Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney today admitted she was struggling, but the 25-year-old powered through her Friday workout. Posting for her 1.3 million Instagram followers and via stories, the London 2012 Olympics face showed off quite the muscle display as she put herself through her paces – making February 2021 headlines for an E.R. visit resulting in a kidney stones diagnosis, the gymnast then had surgery in March and has been recovering ever since. The gym footage included traditional treadmill action, but it also included the clam. Check it out below.
Fridays Are Gym Days
Scroll for the video. McKayla, who recently opened up about her past disordered eating and admitting to both starving herself and binge eating, is now the picture of health. The California native’s videos today came huffing and puffing as she did everything from deep squats with weights to cardio, with fans initially seeing the star on a treadmill – McKayla clocked a sweet 15 miles on an incline to warm herself up.
The clam, which is a Pilates exercise, works the inner and outer thighs, plus the glutes.
See More Photos Below!
Seen lying on her side and wearing simple black yoga pants and a dark sporty hoodie, the gymnast was seen opening and closing one leg as the other remained still, delivering the “oyster” or “clam” exercise that many a Pilates lover will know – the gentle, but demanding exercise that centers around core strength and breathing is adored by the likes of 42-year-old Kourtney Kardashian, plus fellow Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman.
“I deal with it,” McKayla wrote as she showed her resistance band training.
Clam Talk
McKayla, who was being watched by her trainer, wrote: “Banded clam shell things” as she delivered the moves with two red resistance bands around her thighs. The GEICO face added: “I spot myself to finish sometimes,” adding: “I was struggling it burned a lot.”
Maroney is fresh from reaching out to eating disorder suffers as she details her own battles. The star had, in 2019, also opened up to Byrdie about her imbalanced past lifestyle. See the reveal and more photos below.
Guzzling Diet Coke
Speaking candidly, the gymnast stated: “When I wasn’t working out eight hours a day, I gained weight, and my coaches weren’t happy about that. So I really didn’t like my body for a while after I couldn’t really work out. I wasn’t eating that healthy when I was competing.”
“I would drink 24-ounce Cokes, and my parents weren’t really health freaks,” she continued: “But [my perspective] totally changed.” Maroney is now largely vegan, with her Glohé wellness Instagram documenting her healthy eats, complete with her coffee obsession.
