Morgan told during an interview ” I definitely try to have a healthy diet,whether that’s eating blueberries at breakfast or putting an avocado in my salad. You know, simple super foods like that that are healthy in my diet,”
She also promotes the importance of muscle recovery in optimal health and performance “we do wear heart-rate monitors and GPS trackers every practice and every game. That helps monitor how much we’re in our top heart rate zone … and helps us see how much recovery we should have.”
Morgan said “When I think of my teammates training hard on their own—whether it’s going out and shooting or finding people to play with—it’s my job to do more than them, I’m always hoping that I’m doing more. It’s motivation.”
Morgan’s success doesn’t all rest in competitive genes—much of it boils down to a fitness regime that requires 100 percent discipline. Morgan logs about six miles per game, and up to 10 on the treadmill on non-game days. “I’m putting somewhere between 30 and 60 miles on my legs every week.”
Morgan swears by the basics: Strengthen your legs with squats, shape your core with planks—4-minute long planks, might we add—and pound out pushups. Not a fan of pushups? Neither is Morgan. “I actually hate them,” she laughs. “But I do them all the time because it’s a great workout.” The ways she sees it is: Giving up on something hard is never going to make you stronger.
Alex Morgan wrote in a blog:
I’ve worked out all my life, with grueling hours indoors — a prerequisite for an Olympic hopeful. But when the weather outside is wonderful, who wants to spend any time in a stuffy gym? Instead, gather the family and invite your friends to join you outdoors for a calorie-blasting good time. These activities make it easy to enjoy the season — and still lose weight, stay motivated, and build muscles — so you can look your best in the height of bathing suit season and still enjoy your favorite summertime treats and picnics.
Put your mind into a “competitive” mode and show off your speed, strength, and tenacity by working out in the sunshine each day. Here are some great tips to keep you in shape outdoors much in the same way you work out at a gym:
Swim to Keep Trim: Swimming or treading water is a great way to work the cardiovascular system. Do 20-30 minutes of laps in a pool, lake, or ocean. Swimming strengthens your chest, back, arms, abs, legs, and shoulders. Talk about a total-body workout!
Life’s a Beach: Walking in the soft sand of the beach alone is a workout. Sand gives you the extra resistance that you wouldn’t have on a treadmill or on asphalt. You can do it barefooted and you’ll feel a great workout in your feet, shins, and calves, and beach walking is great for ankle stability.
Beach Buddy: You can create a great strength workout with just you and a beach towel. Alternate walking, jogging, and sprinting to work the lower body and get the heart rate elevated. The beach can be so tranquil and yet so energizing. Start out by walking, and all of a sudden you get the energy from the earth and you start to jog a little. To maximize the experience, do walking lunges or stationary lunges the length of your beach towel. Work the upper body with pushups and reverse planks and the abdominals with crunches on the towel.
Peace of Mind: The peaceful mood of the ocean’s edge is a great time to stretch as well. Finish with some stretching, deep breathing, and meditation. Take time to close your eyes and feel the ocean mist and smell the salty air.
Pedal off the pounds: Power up each hill on a bike to help tighten and tone your legs, hips, and butt. Finally, make it social! Bring your friends along for a weekly workout challenge.
She says “Our next goal is to win the World Cup in 2015,” she says. “That’s already on our radar.” After losing to Japan in the 2011 World Cup and settling for silver, Morgan says next time, “we want to come out with gold.”
Alex Morgan writes on her official website: http://www.alexmorgansoccer.com/
It’s hard to believe that Alex Morgan, the American women’s soccer sensation, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament just five years ago. A torn ACL is often a career-hindering—if not ending—injury for many athletes. Yet Ms. Morgan, 23 years old, came back from the injury to have a successful soccer career that recently culminated with her scoring the goal against Canada that sent the U.S. to the gold-medal game at the London Olympics.
Ms. Morgan underwent surgery to repair her ACL her senior year of high school. After just five months of intense physical therapy, she was back on the field playing for the University of California at Berkeley. “An injury like that really tests you mentally,” she says. “Soccer was my life and suddenly I didn’t know if I’d play again.” Known for her superhuman speed on the field, Ms. Morgan, who plays forward, recalls the frustration of having to learn to run all over again. “I could barely jog on the treadmill,” she says.
Ms. Morgan says the majority of her physical-therapy exercises worked to improve her balance, agility and speed. “We really focused on making sure my hip and knee and foot were aligned and that my knee never went over my foot. Youth soccer players aren’t taught how important alignment is when we’re out on the field running around.”
She now incorporates many of the exercises into her pre-workout warm-up routine. “I think a proper warm-up and recovery are key to making sure you’re healthy on the field,” she says.
The Workout
Leading up to the Olympics, Ms. Morgan and her teammates had vigorous three-week training camps followed by a week of rest. During camp, the women spent one to four hours a day on the field scrimmaging and working on power and speed drills. Two to three days a week they’d work out with their strength coach in the gym. “That’s been my schedule for 1½ years,” she says. “We really train every day to the point of exhaustion.”
Along with her teammates, Ms. Morgan focuses on power development in the weight room, where she does a lot of power lifts, such as snatches and dead lifts, combined with box jumps, which entail jumping explosively on and off a box with both feet for some sets and one foot for others. “All of the power exercises we do are very specific to the sport,” she says. “All of the movements relate to and correlate with what we do on the field. That’s why they all require a lot of short busts of speed or power.”
In between sets Ms. Morgan might go into an empty room and do a few sets of high-knee runs or forward jumps. On the field, the team’s fitness coach warms them up with agility and balance drills as well as speedwork. The team might walk the length of the field doing high knees or lunges and then transition to sets of suicide sprints, which consist of sprinting from one line on the field to another and on each sequential run the lines get further apart. After a 30-minute warm-up, the women break into groups to do ball work, which might include sprinting with the ball or dribbling the ball around cones. The offense and defense will then break up and work on different skills. Ms. Morgan is often practicing shooting drills. The workout finishes with a scrimmage and a cool down.
Disclaimer
The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
