Gabby Thomas is not only an elite athlete, securing a bronze medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in her very first major track meet, but also a woman with diverse interests and a strong commitment to helping others. With degrees in neurobiology and public health, she aspires to improve healthcare access for underserved communities. Beyond her athletic and academic pursuits, Gabby prioritizes her mental health, emphasizing sleep, strong friendships, and the joys of being a dog mom to Rico. This article explores the diet, training, and wellness strategies that fuel her success.
From Neurobiology to Public Health: A Multifaceted Approach
Gabby's academic journey reflects her desire to make a tangible difference in the world. Initially drawn to autism research, she shifted her focus to public health after learning about disparities in health outcomes. "That’s when I realized that I wanted to shift my focus more towards public health," she explains. While still valuing her neurobiological background, she now aims to tackle healthcare challenges from a broader perspective.
Her ambition is to work in hospital administration, focusing on providing resources and care to under-resourced communities, those without health insurance, and individuals lacking awareness of the healthcare system. Currently, while continuing her running career, Gabby volunteers at a healthcare clinic in Austin, Texas, where she follows up with patients, ensuring they receive the necessary access to healthcare, medication, education, and nutritional support. She dedicates approximately 20 hours a week to this work when she is out of season.
Olympic Dreams and Mental Fortitude
Gabby's running goals are ambitious, with her sights set on a gold medal at the Paris Olympics. Reflecting on her journey, she acknowledges the challenges and growth she's experienced. The 2021 Tokyo Olympics was a whirlwind, her first time making the US Team on such a grand stage. Despite feeling new to the professional track and field environment, she secured a bronze medal.
The following year brought a heartbreaking injury, a hamstring tear, which she describes as a difficult mental hurdle. "You can’t work your way out of an injury," she realized, emphasizing the need for patience and a positive mentality. She bounced back, earning a silver medal at the World Championships the following season. This experience, she says, has prepared her for the Olympics, giving her confidence in her capabilities and her ability to perform at her best.
Read also: The story of Gabourey Sidibe's transformation
Mental Health as a Cornerstone
Gabby emphasizes the importance of mental health in her training and overall well-being. "A lot goes into it and it’s every single day," she says. To stay motivated and on track, she incorporates meditation, spending time with friends, and enjoying the companionship of her dog, Rico.
Her morning routine includes breathing exercises, meditation, and drinking a significant amount of water. She finds that meditation, particularly breathing exercises and visualization, helps her stay focused and grounded. Spending time with friends and engaging in activities outside of track and field helps her to de-stress and maintain a positive mindset. The simple act of coming home to her dog, Rico, instantly lifts her spirits.
Training Regimen: A Blend of Speed, Strength, and Recovery
Gabby's training regimen is multifaceted, incorporating various elements to optimize her performance. It includes track workouts comprised of both longer runs and sprints, weight lifting, and Pilates. She finds Pilates particularly "humbling," highlighting its ability to target small muscles often neglected in other forms of training.
She appreciates the challenge and the mental and physical benefits of Pilates, even when experiencing the "dreaded shakes during lunges." This low-impact workout complements her running by building strength and targeting specific muscle groups.
Recovery is Key
Recovery is a crucial aspect of Gabby's training. She prioritizes sleep, aiming for at least eight hours each night. She also utilizes a hyperbaric chamber, which she has in her apartment, for an hour each day. This therapy involves breathing pure oxygen at a higher pressure, which she believes accelerates recovery.
Read also: Sidibe's Story of Self-Discovery
She also finds cold plunging to be a cost-effective recovery method.
Gabby Thomas' Diet Plan
Equally important to Gabby's routine is her diet, which fuels her during runs and supports her overall health. She emphasizes the importance of consuming plenty of carbs and protein to maintain energy levels. However, she avoids anything too "heavy" before a race.
One of her "pillars" is hydration. She drinks a full bottle of water each morning and carries a gallon jug with her throughout the day to ensure she stays adequately hydrated.
