mikaela
shiffrin

mikaela’s day.

• Race mornings
  Two or three eggs and a bowl of oatmeal

  “Usually I’ll eat two or three eggs and a bowl of oatmeal,” topped with nuts, seeds, honey or yogurt, sometimes with an egg mixed in. She tried toast instead; oats last longer.

  nutrition
• Early
  Up early for warm-ups

  on ski days she’s up early to warm up before going out on the mountain.

  fitness

• Every day
  The gym, every single day

  “Going to the gym every single day, even when you have other things going on, and even when your family’s having a birthday and you’re traveling overseas.”

  fitness
• Gym
  Foam-roll the spine, segment by segment

  she starts by rolling her thoracic spine, where she’s tightest, then the lower back, then band-assisted cat-cow and core activation.

  recovery
• Gym
  Step-ups, hanging obliques, pull-ups

  crossover lateral step-ups with weight, hanging side oblique flexion and pull-ups. The oblique work rebuilt her core after a crash left a deep puncture wound in her side.

  fitness
• Between sessions
  A 20–40 minute nap with an alarm

  there are no real weekends in the season, so she takes small windows: “These are my 20 minutes, or my 40 minutes, where I can set an alarm, and I have this designated time to shut things down.”

  sleep
• Every day
  Carbs, always

  “I’ve tried less carbs. It does not work.” When her appetite comes back after racing, it’s often “a bowl of pasta.”

  nutrition
• Always
  Off alcohol

  she went about two years without a drink before her Olympic gold, then had one espresso martini.

  nutrition

• When stressed
  Ask why, not just “I’m stressed”

  “A big practice has been trying to figure out what’s actually making me uncomfortable. Instead of just saying, ‘I’m so stressed,’ it’s like, ‘Why?’” Often it’s practical: gear, schedules, travel.

  focus
• When things are intense
  A clinical psychologist

  she sees a clinical psychologist, not only a sport psychologist, and tries “to get sessions in when things are intense.”

  focus