Aaliyah Edwards is heating up social media in her swimsuit. In a recent social media post the NCAA basketball star takes a dip in the ocean while wearing a yellow bathing suit. “Everything irie🖤💛💚” she captioned the series of snaps. “Ok lepopout,” commented her teammate, Paige Bueckers. “GGOAT,” added another followers. How does the UConn player approach health and fitness? Here is everything you need to know about her lifestyle habits.
Aaliyah keeps her body ready for the court with regular strength training sessions. She keeps a “Gym” tab on her Instagram Stories. Strength Training according to the Mayo Clinic, strength and weight training help reduce body fat, preserve and increase lean muscle mass, and burn calories more efficiently. Strength training may also help you:
- Develop strong bones
- Manage your weight
- Enhance your quality of life
- Manage chronic conditions
- Sharpen your thinking skills
In an interview with the UConn Blog, Aaliyah said that “eating healthy,” is important for her to play well. She keeps her body fueled with healthy food. According to her Instagram Stories she loves asian food – especially fried rice and sushi, ice blended coffee drinks, and pizza.
She added to the blog that “hydration,” is also key. According to the Mayo Clinic, hydration is important for a variety of reasons. Water helps get rid of waste through urination, perspiration, and bowel movements, keeps your temperature normal, lubricates and cushions joints, and helps protect sensitive tissues.
For Aaliyah, “also stretching and taking care of your body,” is important for the court. “Stretching keeps the muscles flexible, strong, and healthy, and we need that flexibility to maintain a range of motion in the joints,” says Harvard Health. “Without it, the muscles shorten and become tight. Then, when you call on the muscles for activity, they are weak and unable to extend all the way. That puts you at risk for joint pain, strains, and muscle damage.”
Aaliyah also reads. In high school she started reading Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim Grover, a trainer who worked with the likes of Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Dwayne Wade, and she maintains it inspires her to this day. One Harvard study published in Social Science & Medicine found that people who read books regularly had a 20% lower risk of dying over the next 12 years compared with people who weren’t readers or who read periodicals.