Women's Basketball Player Jonquel Jones in Workout Gear "Had a Great Time"

Jonquel Jones is a successful player in the WNBA. She recently joined the New York Liberty. Jones previously played on the Connecticut Sun. Jones recently went to AllStar, and shared highlights from the game on Instagram. In them, she wore her team uniform. Jones captioned the post, “Had a great time at All Star this past week. Now it’s time for playoffs.” Jones also shared highlights from a vacation she took on Instagram, captioning the post, “Great friendships. Great vibes.” How does she stay so fit? Read on to see 5 ways Jonquel Jones stays in shape and the photos that prove they work.

1. She Wants To Win

In an interview with The Next Hoops, Jones talked about her decision to join New York Liberty. She says that she was drawn to how talented the team was and how invested they were in winning. “Playing against Liberty last year, I saw a shift in the culture, that was for sure,” she said. “The way that they played high-octane basketball, playing both sides of the ball, a lot of young talent that was very lively. And you can see that they were invested in winning, and like I said, changing that culture.”

2. She’s Taking Opportunities

Jones tells The Next Hoops that another factor in her decision to join the Liberty was wanting more opportunities. “Being in Connecticut, I can tell them firsthand that you may think that you have more [playoff] opportunities, but no opportunity is as important as the one that you have before you right there and right now,” she said. “And so I think that’s going to be extremely important is letting them understand that every opportunity matters, and every chance you get to step on the court is [an] opportunity to play your best. And the future is not promised. So in order for us to maximize our potential, play at the level that we know that we’re going to be capable of playing, which is a very high level … we’re gonna have to be willing to sacrifice and play hard every game.”

3. She’s Dedicated

Jones is extremely dedicated to the WNBA. She talked about this to The Next Hoops. “Anything that the organization needs me to do, I’m there. Obviously, we want to put our best foot forward. And I’m all in on whatever they want to do. … It hasn’t started yet. But when it does, we will be there.”

4. She Has Support

Jones tells ESPN that she grew up with a supportive community around her. She says that she wants her children to have a similar environment around them. "It wasn't just my parents that were raising me," Jones says. "It was everybody in the community. When I think about raising my kids one day, I want them to be raised in a type of situation like that."

5. She Plays Basketball

Jones is a basketball player, and this naturally helps her stay in shape. The Mayo Clinic reports that basketball has a lot of benefits. “Basketball as a recreational exercise seems to share many affirmative attributes with typical health-enhancing physical activities. Boosting cardiometabolic health and strengthening bone structure might be among the most promising benefits of playing leisure-time basketball, while controlling for risk of injury.”

WNBA legend Sylvia Fowles may be retired from the WNBA, but her training and fitness routine continues to be intense and inspiring. Fowles, 38, shared pictures of herself wearing shorts and a white crop top, posing on her bike. “Mental toughness is to physical as four is to one. -Bobby Knight,” she captioned the post. “Yes yes yes!!!!! 🔥❤️🔥 all that strength and range!” a fan commented. Fowles’ reputation as an incredible athlete is well-deserved—here’s what she does to stay strong, fit, and ready for the next chapter.

1. Low-Impact Workouts

Fowles says it took her 14 years to start feeling aches and pains that made her change the way she worked out. “It took me two years to put on 10 pounds…I have a hard time gaining weight,” she told Nike.com. “But last year when I got hurt, it was a wake-up call that I was bottom heavy. My legs already carry a lot of weight, and so adding those 10 pounds was not good on my joints. And so from last year to this year, there are things that I do differently. Pilates has helped me a lot. I really don’t eat all that healthily, but I do watch what I eat. Biking has helped a lot too — anything that takes weight off my joints is pretty much a success for me.”

2. Happy Exercises

Fowles works out daily not just to stay in shape, but to feel happy. "Just try to work out daily if you can, even if it's just for like 30 minutes,” she told Oprah.com. “Just get it in. A good workout makes me feel good, and when I sweat, it makes me feel like I did a lot, that I accomplished a lot."

