November 18, 2024
Senior Magnificence & Way of life Director
Senior Magnificence & Way of life Director
Alexandra Engler is the senior magnificence and way of life director at mindbodygreen and host of the wonder podcast Clear Magnificence College. Beforehand, she’s held magnificence roles at Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, SELF, and Cosmopolitan; her byline has appeared in Esquire, Sports activities Illustrated, and Attract.com.
Picture by mbg Inventive / courtesy of supply
November 18, 2024
Throughout the 2008 Beijing Olympics, I bear in mind watching star gymnasts Nastia Liukin soar. Her power and dedication led her to win a gold medal that 12 months—including to her assortment that will complete 5 Olympic medals by the point she retired.
However even after her champion profession, Liukin has discovered methods to maintain on hovering to new heights—this time showcasing a number of of her different skills off the mat. For instance, she’s served as an Olympic commentator for NBC together with the 2020 Tokyo Video games and previewed the 2024 Paris Olympics for NBC. She’s additionally change into an entrepreneur, way of life influencer, and media character who works with prime retailers.
Right here, how she’s capable of keep on prime of her recreation—even in “retirement.”
mindbodygreen: What does being a “sturdy girl” imply to you?
Nastia Liukin: Inside power is an important factor. For a very long time, power was once simply perceived as bodily power. However now power is not nearly how a lot you possibly can carry, what number of squats you are able to do, or what number of miles you possibly can run—it comes from so many various issues. That narrative has shifted and adjusted fairly a bit in a optimistic manner.
Not whilst an athlete, however as a girl, seeing this shift has been unbelievable. Particularly with the previous couple of Olympic video games, it’s been nice to see how these athletes have bolstered the significance of internal power, psychological power, and psychological well being as a complete.
mbg: what meals make it easier to really feel strongest?
Liukin: Ever since I can bear in mind, I’ve all the time beloved breakfast foods, however I’m by no means the particular person to get up ravenous within the morning. Once I was coaching, I needed to pressure myself to eat proper once I wakened as a result of I had 4 to seven hours of coaching each single day.
I used to be all the time raised that meals is your gasoline. And to get probably the most out of your physique, you need to gasoline it with correct diet. Breakfast is an important meal in that sense—and doubtless my favourite varieties of meals are breakfast meals.
I additionally consider that beginning your time off proper is basically essential—and never simply with what you eat, however the intentions you set for yourself. You may prepare your thoughts to assume optimistic ideas, and it actually does wonders once you’re capable of shift your mindset to having these affirmations versus one thing adverse. I like to border it as, How can I make this present day higher than the day I had yesterday?
mbg: I like that. Utilizing breakfast as not only a time to gasoline your physique, however your thoughts.
Liukin: Setting the bar for the remainder of the day!
mbg: Talking of setting your self up for a very good day: Sleep! I feel lots of us wrestle with sleep. You’re somebody who has to sleep beneath an immense quantity of stress and when you’re touring quite a bit, whether or not that’s the night time earlier than competing within the Olympics or happening nationwide tv. How do you prioritize sleep amidst the chaos?
Liukin: Sleep is an important a part of all of our days, or at the very least it ought to be handled that manner. But it surely’s not all the time straightforward to close your thoughts off the night time earlier than a giant occasion. In reality, shutting your thoughts off might be one of the difficult issues for lots of us.
We stay in a world that’s tremendous digitally based mostly and fixed. It’s not even simply shutting your laptop computer off anymore, as a result of work is all the time in your telephone too. Nearly all of my profession is now on my telephone, within the digital area. I’ve to make an effort to place my telephone away for the night time and never scrolling earlier than mattress. I’m responsible of doing it each occasionally, however I actually strive to not as a result of your thoughts is a sponge. It is positively difficult at occasions.
As a substitute, it’s essential to prioritize having a nightly routine. In coaching for gymnastics or the Olympics, having a routine was extraordinarily essential for me. So I all the time return to that.
I preserve my routine the identical irrespective of if I’m at residence, away, in a resort, earlier than a piece occasion, it doesn’t matter what—I attempt to do the very same factor. It doesn’t matter what my day appeared like and it doesn’t matter what metropolis I’m in. Having that routine is extraordinarily helpful, particularly once you’re not capable of management the variety of hours of sleep that you could get, the resort mattress, your setting, or no matter it’s.
mbg: What does your exercise routine appear to be these days?
Liukin: That was the toughest factor for me as soon as I retired from gymnastics. It was simply actually attempting to determine what I even get pleasure from doing as a result of all of my exercises had been so centered and targeted round doing the perfect gymnastics that I may.
