French Olympic surfer Johanne Defay is happiest in nature, so it’s no wonder she does even her yoga workouts outside. Defay, 30, shared a video reel of herself wearing shorts and a black hoodie, going through a number of yoga poses against a beautiful sunset. “Flow 🎶🧜♀️🙏🏽🧡 #yogis,” she captioned the post. “Love your flow!” a fan commented. Here’s what Defay’s diet, wellness, and training regimen looks like.
1. Smoothie Bowls
Defay is a big foodie. “I love food and breakfast!” she told Women Fitness. “I love smoothie bowls topped with any kind of cool stuff! toast with any nut butter with banana hemp seed and honey, or homemade banana bread, and sometimes croissants or buns. I like to do healthy pancakes too, but I get lazy sometimes… And I will always have my coffee.”
2. Family Matters
Defay relies on her family for strength and support. “My family, my mom and dad are never far away, and today there is also my husband, he accompanies me for every competition,” she told MK Sport. “We know each other so well, it's become routine, it's never been complicated.”
3. Husband and Coach
Defay’s husband Simon Paillard is also her coach. “We started working together on mental preparation, and later it became my only referee: for mental and physical preparation,” she told MK Sport. “It helped me a lot to gain self-confidence, we move forward together, and we learn together. It's a strength to have him by my side and if he can't be there, my mother or my father take over. Their advice is valuable, their support and love, indispensable.”
4. Surfers Are Athletes
Defay wants to dispel the myth that surfing is easy. “That surfing is [spending] all the time under palm trees in a bikini,” she told Women Fitness. “Sometimes, I have to wake up at 4.45 a.m. and I have to put my wetsuit on that is still a bit wet, and go surf in [cold] water when it is still dark. That it is just a lifestyle, I think now competitive surfers are real athletes. That it could be a dangerous sport, it really depends on the conditions. And that surfer girls are not supermodels but athletes.”
Workout Regimen
Defay loves working out outdoors, and says nature makes her feel alive. “I work out everyday, I need it to feel good and not be grumpy!” she told Women Fitness. “I have two types of routines: home/training routine where I will be surfing, but even more training in the gym, run, hike and trail running, road bike or mountain bike, skate, do yoga, meditate, swim, and walk. Then I have my routine when I compete where I will wake up between 4.45 and 6.45 and go surf before the contest starts to see how are the conditions of the day. And depending on the contest, I will compete, or rest, or surf again, or do yoga/training.”
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