Valerie Loureda in Bathing Suit Has a Happy "Sunday"

WWE fighter Valerie Loureda trains for a living and the discipline certainly pays off, judging by her performance in the ring and fighter’s physique. The athlete posted pictures of herself in a cheetah-print bathing suit while in Orlando, Florida, and captioned the pictures “Sunday 🤎.” How does she stay so fit? Read on to see 5 ways Loureda stays in shape and the photos that prove they work—and to get beach-ready yourself, don't miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bathing Suit Photos!

1. She Loves To Box

Valerie Loureda/Instagram

Loureda enjoys boxing and thinks more women should try it. “I think for women, one of the biggest things martial arts teaches you, in general, is confidence,” she tells Muscle and Fitness. “You know, with confidence, you can do things. I’ve always been the only girl in my class, all full of men— for example, boxing— but I have the confidence to do that. For a woman who wants to get started, I’d say start with boxing because I feel like boxing is a huge stress relief for a lot of women. I used to teach kickboxing before my contract, and I saw the way these women, their lives were changed with boxing and kickboxing. So start with kickboxing and you know, eat healthy. And then later on you could go into wrestling and just little by little bit.”

2. She Takes Her Vitamins

Valerie Loureda/Instagram

Loureda takes vitamins to support her health and fitness regimen. “I’m very big on my routine with my vitamins, my supplements and, and my nutrition,” she says. “So I do eat healthy, and I don’t eat a lot of carbs. But if there’s something I’m very disciplined with, it’s my vitamins and my blood work is really important to me.”

3. Yoga is Her Go-To

Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images

Loureda drinks water throughout the day to stay hydrated and healthy. “On both training days and active recovery days I drink a lot of water and try to eat clean,” she tells Vital Proteins. “On active recovery days, doing yoga is my go-to because it helps to release the lactic acid from my legs and the next morning I am not as sore.” “Because there are many styles of yoga—including gentle yoga and chair yoga—the practice is accessible to nearly everyone,” says Tracey M. Smith, DO. “Yoga has been shown to be a safe and promising stress management tool for children and adolescents, as well as pregnant people. If you are pregnant, check with your health-care provider to make sure there is no medical reason you shouldn’t exercise.”

4. She Trains In a Fasted State

“Every morning, I train fasted – meaning I don’t eat anything before working out,” she says. “Afterward, I usually have some sort of protein, a carb and healthy fat like avocado. As for why I train fasted, I find, in my experience, it’s a great way to maintain my weight. I also feel lean while exercising.” So, does fasted training really make a difference? “Some studies and research suggest that training fasted can better tap into energy needs less from glycogen and more from fat stores, and so in this case, training in a fasted state is better for fat/lipid burning utilization,” says Douglas Smith, co-founder and CEO of True Nutrition. “The very nature of stopping to eat at dinner, sleeping, staying fasted upon waking and then working out means much of our energy needs can come from fat.”

5. She Has Confidence In Herself

Competing in a male-dominated field is a challenge Loureda has no problem rising to. “I felt that in the beginning of my career, because it was a male-dominated sport I felt like I had to prove myself as an athlete to my coaches and my teammates,” Loureda says. “It was very hard to be able to grow in my own sport and to rise in a male-dominated sport. You have to learn how to speak to certain coaches and how to get through certain things and how to make the most out of what you have to reach where I am now.”