Image Source: Getty / Jason Miller / Stringer [1]
Becky Sauerbrunn — Olympic gold medalist, FIFA Women's World Cup champion, and all-around badass — has been training her tail off for years. After all, gold medals and World Cups aren't won without dedication and hard work. Becky walks us through a day in the life (pickup soccer and all) with tips for recovery, workout essentials, and an unprecedented new essential for women that's changing the game for women's soccer.
- Wake up. Becky is a dedicated athlete — and she's also dedicated to getting enough zzz's. "I'm a sleeper, so I will sleep in for as long as I can!" she told POPSUGAR.
- Fuel. "I'll have oatmeal and some fruit, and a cup of coffee." Becky needs a healthy start for a day full of activity.
- Work out. First on the agenda for Becky: fitness. "I usually go to Adidas Headquarters in Portland, and I'll train with a strength, conditioning, movement skill coach. I've been working with him for a while and he's excellent. He puts me through a routine!" Becky noted that she loves lifting, plyo, core work, and stability work, which "sometimes gets overlooked" but is incredibly important. She said those workouts "are the foundation that everything else is built off of."
- Healthy snack. She grabs an apple or healthy snack after her training session before she gets moving again.
- Soccer. Becky's favorite part of the day comes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. "If I'm lucky, there's lunch soccer!" she said. "I'll get to play some pickup, which is so fun.
- Refuel. "I eat another meal, and I start recovering for the next day," she said. "The most important part of a workout is recovery, and prepping the body for the next day to work out again." And with a nonstop, daily workout schedule like hers, we don't blame her!
- Recover. "I'll usually read, watch movies or shows," she said. "I also have two kittens, so I usually play with them." Becky also said she loves yoga, the "underestimated" workout that she says is "very difficult" and great for her flexibility and strength. And finally, she emphasized the importance of hydration in recovery, saying, "You can get really dehydrated, and your body really suffers from it."
Image Source: Adidas [3]
For her packed day of workouts, we asked Becky what she carries in her bag — she noted that she always has headphones ("It's always nice to jam out!"), her Adidas Ultra Boosts [4] for running, Adipure [5] shoes for training, and the new Adidas women's ACE boots for a pickup game — the first ever Adidas soccer cleats designed specifically for women [6] ("you never know when a pickup game is going to happen!").
Speaking about the new soccer boot — "It's a true woman's cleat, designed with a woman's foot in mind," Becky told POPSUGAR. "I've been wearing the men's cleats up until this point, and I've always had problems with my foot sliding around because the shoe is too wide; it starts putting pressure on different parts of your body that don't need that added pressure, and can start a chain reaction in your body."
She told us that during a game, the last thing you want is for your feet to start hurting or cramping. And it's crazy to think that female, Olympic-level athletes like Becky have been reduced to wearing men's products until now, but thanks to what she calls "Adidas's constant drive to innovate and empower women," soccer-lovers "finally have access to the first ever cleat for female players." Girl power. "It's so nice to have a cleat that fits well and is snug — my feet are healthier."
Are you up for a pickup game in shoes that actually fit? The Adidas ACE and X cleats will be a part of the Metallic Shimmer Pack, available Dec. 1 on Adidas.com.