WNBA Star Monique Billings In Workout Gear Says “The Action Is the Destination”

WNBA star Monique Billings is reminding fans to have the right mindset when it comes to chasing their dreams and achieving their goals. Billings, 27, shared pictures of herself wearing black pants and a white sports bra, training on the basketball court with trainer James Clark. “Doing the work, as if the action itself is the destination 📍,” she captioned the post. Billings is passionate about wellness, self-care, and being her best self at all times—here’s how the Los Angeles Sparks player stays focused and strong.

1. Holistic Self-Care

Billings sees exercise and yoga as part of a holistic self-care approach to life. “I incorporate self-care into my daily routine with various rituals that make me feel more in alignment and balance daily,” she told Beauty Bio. “From my morning and evening skin care routines to the delicious foods I eat, taking time for siesta rests, or even going on walks or on a picnic. I try to view everything in my life as an experience! I want to cultivate divine experiences every single day, and I find that this makes everyday life less mundane and gives me something to look forward to.”

2. Athlete Lifestyle

Billings says being a professional athlete can be lonely. “The discipline it takes to become one of the best in the world means that you have to sometimes separate yourself from people, distractions, and limiting situations that could hold you back,” she told Beauty Bio. “There are many times when I am in the gym alone, and the spotlights aren’t on, there’s no camera crew or media, and no fans in the stands. It’s a very ‘you vs. you’ lifestyle a lot of the time, and there are many internal battles that can make the journey feel lonely. Your mind can be your best tool or your biggest hurdle.”

3. Recovery Process

Billings is strict about allowing her body to recover from the stress it endures. “Recovery is putting my most prominent needs within the realm of my mind, body, and spirit at the front of my to-do list,” she told Muse. “When I’m focused on physical recovery, I’m taking ice baths, getting massages almost every other day, doing yoga and stretching, and getting lots of sleep! Recovery doesn’t have to be an overly complicated process, but instead, it’s just listening to your body and responding to what it needs. Recovery is pivotal for me to be an elite athlete because I’m loving and caring for my body so that it will respond by allowing me to perform at my absolute best.”

4. Inspired By Serena Williams

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Billings is inspired by strong women like Tyra Banks and Serena Williams. “Serena Williams is so powerful and so strong,” she told CNK Daily. “Her elegance and how she carries herself is inspiring and encouraging as well. Especially as a black woman, I look up to her. I’m thankful to have her as an example... My thing now is that I want to be an example for young girls and women to show them that you don’t have to put yourself in a box. You can like heels, and sneakers, and be a beast on the court. That’s my message and what I try to put out into the world.”

5. Mindfulness and Awareness

Billings is passionate about mindfulness and mental health. “Mindfulness is so important to me because for such a long time I did not know who I was outside of what I do,” she told Muse. “I had to become mindful and aware of my gifts and treasures outside of my profession or my level of success and clout. Mindfulness is the simplicity of your essence. It’s being aware that who I am on the inside shines brighter than anything I could ever portray on the outside. My mindset of mindfulness grounds me daily. I’m passionate about this because I want everyone to be able to experience what it feels like to know your value and to have an elite sense of self-love.”

Basketball player Nika Mühl is saying goodbye to her UConn team after getting drafted by the Seattle Storm, and she’s clearly ready for the WNBA chapter of her career. Mühl, 23, was tagged in a Seattle Storm official Instagram picture of herself posing on the basketball court in black leggings and a hoodie. “Heard some people wanted @nika.muhl content 😉,” reads the caption on the post. “She’s all yours, admin 🫡,” the official UConn account commented. Here’s how Mühl prepared for this exciting chapter in her life.

1. Support From Breanna Stewart

Mühl looks to fellow WNBA professional players like Breanna Stewart for support and encouragement, especially when things don’t go to plan. “This is all a process, this will all make sense later,” Mühl says Stewart told her. “I’ve been in your shoes, I’ve been in your position, just lead your team. … Stay strong. There’s no better person to get advice from. That was a huge moment for me personally. I was so deep in my thoughts after that game. Getting some words of encouragement to say, it’s OK and it’s part of the process, even though I know it, just hearing from a legend is huge. I kinda changed my ways after that.”

2. Handling Her Emotions

Mühl has learned to handle her emotions and channel them into something positive. “It’s been a weakness in many aspects in which I didn't look at things rationally or I just didn't hold myself accountable or just from being a leader, from that standpoint,” she told CT Insider. “You can't be a leader and be stubborn. You need to think about people around. You need to think about your team, what your team needs. Not what you want.”

3. WNBA Transition

Mühl had a tough decision to make about going from college to the WNBA. “I've never been in a situation with so much pressure, so many eyes looking at you, especially in this program where everybody expects perfection, excellence, wins,” she told CT Insider. “And that's what I kind of learned to expect for myself too and my team. It’s just been a roller coaster of a ride and I'm proud of myself and I'm proud of my teammates for trusting me.”

4. Clean Girl Vibe

Mühl’s beauty style is a ‘clean girl’ vibe. “I learn from my teammates,” she told Women’s Wear Daily. “I have a teammate, Olivia [Nelson-Ododa], who taught me a lot about makeup and fashion. She’s very much into it. She’s older than me, so I was watching. I’m not big on trends. I just like what works for me and I like to try things out, but I’m very passionate about it.”

5. Croatian Casual

Mühl describes her personal style as ‘Croatian casual’. “I was very unique with my style ever since I was a kid,” she told Women’s Wear Daily. “I feel like I would go to school and people would laugh at me for the way I dress. But I didn’t care. My mom told me I look good. I definitely evolved, but I kind of always have that one little thing, that one little piece on me that’s maybe different from what other people would like. I don’t care. I mean, that’s me. I would say [my style is] very edgy, very cool, very masculine and feminine. It depends on how I’m feeling.”