Then hastily, I did not have anyone telling me what sort of conditioning or what my plan was for that day. So figuring that out was lots of trial and error, to be utterly trustworthy. I needed to discover what I truly loved doing only for myself.
For instance, I am not an enormous runner. I actually do want I loved it extra, as I’m envious of the individuals who can exit for a long term and it might probably clear their head. I’ve by no means loved it like that. However I ran nearly on daily basis whereas I used to be coaching.
So now, I favor an extended stroll with my canine. I additionally like Pilates and hot yoga. These are the 2 issues that I most likely loved probably the most as a result of it nonetheless feels very very similar to your personal physique weight.
mbg: So I needed to ask you about transitioning generally. I do know it may be actually arduous to retire from being an elite-level athlete. However on the surface, it does seem to be you’re this one that was capable of flourish on the opposite facet of your profession.
Liukin: Properly, first off I’m flattered it appeared seamless on the surface. But it surely’s essential to grasp that all of us undergo transitions, proper? Whether or not that’s going from highschool to school or graduating faculty to getting your first job. And it’s essentially going to be clean and straightforward.
For me, I wasn’t anticipating it to be a breeze, however the issue was I actually didn’t know what to anticipate in any respect as a result of I didn’t ever have a life with out gymnastics in it—for so long as I can bear in mind. So on the coronary heart of the transition was a interval of determining who I used to be as an individual outdoors of gymnastics.
As soon as I used to be capable of actually take into consideration my life for my very own self—not for anyone else—and set up the type of one that I needed to be, then I used to be lastly capable of assume: What are my passions? What do I wish to do?
What I noticed was that having a objective for your self is simply so essential. And it was one thing that my mother and father all the time taught me.
When gymnastics ended for me, there was a quick second once I assumed I wouldn’t have these targets as grand as going to the Olympics or profitable a gold medal. Attaining success at an early age is unbelievable—don’t get me incorrect—however it might probably imply that the remainder of the targets in your life really feel smaller. So it was nearly realizing that targets don’t should be as large as profitable a gold medal. That you could be pleased with your self with smaller targets.
Picture by mbg Inventive / courtesy of supply
mbg: Truthfully I really feel like that’s very relatable recommendation, even for non Olympians!
Liukin: Truthfully, it’s change into much more of a problem to remind ourselves of this as a result of, once more, we stay on this very social media pushed world. You’re continually evaluating your self to others and the individuals you see on the web that you could be or might not know. So it’s essential to remind your self to not examine your self with another person and another person’s journey or timeline.
mbg: How do you decompress and take restoration time?
Liukin: I am spending lots of time in California proper now. So the water, the ocean, is extraordinarily calming. Round sundown, I take my canine and go for an extended stroll, which all the time helps me decompress just a little bit.
And yoga helps me. Once I was capable of shift the mentality of ‘I’m going to exercise as a result of it’s my job’ to ‘I’m doing this as a result of I get pleasure from it’ I discovered it to be a very totally different type of exercise.
After which I simply love taking a sizzling bathtub, lighting a candle, and studying.
mbg: What recommendation would you give younger athletes who’ve large goals such as you?
Liukin: The very first thing I’d say is to search out one thing you’re obsessed with—not one thing you’re doing as a result of anyone else needs it for you. Actually outline one thing that you just love and that you just’re obsessed with. As a result of we’re all going to have these days during which it’s exhaustion otherwise you’re pissed off. This doesn’t need to be a sport, this generally is a job, relationship, something. However when you have got that deep down love and fervour for one thing, it’s simpler to get by way of these difficult occasions.
mbg: And the second factor?
Liukin: My mother and father taught me this and it caught with me for the remainder of my life. There have been days that I got here residence and I needed to stop as a result of I had a foul day. And my mother and father would all the time say, “OK you possibly can stop—that’s completely positive, however not at the moment.” I’d say, “No, I wish to stop at the moment—I’m executed!” However they’d encourage me to return to the gymnasium till I had a very good day once more. Then they mentioned, “OK, now if you wish to stop you possibly can. We’ll discover you one thing else that you just like.” At that time, I’d say, “I by no means mentioned I needed to stop!”
mbg: That’s a extremely candy story…
Liukin: So I feel that going again to the primary level is the significance of actually discovering one thing that you just love as a result of on a foul day once you wish to stop, the one technique to push by way of it’s having real love and fervour for what you’re doing.
