mbg Magnificence Director
mbg Magnificence Director
Alexandra Engler is the sweetness director at mindbodygreen and host of the sweetness podcast Clear Magnificence Faculty. 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
August 11, 2024
We love celebrating girls on the prime of their sport. In our new sequence Sport On, we’re interviewing prime athletes about their well-being routines—masking all the pieces from vitamin that makes them really feel sturdy to the moments that convey them pleasure.
Taking part in on Crew USA Volleyball throughout the 2024 Paris Olympics, the 6’2” center blocker Chiaka Ogbogu simply took dwelling the silver with Crew USA. She was additionally on the 2020 staff that gained a gold medal within the 2020 Summer time Olympics in Tokyo.
Hailing from Texas—the place she led her highschool staff to 2 straight state championships and performed collegiate volleyball on the College of Texas Austin—she now performs internationally, most not too long ago in Turkey. And naturally, she performs for Crew USA.
“I feel for younger women to see [women’s sports coverage in the media] is admittedly vital, as a result of I did not see that rising up,” she advised me not too long ago. “And it is cool that I received so far, however I am like, What would my journey have appeared like if I received to observe girls’s volleyball as a child? Simply the thought of little women getting to observe these video games is admittedly particular for lots of us and future generations.”
Beneath, our dialog about how she cares for herself when she’s not taking part in, how she approaches vitamin, and what she’s going to attempt throughout her upcoming off season.
mindbodygreen: What does it imply to be a powerful lady?
Chiaka Ogbogu: It’s about recognizing your strengths and weaknesses—after which standing agency and loving your self by means of that regardless. The moments once I’ve discovered probably the most power in myself is once I’ve been capable of acknowledge the times the place I don’t really feel my greatest, however then nonetheless determining methods to help and love myself by means of these days.
mbg: I wish to discuss how you retain up your power bodily—let’s begin with vitamin. What meals make it easier to really feel strongest?
Ogbogu: I’ve had such an fascinating relationship with vitamin—studying concerning the meals that provides one of the best help for what I’m doing on the court docket versus what I feel I must be consuming in a day versus what sounds one of the best.
However for me, I really feel like I’ve gotten accustomed to discovering coloration in terms of my meals. I like to ensure I’ve plenty of coloration on my plate, and ensuring that it’s visually interesting to eat. I’ve labored with so many dietitians and nutritionists all through my profession—I’ve realized that simply the presence of coloration not solely fuels your physique, however it’s good to your thoughts too. And I do know I play my greatest when my thoughts can also be in the fitting place.
The way in which I’d describe my consuming is Mediterranean fashion. It’s plenty of salad or grain bowls with Brussels sprouts, pickled onions, grains, and issues like that. Something you’d Mediterranean dish.
mbg: Effectively, they are saying the Mediterranean food plan is among the healthiest to comply with…
Ogbogu: I play professionally in Turkey and simply fell in love with the best way they eat. So I attempt to carry it on over right here.
mbg: what’s your restoration routine?
Ogbogu: It relies upon the place we’re within the season and the way my physique’s feeling. As I’m getting older, too, my physique is telling me I must be actually good at restoration.
I don’t have a selected routine, however I’ve issues I depend on. I attempt to be good with sleep. Submit sport and put up apply, I will use Normatec restoration boots.
Then dietary supplements have been a extremely huge game-changer for me, particularly on the street. I take sleep aids and issues that assist your physique get better—like magnesium, calcium, issues like that.
I am all the time open to new restoration concepts. It’s been cool to see what different athletes do in different sports activities, and see if I can take a bit from them.
mbg: what’s the craziest factor you’ve executed within the hopes of optimizing your efficiency?
Ogbogu: I do not know if something I’ve executed has been tremendous loopy. I’ve seen athletes who do oxygen chambers or like sleep chambers.
I’ve executed cryotherapy. For me, that was excessive as a result of I hate being chilly.
Once I transfer into this off season, one among my targets is simply to attempt all these loopy methods I see different athletes do to see if it makes a distinction.
mbg: What are your favourite exercises that don’t have anything to do together with your sport?
Ogbogu: I’ve began doing pilates with my different teammates and I’ve seen the advantages—particularly with how effectively we’ve been capable of get better going again into volleyball.
However developing, this would be the first time I’m having an off season throughout the fall. So I’m excited to additionally get into the pickleball craze. It seems to be enjoyable and simple to select up! I feel this fall is admittedly going to be about being open to different kinds of coaching now that I’ve extra time to take action.
mbg: How do you mentally get ready for a giant match?
Ogbogu: I feel now it is completely different from once I was in school. It is so humorous as a result of I really feel like in school I wanted to get actually hyped. I used to be on all of the coffees and all of the vitality drinks. It was all about getting to love my highest state of focus, which later down the street, it is not sustainable.