WNBA star Breanna Stewart went into 2024 with good intentions and lots of gratitude. Stewart, 29, shared a picture of herself wearing a blue shirt and gray shorts, beaming with happiness as she posed on the court. “How I’m entering 2024… with love, happiness & my people,” she captioned the post. “Happy New Year Stewie! 2024 is going to be even more amazing, if that’s possible 😜,” commented Rennae Stubbs. Here’s what Stewart’s diet, training, and recovery regimen looks like, and the home-cooked meal her fellow athletes go crazy for.

1. Basketball Training

Stewart says basketball is the best workout. "I don’t really know any other speed than basketball. I’ve just been playing it forever,” she told Red Bull. “It’s a stop-and-go game. You can be running up and down for a while, then stop, then you have to go again. We don’t do much conditioning work during the season, because we’re playing almost three games each week. But during the preseason we do some sprints on the court, and riding the Airdyne bike, which really sucks—whether you’re in shape or not, you’re dying on that thing. And a lot of different cardio machines and kinds of cardio exercises. And just playing—nothing compares to it."

2. Weight Training and Pilates

Stewart uses weights to build strength and muscle. "I need to make sure that my body is ready and that means getting in the weight room,” she told Red Bull. “I just work everything—upper and lower body. I also do Pilates to make sure that my core is strong. When I’m on the court, I’m using everything, so I want to make sure that my whole body is ready to go. I usually spend an hour in the gym, then we spend about two hours on the court for practice. I do drills—like I’ll work on my post game. It helps to have someone to work with you to make sure you’re getting pushed. After practice, I do an hour of shooting drills. I like to have a schedule and keep things consistent.”

3. Spicy Rigatoni For the Team

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Stewart’s mother makes incredible rigatoni noodles for her teammates. "My mom makes these chicken riggies that are off the chart,” she told Sports Illustrated. “She usually makes it when I have a team over or my family gets together because it's a bigger dish. It's rigatoni noodles with chicken and a tomato sauce. She can add red pepper flakes to make it spicier. She puts diced tomatoes in it, and she can add peppers and all types of things. I made it for my team when I was at UConn because they'd had it before—my mom would bring me leftovers that she'd frozen, and the team came to my house one time and she made it. I don't want to say it was as good as my mom's, but they all approved."

4. Pre-Game Meal

Stewart loves asparagus, which is low in calories yet packed with nutrients. "[I had a] pre-game meal of penne with meat sauce, brown rice, mashed sweet potatoes, and of course, asparagus," she told USA Today. "I could eat asparagus pretty much every day and not get tired of it."

5. Steam Room and Cold Tub

Stewart knows how important recovery and rest days are for athletes. “My muscles get really tight, so I’ll get them worked on before and after practice,” she told Red Bull. “I like going in the steam room and the hot tub; that makes my body feel good on the day after games. And doing yoga and really all the recovery things—the foam rolling, muscle flossing, the list goes on and on. I’ll go in the hot tub before practice and the cold tub after. The cold tub helps get the lactic acid and everything out of your legs. I try to make sure that I’m doing everything I can to keep my body feeling good. I want to stay ahead of letting my body break down, which allows injuries to happen.”

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 Star Skylar Diggins-Smith works out and trains for hours every day, a routine any athlete would find challenging at times—which is why discipline, not motivation, is so important. Diggins-Smith, 33, shared a video montage of herself wearing black leggings and a black t-shirt, training hard with “consistency” written in text over the footage. “It hits different when you’re dangerously disciplined,” she captioned the post. Here’s how the athlete stays strong and focused.

1. Breakfast Is a Must

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Diggins-Smith never skips a protein-packed breakfast—usually scrambled eggs, oatmeal, avocado, or an omelet. “Breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day for me,” she told ELLE. “As the day goes on, you just never know what's going to happen so I think you should get the adequate amount of fuel in your system, [otherwise] it's like having a car on ‘E.’ I think it's so important to get, you know, protein in before I get up and go to practice since I have to work out and stuff like that so I'm not burning off any muscles. To me, that's the one thing I need to start my day.”

2. Living In the Gym

Diggins-Smith’s training changes during the on season. "I start practice around 7:45 a.m. with weights or individual shooting,” she told Refinery29. “We have team practice from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with film, and then we'll cool down and leave around 2 p.m. On game days, we shoot around in the morning, walk through some plays, and then it's game time. During the season you literally live in the gym. I train in bunches because you don't want to peak too early. Off season is all about maintenance. I do yoga, Pilates, meditation, and weights to train different aspects of my body."

3. Pre-Game Carbs

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Diggins-Smith enjoys the same pre-game meal every time. "Chicken pasta with garlic bread (yes, seriously) is my go-to pre-game meal,” she told Refinery29. “I need something carb-heavy to last me until after the game. There's a misconception that you should cut out carbs, but carbohydrates are so essential for what we do as athletes."

4. Mental and Physical Work

Diggins-Smith goes the extra mile every time to give her best as an athlete. “Yeah, you work hard, but do you go game speed every rep?” she told Complex. “Do you take off reps? What's your mentality? Not just physical. What's your mental like? Are you mentally tough? Are you a leader? Do you watch basketball, or do you just play? Do you study the game? Do you watch film? Do you rest and recover? Do you lift? Do you ice your knees every time?”

5. Inspiring Young Athletes

Diggins-Smith genuinely loves giving back to young fans. "When I was a kid, you went outside and rode your bike or went to the playground,” she told Refinery29. “Now, when you drive by a park, kids aren't there anymore. In this age, we have an issue with technology not inspiring exercise. So to empower young women, I share what sports did for me. I do camps all around the country for grade-school-aged kids and talk about the life lessons that came from the game.”