Rachel Daly is kicking around a soccer ball – in her workout gear. In a new social media post the soccer stunner shows off her amazing body in a two-piece exercise set while on the field. “Little pony era,” she captioned the series of Instagram snaps. “Looking cute,” commented one of her followers. “My little pony,” added another. How does she approach diet, fitness, and self-care? Here is everything you need to know about her lifestyle habits.
Rachel trains hard. “Your body can go through much more than you think. You’ll need to figure out and develop strategies to become robust and flexible and learn ways in which your body recovers the best, but once you’ve done that, you’ll realise you can manage much more than you thought – both physically and mentally,” she told Women’s Health UK about what she wished she knew before becoming an athlete.
Rachel prioritizes sleep. “I track my sleep using apps, but my sleep isn’t the best. I play my domestic football in the US, which means flying back and forth and changing time zones a lot, and in doing that I have learned that shorter, quality sleep is much better than long, broken sleep. I feel so much better for getting a proper deep sleep, even if it’s shorter than ideal, than I do if I get a longer one where I’m woken several times,” she told Women’s Health.
Rachel understands the importance of maintaining variety with fitness. “If you play sport like football, you should use different fitness strategies to support and improve your performance. I do several types. Running and strength are the biggest components of football, so we spend a lot of time in the gym doing weightlifting and strength training, and different kinds of cardio, too. Yoga is also a great tool we use for recovery and staying flexible,” she told the publication.
“I use lots of different rest and recovery strategies and, admittedly, these include things like ice baths, massages, hot and cold water therapy and leg compression boots, but I also find that simply going for a walk with my dog is a great way for my body and mind to relax,” she told Women’s Health. There is limited research supporting the benefits of cold plunges, which may include easing sore muscles, bringing body temperature down, increased focus, improved sleep, and decreased inflammation, per the Cleveland Clinic. However, a 2021 study found that cold water immersion therapy promotes basic post-sport recovery.
Rachel eats healthy. “When I was a kid, I would eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. But now, how I fuel my body is really important for my performance. We often have nutrition meetings to learn about performance and recovery through food, and what I eat changes according to whether or not I’m training on that day, but a standard day might look like this,” she says, revealing that for breakfast she has poached eggs and avocado on sourdough toast, for lunch, a poke bowl, and dinner fluctuates on a daily basis. “I always make sure I get at least five varieties of fruit and vegetables a day to cover all the vitamins and minerals needed to stay fit and strong, and I drink a glass of milk and a bottle of cherry juice after every football match to aid recovery,” she adds.