Growing up in the 90s, when you thought of Beach Volleyball, you thought about Gabby Reece! Whether it was seeing her in a number of commercials, gracing covers of Elle, Women's Sports & Fitness, appearing in Arliss (which in many respects laid the groundwork for future HBO shows such as Entourage and Ballers), interviewing athletes, modeling and so much more. Gabby really made her presence know whether she was on the sand or off.
We enjoyed catching up with Gabby to talk about her career, how she got into playing volleyball and how she used her creativity and natural curiosity to continue to add an array of work to her portfolio is amazing. In addition, we talk about how she is an advocate for fitness, wellness and nutrition and why this is something that she is so passionate about. We also find out about other projects she has going on such as The Gabby Reece Podcast and her entrepreneurial projects with her husband, big wave surfer, Laird Hamilton.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you realize that you wanted to play beach volleyball?
GABBY REECE: Well I moved from the Caribbean my junior year of high school to Florida and I was 15 and I was 6’3” and I had dabbled a little bit. But because athletics was so organized in the US, it was sort of like they said that I had to play. I was really a beginner and kind of like a neophyte at it and like I said, I had just kind of dabbled. Then I started getting offers my senior year which is pretty late for college which was a surprise to me for basketball and for volleyball. So it really was something that I fell into. I think that being part of something was really powerful for me. I think that my nature is that I like to work hard. I think that if you had said to me at the end of my junior year that I would be going and playing college volleyball, I would not have known that! Quite frankly, the same with professional volleyball. When I was in college, I had not participated in beach volleyball. It was only because I had moved to Miami after college and I picked up the game and someone said after about a year and a half, that I should move to California. I’d say that I did that a lot in that realm.
AM: We’ve been fans of yours watching you during your iconic career, you made your presence known from being Nike’s first female spokesperson, the first female athlete to ever have designed a shoe for Nike and their first ever female cross training spokesperson. What do you feel are your biggest achievements in the sport?
GR: You know, I have to be honest, I feel that just being able to participate in anything at a high level with other people that are doing it! I mean, I won a World Championship, but there were some other things and I think that for me personally, it was being able to play at that level and being around that caliber of athletes and coaches. Because I always say that volleyball in a different way kind of saved my life a bit. It sort of directed me in this area that I remained in for my adult life. So I think that for me, it was a very deep relationship! Plus, I feel like volleyball, like any other sport, it’s very honest and I always felt like I had respected myself after practice if you will, if that makes sense. Because you can’t bs it. If I was modeling, they could give you really good hair and makeup or you could be like whatever and tuck in this and this – wear something tight there. But I think that there was something that was really honest about it which I know that this sounds weird, but then it also makes being imperfect and vulnerable easier because you’re like, “oh yeah, I know what it’s like to fall on my face in front of a lot of people.” So it almost gives you the strength to be like – yeah I know how to suck and I know how to fail and it’s ok, you’ll be able to survive it.
AM: I like the way that you put that. You’ve navigated the sport and have also added in these other elements of yourself whether it’s being an author, modeling, acting and hosting. Why is it important to you to be able to utilize these skills in your creative pursuits?
GR: Well I think that you just said. I think that we’re all creative and we express ourselves differently. For me, my husband says this perfectly because Laird is a surfer and Laird is more dedicated to his sport because it’s part of his life and it’s very different. But he says, I’m Laird and one of the things that I do is surf. And I think for me, it was a creative outlet, but so were the other things! Interviewing other people and learning from them or writing books or writing columns, these were just other extensions of who I am and a creative outlet because in certain ways I combat being very linear. So, every once in awhile when I have these opportunities, to have these creative expressions, I feel like it just helps me. You get a level of satisfaction I think in life when you get to do that.
AM: Tell me about the Gabby Reece Show, why you wanted to start this podcast and what you have learned by doing it?
GR: Oh my gosh, what I have learned is that there are a lot of smart people out there! You know, I used to interview people when I started for TV in the early 90s and I liked it, but it was short and quick. You got 7 mins, you got 12 mins whatever. I like the idea of it also not being about me because I was interviewed often so it was like, oh this is cool this is about them. You’re doing your homework. I did a podcast with a gentleman named Neil Strauss, he’s an author and we’re very different. So we did that for a few years and to be honest, I didn’t have the confidence necessarily to think that I could do it myself and be interesting. I thought that I could be interesting for like 12 shows…
AM: Impossible – impossible!