3. New Talent

Fowles is thrilled about the new generation of female players upping their game quite literally. “I think we’re now getting a whiff of what the WNBA can look like a couple years from now, just like what Phee said with the talent level coming out of high school, but also the quickness,” she told Nike.com. “They’re jumping higher, they’re moving faster. It was only me and Candace [Parker] dunking when we were in high school. But within the next five years in the W, we’re definitely going to have a lot more girls dunking. It’s impressive! Napheesa [Collier] asks me to dunk every game. First of all, it takes too much out of me. I got three people hanging from me, and I don’t have the energy to even jump sometimes.”

4. Basketball Shape

Fowles retired from the WNBA in 2022 after listening to warning signs from her body. “Being in shape is one thing, but being in basketball shape is something totally different,” she told CBS News. “I got to that point when workouts were just getting harder and harder, and you take into consideration how many times I've been hurt over the last couple of years, too. I just don't think physically I want to do it to my body anymore. That's how I knew."

5. Bike Riding

Fowles loves to ride her bike as a way to clear her head. “Mentally, it’s my way of debriefing,” she told Sports Illustrated. “It’s another form of therapy. I get to ride and relax. I get to reflect on my day, reflect on the conversations that I’ve had throughout my day and certain situations I didn’t handle well.”

WNBA star Erica Wheeler is showing off her spectacular boxing skills on social media (just add it to the list of things she excels at). Wheeler, 32, posted a video of herself wearing black Adidas workout gear and sparring with coach Vinnie Calautti, joking “I will knock you out” before conceding defeat over her “noodle arms”. The Indiana Fever star has worked hard her whole life to play professional ball—here’s what her game philosophy looks like.

1. Basketball Drills

Basketball shooting drills keep Wheeler sharp and ready for action. “You have to train your mind,” she told Adidas. “And how do you train your mind? Consistently doing something the same way and doing it harder and harder and getting better and better. With time you become more talented because you become more consistent. I think with practice comes muscle memory. My body knows what it's going to do before I even tell it to do it, because I've been doing it so long.”

2. Lifting Heavy Weights

Wheeler lifts heavy weights as part of her training—and she’s thrilled with every step of progress she makes. “I’ve never lifted anything over 200 lb!” she captioned an Instagram video. “Last week I hit 250 lb, I was hype bout that! Then somebody said I couldn’t hit 300 lb! NOTED! Today I got up to 315 lb 😳 I probably could’ve went to 325 but my trainer crazy, but he wasn’t on demon time today 😂.”

3. Family First

Erica Wheeler/Instagram

Wheeler had offers from colleges such as LSU, South Carolina, and UConn, but chose Rutgers University after meeting their head coach C. Vivian Stringer. “The conversation was super family-orientated because we just started talking about food, it wasn’t even about basketball,” Wheeler told WSLAM. “I think the one thing that stuck out to my mom was I never left home, so she felt more comfortable with me going to Rutgers because of how Vivian approached our family.”

4. Popular Player

Wheeler’s teammates at the Indiana Fever love her energy and work ethic. “She’s been so great,” says Fever head coach Stephanie White. “She’s fun. She’s a hard worker. She’s a great teammate and she’s really the perfect fit for our franchise because of her commitment to the defensive end, her toughness and her energy. That’s exactly what we want; hungry players who want to be better for each other.”

5. Open Mind

Wheeler keeps an open mind when it comes to sports. “I don't close my mind to anything,” she told Adidas. “When it comes to basketball, you can elevate your game in so many ways, whether it's dribbling, whether it's how to read the game, whether it's a simple drill to tighten up your handling... Always give a pat on the back, because at the end of the day nobody's a real loser if you're going hard. You got to take some losses, but if you’re competing and you're doing it at the highest level you can, you're not losing. You're just getting better.”

WNBA Star Lexie Brown is taking some time out of her basketball uniform to show off her yoga outfits. The 29-year-old Los Angeles Sparks player shared pictures of herself wearing leggings and a matching sports bra, her hair down around her shoulders as she posed in the sunshine. “I’ve been on a roll, where you been? Real protective with my soul, where you been? ✨✨” she captioned the post. Here’s how Brown stays strong, fit, happy, and more health-conscious than ever.

