Olympic gold medalist Simone Manuel is preparing for Paris 2024 by hitting the gym, lifting weights, and (of course) swimming. Manuel, 27, shared a picture of herself wearing black patterned shorts and a Team USA shirt, posing for a selfie in a gym surrounded by strength training equipment. “Week 1 ✔️💙🗻❄️,” she captioned the post. “Keep it going Simone we are all cheering for you to come back stronger and better. 💪🏽🏊🏽♀️,” a fan commented. Here’s what Manuel’s diet, exercise, and training regimen looks like. Spoiler alert: It’s intense!
Manuel trains for 20 hours a week and takes Sundays as her rest day. “I do doubles on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, with one swim practice in the morning and another in the afternoon,” she told Equinox. “I spend a total of three hours in the pool each of those days. On Wednesdays, I do a light swimming routine. Thursdays and Saturdays, I’m in the water for up to two hours each.”
Manuel lifts weight for one hour on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. “Every session starts with ankle and quad stretches,” she told Equinox. “Then I’ll do a second warm-up that focuses more on activation, which might include dead squats, hangs on the pull-up bar, or shoulder stability work. For that, I’ll lie on my side and do lateral raises with a weight to prep those muscles.”
Manuel’s weight training regimen is designed to complement her swimming. “I try to hit the shoulders, core, and legs in every strength workout because they’re all really important for swimming,” she told Equinox. “I’m a sprinter, so I mostly do powerlifting to make me more explosive. I really like heavy barbell squats and cleans. To avoid putting on too much muscle, I keep the reps low, completing five or six sets of two reps each. I usually superset those with plyometric work like high jumps or medicine ball throws and slams.”
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Manuel loves a protein and healthy fat-packed breakfast. “My favorite breakfast is avocado toast with over-medium eggs,” she told NBC Olympics. “Lunch is usually a nice salad with chicken or salmon. And dinner can be pasta or rice and beans with another nice salad. I also love Greek yogurt and fresh fruit for snacks as well as acai and smoothies.”
Manuel has good advice for aspiring professional swimmers. “Get in the pool and get proper swim lessons,” she told NBC Olympics. “Continue to work at your craft. Believe in yourself and don’t let anyone or anything stand in your way. You can do anything if you believe in yourself and work hard to achieve your goals. I’m working to inspire more minority swimmers to get in the sport. But I’m hoping that I have inspired many others outside of my sport.”