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When I watched the video of Simone Biles competing in the 2019 U.S. Gymnastics Championship in August, my thoughts throughout the three-minute routine can be condensed into the mind exploding emoji times 1000. I wish there were a more creative way to put this, but her moves—especially the “triple twisting double somersault” that went viral—look like they defy gravity. My brain hurts just trying to imagine how one would make their body do that.
Simone Biles hits the unprecedented triple-double on floor exercise. pic.twitter.com/L5fu3OoiOm
— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) August 12, 2019
Biles, new brand ambassador for oral healthcare startup Candid, is busy getting ready for her next competition…which hopefully will pave the way for her to compete at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. “I try not to think about the Olympics too, too much, because we still have a couple steps to get there. So I just try to take every competition one at a time,” she told Well+Good. “But if I ever get the jitters about competing at the Olympics, I kind of just relish in it because I feel like it’s good.” That is exactly how I feel every time I go on a date, which is basically the same as the Olympics, right?
The four-time Olympic gold medalist also shared with us some of the most important things she does every day for her health and wellness. Check them out below.
1. She makes time for self care
Let’s be real: I get sick of being around people and I am a freelance writer who doesn’t even have to leave her house most days. I can only imagine what it would be like to be the most recognized name in gymnastics. As such, Biles really values alone time to decompress. “The most important thing for me is taking time to myself, because I can get talked out with a lot of people, and I kind of like my own space,” she says. “So I think part of recovery for me is being by myself and just relaxing on my own.”
2. She swears by foam rollers to recover from workouts
Biles has dealt with her fair share of sore and tight muscles, and recommends the magic of foam rolling for recovery. “I like to foam roll. That really helps,” she says. If you want to get all 200-level with it, she says she likes to add a vibrating device like a Theragun to get extra recovery benefits.
3. Take care of your smile, too
The gymnast has always had a killer smile, and she says her partnership with Candid comes down to the importance of oral health. “I think it’s important to maintain your cleanliness in your mouth too,” Biles says. “That’s one thing that attracts most people, whether you’re talking, smiling, laughing going about your daily exercises, and I think it’s really important so that you can always have a healthy clean mouth and a nice smile.”
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