1. She Does Yoga

Aside from her basketball training, Brown likes yoga—which is especially useful for athletes. “Yoga promotes physical health in multiple different ways,” say the experts at Harvard Health. “Some of them derive from better stress management. Others come more directly from the physical movements and postures in yoga, which help promote flexibility and reduce joint pain.”

2. Baked Ziti For the Team

Brown’s favorite dish is baked ziti, which she enjoys cooking for her friends and teammates. "If anyone knows me they know that cooking isn't my strong suit,” she told ESPN. “Any time my mom asked me what I wanted for dinner I always asked for it. No matter what. I wouldn't recommend a plate of baked ziti before a big game or tough workout, but it's great for right after! I made this on a visit to some old teammates. They had definitely had a long, hard week of workouts so I wanted to treat them!”

3. Bacterial Infection Recovery

Brown has a new appreciation for her health after recovering from a bacterial infection last year that forced her to miss games. “My goal was always to come back,” she told TheNextHoops. “My mentality was to always conquer this and get back on the court, and that was always the conversations we had. But my mind and my body were not matching up. I never took my health for granted, but if there’s any moments that I did, I don’t think I’ll have those moments anymore.”

4. Positive Personality

Brown says her reputation as “uncoachable” is unfair. “My college experience was incredible, even with the transfer [from Maryland to Duke],” she told Boardroom. “But I did get a taste of a coach trying to tear down your character because I made a personal change. It didn’t affect me as bad as it has as a pro, but I saw how quickly things change if you just simply stand up for yourself. I was never problematic. I really ended up just staying out of the way, which then was seen as ‘misunderstood’ or ‘antisocial.’ And I rolled with it. [That] was a mistake on my part because I am neither one of those things. I’m coachable [and] a positive person.”

5. Looking Forward to the Future

Brown believes the best is yet to come for the WNBA. “There are some amazing things about the league, but we would be doing each other a disservice for not calling out where they need to be better,” she told Boardroom. “I just love this game and this league so much. I want so much better for it. I think my time is coming. I’m just looking forward to the future. I love seeing conversations about the W, even if it’s [controversial]. It’s better than no conversation at all.”

Kamilla Cardoso is a rookie in the WNBA. She plays for the Chicago Sky. Cardoso is from Brazil, and last month, her family flew to the US to surprise her. Omaha Productions shared a video of the surprise on their Instagram—the "surprise of a lifetime." How does she stay so fit? Read on to see 5 ways Kamilla Cardoso stays in shape and the photos that prove they work.

1. She Plays Basketball

Cardoso obviously plays basketball to stay fit. On The Right Path states that basketball has a lot of benefits. “Basketball involves aerobic exercise, promoting heart and lung health, and enhancing cardiovascular function. Regular participation in basketball helps burn calories, contributing to healthy weight management and reducing the risk of obesity.”

2. She Lifts Weights

Cardoso talked about her basketball career in an interview with FIBA. She says that when she first got to college, she had to change her wellness routine. One thing she added was lifting weights. “I knew I couldn’t just rely on my height,” Cardoso said, “I had to lift weights, because I was skinny. And when I tell you I was skinny, I was super skinny.”

3. She Works With A Nutritionist

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Cardoso told FIBA that she also had to change her diet. “The food here was very different for me,” Cardoso said. “I went a couple of weeks without eating much. My mom used to cook every morning, every night, every afternoon. I was very used to Brazilian food.” She says that she decided to work with a nutritionist for this reason. “I got a nutritionist and was eating more protein,” Cardoso said. “Even though I didn’t like the food, I was eating more so I could gain some weight.”

4. She’s Confident

Cardoso tells FIBA that being away from her family in Brazil has forced her to be stronger and more confident. “I’m much more confident than before,” Cardoso said. “I’ve grown a lot. I’m more comfortable in myself, inside and outside of the court. I see myself as a strong person. I had to move out of my home when I was 15. I’m a momma’s girl, so being away from my family for seven years is hard.”

5. She’s Aggressive On The Court

Cardoso has played in a lot of tournaments, notably the AmeriCup. She shared what these experiences have taught her to FIBA. “I was way more dominant and aggressive. I’ve been working on that for the past couple of months. This tournament was really helpful for me to realize the things I can do on the court. That will help me to be more dominant now.”