Then with every degree comes new pressures. So there’s clearly extra anxieties current once you’re taking part in on the highest degree. So now it’s extra about attending to my most calm state, which has been fascinating.
I feel a part of this journey is nearly maturing. It’s about understanding that you simply in all probability assume your most rationally once you’re at your calmest state, versus once you’re youthful and it’s about benign spirited. Method and IQ are usually not as a lot of an element then, it’s nearly bodily.
In comparison with now, when everyone seems to be bodily. Everybody has been taking part in the sport at a excessive degree for a very long time. So then it’s all about what staff has the IQ to win.
To calm myself, I’ve been messing with a couple of completely different methods, from meditation to sound frequency. I learn Kobe Bryant’s e book, The Mamba Mentality: How I Play, and it talks about sound frequency. So I made a decision to look into it and check out it. I discovered that calming frequencies1 are purported to degree your nervous system. So now I’ve been doing that—plus experimenting with different methods.
mbg: Resilience is such an fascinating subject, and one I speak loads about with different athletes. I’ve discovered that a few of that resilience is innate—perhaps you’re simply born with it—however the different half is educated. How do you construct resiliency in your self?
Ogbogu: I am certain there’s one thing innate in excessive performing athletes during which we now have this habit to pursuing mastery. In order that’s a part of it. However I feel plenty of us—and I do know particularly with the nationwide staff after which myself on a person degree—work with sports activities psychologists to assist us develop instruments to maneuver by means of sticky citations, reminiscent of losses or high-stress video games.
They assist us acknowledge emotions, compartmentalize issues when we have to, after which transfer on from them. It’s vital to not dwell on what has occurred, be that good or dangerous. How can we develop instruments to have the ability to acknowledge issues, compartmentalize issues, transfer by means of
For me, I am a giant journaler. I prefer to dump all of it out after a foul match. Getting it on paper will get it out of my thoughts. It permits me to bodily flip the web page on one thing, so I can mentally give attention to the following factor.
However the great thing about our sport is that plenty of our video games are in tournaments, so that you don’t have plenty of time to consider what simply occurred since you’re in all probability going to be taking part in once more the following day. Fortunately I’m not in a sport during which you may have one occasion each few weeks or months—then you definately simply have a lot time to consider it. Our sport strikes so rapidly, there’s not a lot time to dwell on dangerous video games.
Picture by mbg Inventive / courtesy of supply
mbg: what does it imply to be teammate?
Ogbogu: I am grateful that I had that teammate expertise rising up as a child as a result of it taught me how you can work effectively with others, particularly once you come from completely different backgrounds.
I feel being teammate is first acknowledging that not everybody grew up the identical means as you or has the identical mind-set as you.I feel simply on a fundamental degree, understanding that helps you may have empathy.
After which the opposite vital issue is empathy. I do know my favourite teammates simply had probably the most empathy and respect for everybody round them. It didn’t matter in the event that they disagreed with somebody, they all the time knew that that particular person was nonetheless vital sufficient to contribute one thing to the staff.
That’s been the best way I attempt to present up for the staff, main with empathy. It will get you actually far together with your teammates, and it additionally makes for a extra thrilling and conducive surroundings. It makes individuals wish to present up and be round you in the event that they know they will belief you and be protected with you.
mbg: what recommendation would you give younger women in volleyball?
Ogbogu: Actually, my recommendation can be to attempt as many sports activities as you’ll be able to or be a part of as many teams as you’ll be able to.
I feel that was useful for me rising up as a result of I realized loads. I performed basketball. I did Taekwondo. I took one thing from every sport as a result of I feel every sport attracts several types of individuals and has completely different challenges.
Then try to keep it up for a minimum of a yr simply to see what you’ll be able to acquire from it. As a result of as youngsters it is very easy to be like, I did not like this at the moment. I am simply gonna leap to the following factor. However I’m actually grateful to my mother and father for not letting me give up issues too early. I feel there’s additionally classes in that, too. It’s about working by means of issues till you’ll be able to formally resolve, OK I’m actually not on this.
mbg: We’re on this actually cool second in time during which girls’s sports activities is getting a lot extra consideration than it has prior to now. What has that been prefer to expertise first hand?
Ogbogu: I feel for us athletes, plenty of us are type of Lastly! The place has everybody been? It’s thrilling to see volleyball now rising within the States, prefer it’s thrilling for us as a result of we’ve not had knowledgeable league but. However now it’s beginning up subsequent yr. And simply all of the hype and media round girls’s basketball has been inspiring.
I feel for younger women to see it’s actually vital, as a result of I did not see that rising up. And it is cool that I received so far, however I am like, What would my journey have appeared like if I received to observe girls’s volleyball as a child? Simply the thought of little women getting to observe these video games is admittedly particular for lots of us and future generations.