Nutrition and Gut Health
Gabby is very cognizant of nutrition and gut health. She focuses on getting the right mix of nutrients, specifically carbs and protein, to fuel her body for training and recovery. She often starts her day with a protein smoothie, using NOW Sports Chocolate Whey Protein, and may have another one before bed.
To support her gut health, she uses NOW's L-Glutamine supplement and incorporates NOW's Organic Chia Seeds into her daily routine, which she finds helps with digestion and reduces bloating.
Read also: From roses to reality: Gabby's evolution
Avoiding Processed Foods
Since moving to Austin, Gabby has made significant changes to her diet, cutting out processed foods and limiting how often she eats out. While she admits she doesn't love to cook, she has found an air fryer to be a valuable tool in preparing healthy meals. Some of her favorite dishes to cook include salmon with asparagus and chicken wings. She also enjoys kale salads.
She has learned a couple of recipes too which she likes to make from time to time and it really helps her save a lot of time. In her experience, she adds, "It can be overwhelming to think, what am I going to cook? But one of the tips she gave me was if you have a couple of things you like and can do regularly, it makes it a lot easier. I’m still not perfect, but I feel better, more energized when I go to train or at a meet."
Staying Mentally Tough
Gabby has been training for the Olympics during the pandemic. She says that even though everything was closed she had to really be on her toes to do the thing and not lose her gains. She explains by saying, "We have to stay on our toes [and be] ready for anything to happen. We don't have that same stability, that same consistency that we had last year. We've gotten to a point now where we're able to normalize training a little bit, but for a while, we were jumping around. At the beginning of the pandemic, we were struggling to find a track. We had to be ready for unexpected changes at any time, whether that be a location change, change in the ability to meet, or change in training - because there might be a COVID outbreak."
She also says that it was a bit more mentally challenging than anything else. In her words, "Also mentally, it's a little bit tougher just because we don't know what's going to happen in terms of meets or the Olympics, so that mental toughness, that mental focus is really key now."
Pre-Race Rituals
Gabby's pre-race rituals include drinking coffee for energy and meditating to reduce stress. She likes to spend the day like any other day, watching Netflix and preparing. Her pre-game meal typically consists of pasta and coffee, providing her with carbs and caffeine. "I truly like to spend the day like it’s any other day. Watching Netflix and preparing. I always have coffee. I’ll bring a coffee to the meet and drink it before the race. I also do a meditation before I run. After I run, I do a cool down, but then I like to relax and treat myself."
She says that even though there are instances when she loses focus, she is still quite motivated and disciplined when it comes to race. She has support of her family, coach, and friends which keeps her going, she says, "You just have to tap into your motivation and your discipline. It's uncertain for everyone across any industry. Everyone's dealing with similar struggles. So for us, it's about staying motivated. We have the support of each other. I have an amazing training group of Black women. The track community has been very supportive in helping us go to these American Track League meets. Having the support of people around us is really helpful."
Training Environment
Gabby chose Austin for her training because she wanted to be around professional athletes and also attend graduate school. "In 2019, I was looking for an environment where I could be around professional athletes and also go to graduate school. I met Coach Bailey in Monaco at a Diamond League meet, and we clicked. She’s a Black woman, and her group is Black women who I admired on the track. I visited, and it was a perfect fit."
She says that the people around her are so helpful that it is quite exhilarating for her. In her words, "My training partners have been so helpful. Morolake Akinosun, a 100-meter runner, has helped me so much with my starts and having that consistent intensity in practice every day. Ashley Spencer, who does the 400-meter hurdles, really helps push me fitness-wise. Coach Bailey is so supportive, like a mother. If you’re doubting yourself, you can always count on her to pick up the phone or be right there and talk to you for however long it takes for you to feel like a boss again."
She says that the place, in addition to the track field, has so much more to offer and she likes the place in a general sense too. In her words, "Austin has so much more to offer away from the track-whether that’s school or the outdoorsy scene or all the good food. After the Olympics, I’m excited about seeing live music and all the other fun things I missed because I moved here right before the COVID-19 pandemic."
