself, just doing stuff that makes me feel good.”

3. Hollywood Luxury Hair

Cooper is proud of Hollywood Luxury Hair, her hair and beauty brand. “I wanted to have a hair brand ever since I was in high school,” she tells Black America Web. I really wanted to be particular on the quality of the hair and the prices. I wanted it to be great quality but affordable because, you know, as an athlete, you sweat so much and you have to change your hair a lot. It’s actually hard to maintain natural hairstyles. I really wanted to have my own brand where I could also give back to the little girls growing up and the girls that wanted to have their own hair, or be endorsed by somebody with a hair company. I wanted to be that person.”

4. WNBA Inspirations

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Cooper is inspired by her fellow athletes. “Arike Ogunbowale, for sure,” she tells Black America Web. “She plays for the Dallas Wings and is killing the fashion this year. I love what she’s doing on and off the court. Flau’jae [Johnson] and Angel [Reese] — those my girls; they’re killing it! DiDi Richards is the other brand ambassador for my hair, and she’s killing it off the court and on the court. She played for the New York Liberty and she has her own podcast and talk show now with the WNBA, so that’s dope.”

5. Swimsuit Model

Cooper was thrilled to be a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model. “I’ve never taken a bikini picture,” she tells Blavity. “I don’t really take pictures in bathing suits. I kind of just wear ’em for the pool, so that was very different to have all those cameras on you, you in a bathing suit, you kinda gotta be sexy… They kind of just give you confidence that you can’t really deny in that moment ’cause you’re in front of the camera. So you got the water, the weather, the scenery, the bathing suit. You got people encouraging you. It was a great time for me. The group of women that I did it with were so amazing and we all had different stories, so I think SI highlighting each person and their story made it even more powerful.”

1. She’s a Boxer

Montgomery loves boxing, even though sometimes the workouts are almost too intense. “I started boxing a few months after I gave birth back in 2019,” she says. “My husband and I started together and it was purely so I could get back in shape: after a few months my body was back to its usual size and I stopped. I started training again in April of this year but this time it had nothing to do with aesthetics and more to do with wanting to feel strong. I felt trampled on in certain areas of my life and weak. Honestly I was probably a little depressed and was struggling to see a way out of it. I hated that my daughter saw Daddy as the strong one so I started working with my trainer to build up my overall stamina and strength. Looking back now I think I was feeling powerless in so many areas of my life. I knew that if I started training again I could regain some of that power back.”

2. Working With Trainer

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Montgomery’s trainer knows how to bring the best out of her. “I am someone that needs help in order to reach my full potential,” she says. “I need to be pushed beyond my comfort level and I also need encouragement because I get self conscious easily. My trainer Henry DeLeon never goes easy on me: even when I turn on the water works! He just won’t let me give up on myself. I would say I have a love hate relationship with him because when I am not in the middle of a session I love him and love the strength he is helping me build in my body and my mind. But if you asked me in the middle of one of our sessions I would tell you that I absolutely hate the guy. Which honestly makes it a lot easier (and enjoyable) to throw punches at him.”

3. Made In Jersey

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Montgomery is proud of her Made In Jersey character. “I actually just hired an assistant who is from New Jersey who has been giving me the low down in details,” she says. “She is like Italian New Jersey, so she is just perfect for me to really get a feel for exactly like the lifestyle, because I just need to really submerge myself in this role. They do get a bad rap, but then I think coming from a place like England where there is so much classism and like people from Manchester get a bad rap or people from New Cockney get a bad rap ... My eyes are open to that kind of ignorance.”

4. Making Lists

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Montgomery likes to prepare for the next day by making to-do lists. “Most nights I write down a list of things I need to do the next day,” she says. “I store it in my notes on my phone. I will nearly always make the list too long but it means I have a whole checklist that keeps me on schedule because I am someone who can easily get distracted.”

5. Simple Style

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Montgomery likes a low-key, simple style for everyday wear. “My personal style has always been unfussy,” she says. “I wear minimal jewelry, rarely wear heels and I am usually wearing at least one item of denim. Online shopping can be dangerous for me because I think I use it as a distraction from my thoughts. I can sit on Net-a-Porter for hours just scrolling and end up buying nothing! I hate the pressure actresses are put under to be ‘fashionable’ because it kills a lot of one's own personal style. With so much fashion influence at the touch of a screen it can be difficult to know the difference between what you like and what you are being told to like.”