To reach the pinnacle of FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer, you have to be physically fit, mentally strong and dangerously determined. The women here are all of those things and more. How do they stay so in shape? Alex Morgan hydrates her skin. Megan Rapinoe is really into weight training. And Ashlyn Harris treats her body as a temple, eating plant-based 80% of the time. Inside you’ll find these health tips and more from winners of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Alex Morgan has amazing skin, and shared her tips with Buzzfeed. “I think all my toiletries are a big thing. I always make sure to bring enough lotion for my face and body, because we go to a lot of dry places, like Salt Lake City, St. Louis, and Arizona. Combine that with being in the sun all the time, and keeping my skin hydrated is essential. It’s important to find the right moisturizer, serums, and, of course, sunscreen to moisturize and protect my skin.“
Carli Lloyd likes to cook, and shared some of her favorite meals with NJM. “I love cooking! It’s hard because I’m not home very often. But when I am, it’s fun to cook different recipes. I make some good baby back ribs and stuffed peppers! And we always grill fish, chicken and steak on the charcoal grill.“
Megan Rapinoe shared her fitness secrets with Bustle. “Weight training is really big for me. Obviously, I run a lot playing soccer, but I also make sure that I strength train and pay attention to how everything’s working in my body, especially as I get older. I love Pilates, which is amazing for that. I feel like it strengthens you from the inside out. Rest is also really important. It’s how I get the maximum out of my workouts and how I make sure my body’s recovering.”
Julie Ertz tells Forbes that she now understands the importance of self-care, and wished she realized this earlier. “I would have loved to realize how important my alone time is for me to make sure I am in a good place. Sometimes just being able to reflect on my goals and relax helps me have a better plan or perspective going forward. It’s all about finding what works for you. I’ve also become more comfortable talking to my support group to help me with those goals.“
Alyssa Naeher told The Los Angeles Times that she has a lot of supportive people in her life. “Lean on your teammates. Lean on your family. Just focus on what you want. For me it was showing up every day and controlling all the things that I could control. And that was being a good teammate.”
Kelley O’Hara likes to run to stay in shape. She talked about this in an interview with Women’s Running. “I love the way I feel when I’m done running. Nothing is better than the feeling after a grueling workout. And if I’m fit, I love the feeling of pushing beyond what you think you can do during a run.”
Rose Lavelle shared her wellness secrets in an interview with Well + Good. She says that rest days are very important to her. “Today, rest is vital and I can’t play as much as I did as the load is so much more,” she says. “Now it’s a balance, and I have to prioritize the off-field piece and everything that I’m doing to help best prepare my body to be able to perform on the field.”
Ali Krieger shared her wellness secrets in an interview with Muscle & Fitness. She says that one workout she enjoys doing is using battle ropes. “Being explosive and powerful, having good footwork and quality speed are essential for me. Battle rope drills are one of the toughest yet most rewarding exercises I do at the gym. They are a full-body workout, making me feel every muscle!”
Crystal Dunn shared her skincare secrets in an interview with Cup of Jo. “After breakfast, I wash my face, mostly to make sure I’m nice and awake. I wait until training to apply lotion or sunscreen. Lately, I’ve been really into It Cosmetics tinted moisturizer. It’s really light for daily use and provides a lot of things besides moisturizer — like coverage, a hydrating serum and SPF. So, I feel like I’m getting sunscreen protection and I also get to look cute. If I go out at night, I’m usually wearing Bobbi Brown’s line.”
Ashlyn Harris talked about her diet in an interview with Green Matters. “Having been a professional athlete for many years, my body is a temple; my body is an engine. It’s something I have to treat extremely well if I want it to function at the highest level. I’ve always been very thoughtful about what goes into my body, and over time that has evolved to where I am now, which is eating plant-based about 80 percent of the time.”
Christen Press talked about how she approaches a soccer game to ESPN. “I find the ball and I think, Where’s the ball going, and where do I need to go? It just puts me back in the game, and it’s the simplest thing, but it’s become sort of like my soccer mantra. I simply use the ball as my focus point and move back into position and the distracting thoughts disappear, and I’m right back in the game.”
Mallory Swanson opened up about having young people look up to her in an interview with People. “I always try and take the time with fans because you never really know what that moment can do for someone, and how that moment can change the trajectory of their career or their school life or whatever it is. There have been some times where people have definitely cried and I’ve been like, ‘It’s okay. It’s like me, I’m literally you.’ So connecting with those girls and those fans is super for sure.”
Tobin Heath talked about the importance of highlighting women’s sports to E! News. “Women’s sports has been put through such a narrow lens,” Heath explained. “Our sports structures were created by men and for men because, at that time, men’s sports was kind of the only thing that existed. We were completely being missed. So those lenses were very much through the lens of, like, what the patriarchy would want to see in women’s sports, not what women’s sports actually are and certainly not the fullness of it.”
Allie Long shared how she prepares for soccer season in an interview with Oxygen Magazine. “Every off season, I make specific goals and go to training with a purpose. There’s always something that I want to work on and I leverage the off season to work on my long-term goals by setting and achieving the short-term goals to get me there.”
Sam Mewis opened up about her recovery process in an interview with Outside Online. In it, she talked about how she eats healthy. “As women, we’re trained so much by society to watch what we eat. But as an athlete and as someone who is trying to heal, recover, and be strong, I need to eat a lot.”
Emily Sonnett shared her training routine in an interview with US Soccer. “We don’t often lift heavy weight, but we do get a lot of reps in. We’ve also did a lot of testing at the beginning of camp to measure our range of motion, agility, flexibility, etc. We really appreciate having that kind of feedback because of course we want to do everything that can help us win, always.”
Jessica McDonald likes to strength train to stay in shape. “Strength training has definitely helped improve my game,” McDonald told BarBend. “Since I’m older, I have to up keep my body in a different way than a younger player. Strength training has helped me with longevity. I feel quicker and stronger than I have before.”
Lindsey Horan talked about the importance fitness has on her life to Tonal. “Fitness was never the main component in my game when I was younger,” she says. “I wish it was. I wish I knew what I know now. I wish I knew everything that goes into fitness because it’s not just running. It’s not just kicking the ball and chasing it.”
Becky Sauerbrunn is always trying to improve herself. She talked about this in an interview with Soccer.com. “For someone that’s just trying to find their stride in their game, that’s kind of harsh criticism to get, but I took it to heart,” Sauerbrunn said. “I did everything I could to try to counteract that…Don’t be afraid to push your boundaries. I think you need to discover more about yourself, and you need to do that by making mistakes.”
During the pandemic, Abby Dahlkemper made sure to stay fit. She talked about her goals with Yahoo Sports. “My goal during the quarantine is to maintain as much muscle mass and I can,” Dahlkemper explained. “I don’t want my body to go into shock after months away from the pitch and risk some sort of injury. These workouts are slightly simpler versions of what my teammates and I do during normal training sessions.”