Coach Bailey's Influence
Coach Bailey, who has been training Gabrielle Thomas, has been to the Olympics three times herself, and won bronze in Atlanta in 1996, in the 400-meter hurdles. Here are some lessons that come straight from the coach to Gabrielle Thomas:
"She lets you know where you have to be not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally to make an Olympic team. You have to be tuned in every day. She also understands the body of an athlete-the boundaries and how far you can push it. A lot of times it’s hard for coaches to grasp that because they haven’t done it. When we were talking about doubling in the 400 and the 200, people were saying, is that going to be too much? She’s like, ‘Well, no.’ She knows when you can actually take more."
She adds that the coach is also careful about all the other aspects of health like nutrition and other things. In her words, "That being said, if I show up to the track and I’m like, ‘I have a little kink in my ankle,’ she’s like, ‘Alright, we’re shutting it down,’ whereas another coach might tell you to push through it. She’s also a great mentor when it comes to things off the track, such as my nutrition, which is not something I was diligent about before."
Thomas' Wellness Routine
Gabby Thomas's wellness routine is holistic, encompassing mental, physical, and emotional well-being. She emphasizes the importance of balance in her life as an elite athlete. She is prioritizing recovery and mental resilience just as much as my actual speed and strength.
Visualization
Anytime I have anything coming up, I am visualizing everything very specifically so that by the time the race happens (or whatever big event I have coming up), I already know all the emotions that went into it [and] how I'm supposed to feel. [With] everything, I get really specific. So it helps me feel like I've already lived in the moment in a way. It's literally manifestation.
Sleep and Recovery
The only wellness media I actually use frequently now I think is when I go to sleep. In terms of recovery, I'll use soft sounds [or] white noise on Spotify. They have these amazing playlists with rain sounds.
Morning Mantra
A morning mantra that I give myself pretty frequently is, “How can I get 1 percent better?” It is very training specific, but I also do think it could apply to pretty much anything. It dials me back in if I have a super packed day or if I'm anxious. It's like, "Don't worry about all of that. What can I do?
Hyperbaric Chamber
My hyperbaric chamber. I am obsessed with it, and it is definitely the most expensive piece of my wellness routine. I'm just so big on recovery [and] feeling well rested. Obviously, you don't need [a] hyperbaric chamber for that, but I'm so invested in that part of my routine.
You can use it every day. I try to get into it at least one hour a day, which can be really challenging with my schedule, but that's a goal. If I am in competition or championship mode, it is definitely [used] the night before the competition, especially if we're doing rounds.
Yoga and Meditation
Probably my yoga mat. I use it every day for my stretching and meditation, and it just provides a stable and comforting platform for me to do that. I use the same one every day; it makes me happy.
So much of my sport is mental, and my performance is driven by my headspace. [I practice] meditation to calm my mind; refocusing and recentering for the training day is imperative. I spend 10 to 15 minutes each morning on breath work and mindful meditation.
Sleep is also huge in recharging the mindset. I don't get any less than seven hours a night, but I aim for at least eight. I love NOW’s Peaceful Sleep Essential Oil Blend. I use that along with my sleep sounds. And the last thing is my daily walks with [my dog] Rico; it’s what I look forward to every morning, especially the long ones on the trails.
Nutrition
I'm very cognizant of [nutrition and gut health]. A big part of my job, and my recovery to train well and to be fast and strong is to fuel my body properly. So I don't get really obsessive about exactly what I'm putting into my body. But I'm making sure that I'm getting the right mix of nutrients, specifically carbs and protein. One of the easiest ways to do that is to wake up in the morning [and] make a protein smoothie. I use the NOW Sports Chocolate Whey Protein. Then I might make another one before I go to bed just because I actually really like it.
For gut health, NOW has a L-Glutamine supplement that I'll also use to help strengthen the gut. And then the NOW’s Organic Chia Seeds. I just asked NOW for two boxes full of them-I love the chia seeds. They make me feel just so healthy and debloated. So I do that every morning just to help support digestion.