Healthy Tips

How I stay healthy

When I was a full-time, professional athlete, I probably exercised close to three or four hours a day, five to six days a week when you include practice and extra workouts. In the off-season, it was more like two hours a day. Now, I try to get around one hour per day of exercise.

I like to vary my workouts as much as possible. Basketball, running, swimming, biking—mostly activities I enjoy. I do more light, circuit-oriented weight training now, as opposed to intense, strength-building workouts. Sometimes I work out with my sister, an assistant coach or my husband. My favorite time to exercise is late morning, which I’m able to do since my job has non-traditional hours.

How you can stay healthy

There isn’t a standard formula for getting and staying in shape. It’s more about finding what works for you. But here are a few specific tips for getting started:

Give your body what it needs.

Eat a big, healthy breakfast of close to 500 calories. It gets your metabolism going for the day and gives you the energy you need for the morning.
Drink as much water as you can. It’s healthy, helps you exercise and controls your appetite.
Eat healthy carbohydrates (high fiber) within 45 minutes of a workout to refuel your muscles for the next day.
Eat lean protein, which helps repair muscles.
Keep snacks healthy. Friendship® Low Fat 1% Cottage Cheese is one of my favorites, and you can eat it so many different ways.

Make use of intervals.

Alternately walk for a stretch, then run or jog to get your heart rate up (very important for cardiovascular health).
You can start by walking for 20 minutes and jogging for 10 minutes and gradually work towards more jogging.
Here’s a routine my players do in the off-season on the elliptical machine: Warm up for 5 to 10 minutes, then increase resistance by one level every minute for 5 minutes and repeat for four cycles. Cool down for 5 to 10 minutes. (Example: Warm up on level 8, then level 9 for a min, level 10 for a min, level 11, level 12, level 13, back down to level 9 and start over.)

Stretch it out.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
It’s much harder to stay in shape if you’re injured.
Warm up a little first to get a better stretch.
Do a cool down stretch, too, if possible.
Yoga is a good way to both exercise and increase flexibility.