Meredith Alwine is lifting heavy weights in her exercise gear. In a new social media post the athlete shows off her strength and her fit figure in a two-piece exercise set during a lifting session at the gym. “Worlds push is pushing,” she captioned the Instagram video. How does she approach diet, fitness, and self-care? Here is everything you need to know about her lifestyle habits.
1. How She Found Weights
Meredith’s journey to the gym started as a child. “When I was about two years old, my parents put me in a gymnastics gym since I was climbing all over the house. I competed from ages six to 10 and reached level seven. After leaving gymnastics, they wanted me to find another sport, so I chose soccer, which was my dad’s sport. I did that at a travel club level for about five years and played at my middle school, high school, and one season in college. I picked up track in school as well, where I ran all sprints, relays, hurdles, and did long jump and had a very brief career as a thrower (shotput and discus). I got recruited out of gymnastics retirement into high school gymnastics for a few years, and I did CrossFit briefly in high school,” she told Performance Menu.
2. How She Trains
“Considering our current Olympic qualification system, my training for the past two years has been entirely influenced by the timing of competitions. Their frequency dictates that I usually get about six weeks in between competitions,” Meredith explains about how she trains. “With my current programming that I’ve had for about five months, the cycle will start after a competition with a short building phase of high reps, low intensity and a lot of technique work. Week by week, the program shifts to lessen reps and increase intensity, with some back off/deload weeks in there. My training frequency during the week varies wildly depending on the phase, with some weeks having as little as four training sessions in four days and others having as many as eight training sessions in six days. I think my tapers and peaks are pretty traditional.”
3. Hiking
Meredith enjoys hiking. “The last few weeks,” she captioned a post of herself on a hike. According to the National Parks Service, the physical benefits of hiking include:
- Building stronger muscles and bones
- Improving your sense of balance
- Improving your heart health
- Decreasing the risk of certain respiratory problems
4. Yoga
Meredith also sprinkles yoga into her workout routine. “i guess carl likes to flow🤎🤍🖤,” she wrote about a post. There is a laundry list of reasons to do yoga, explains Harvard Health. “Researchers found that people who practiced yoga for at least 30 minutes once a week for at least four years, gained less weight during middle adulthood,” they said. “People who were overweight actually lost weight. Overall, those who practiced yoga had lower body mass indexes (BMIs) compared with those who did not practice yoga. Researchers attributed this to mindfulness. Mindful eating can lead to a more positive relationship with food and eating.”
5. Sleep
Meredith struggles to prioritize sleep, but understands its importance. “I currently lift in a 24-hour gym (not a chain) and have no obligations besides lifting, so I can get pretty bad about lifting at a reasonable time and going to sleep at reasonable times. That’s the biggest thing I’d like to change personally and I’m working on it. What are the health benefits of sleep? According to the Sleep Foundation, getting enough z’s is a mood booster, promotes heart health, regulates blood sugar, improves mental function, restores your immune system, helps relieve stress, and aids in weight loss.