GR: No, I’m being honest! I’m always in awe of people who say that they are so fun to watch. I’m like, wow you’re amazing! I think for me it was like, yeah it makes me uncomfortable, but I am curious and I do like to learn and so I do talk to a lot of different types of people – scientists and doctors and the hope was to get the very best in information – the sharp end of the stick of information and communicate it at the 6th grade level and also try to give it to people who really need it. I always say that people like myself or athletes or people that have the opportunity to have trainers or eat organic food – they already don’t need it. It’s people that are working their butts off and they are just trying to get there minute by minute – how do we condense this information for them and to get it to them in a way that it is understandable, but it’s the really good information. And it’s like, can you tweak this one thing or could you do this? So that’s my hook because if you’re very high performance, you’d say that this is very good intel, but if you’re like, “I’m too busy to deal with it,” then we sift through it for you and say maybe this is what you really want to focus on.
AM: As a mom, you’re someone who is involved in a lot of entrepreneurial endeavors, health and wellness is key to you and we’re always looking at things that we can add into our workout – what are 3 exercises that you do that we should consider including?
GR: You know, I’m sometimes the anti person in this way – I’m like, oh! I have a friend and we say 100% of the things a 100% of the time. So when we talk about cardio, stretching or lifting – I will say this, anytime that you can use more of your whole body and also work on proprioception and balance – like working out on one leg at a time is great. Like a sit up, you’re going to be very strong in a limited range of motion. But if you do a clean and jerk or a 1 arm dumbbell snap, you activate from your neck to the top of your knee. So I would say that squatting, overhead snapping and one legged type movements where you are doing one legged row or deadlift is best. I don’t want women to shy away from lifting weights.
Cardio is good for your heart, but lifting some time under tension I want to say that I really want to encourage women and if they say that they don’t want to get too big, it’s very hard to build muscle, you’re not going to get too big. Those muscles work in your favor long after you have lifted weights and they just do so many positive things for you. So I would say that and you know having some kind of mobility and integration in there. That’s the other thing, if you asked me where I really blew it. I got really tight as an athlete andI didn’t integrate enough mobility.
When you say to me to pick 3, I would say things that challenge your balance and those that are working on your whole body, but warm up because if you are doing 3 joint kind of moves versus single joint moves that are more complex and learn how to do things correctly. Let’s not go in the wrong direction every day, let’s try to move in the right direction so that we don’t get injured. Do some kind of diversity where ok you’re outside and walking, maybe take your shoes off, you’re on a bike and you’re doing something – not to do the same things over and over! I want people to support themselves and to participate in their recovery. So it’s not like, oh it’s my day off. It’s, ok it’s my day off and I am going to do some breathing or meditation practice. It’s my day off and I’m going to see if I can get myself into a sauna or do a cold plunge. So, making the recovery a dynamic process that you support yourself. It shouldn’t be just like oh I’m not doing anything. My hope is that everyone works out and they do it decently – hard at least a couple of times a week forever. So, we need to find ways to recover.
The other part is that you should be truthful to yourself. On the days that you don’t feel different than the days that I call it, bone tired. If you’re genuinely bone tired, it might be better to take the day off and that's why it's tricky too. Because if Wed is your day off, but what if you feel great on Wed and you feel like shit on Fri? I also want to encourage people to listen to want themselves. If you hate the gym, then the gym isn’t for you – so what is for you? It’s just getting them to do that because it’s the only way that we will be consistent.
And there’s also only so much time in the day! Laird and I joke all the time about these new exercises that I’m doing to help my hip, it’s like everybody feels that way! The other thing is that I would direct people, there’s so many people that are really good. I don’t work with any of these people, but I know them. Jill Miller has things that she can teach people about self-mobilization for those that say that they don’t know what to do. I like Jill Miller, I like Kelly Starrett and what happens is, if you see one, it will lead you to the next. So Kelly Starrett wrote a book called Becoming A Supple Leopard. These are people that give you these proactive tools. Even though we’re talking about motion, we all know that the #1 is just food right? It’s like there is no way around it. Food is everything. So no matter what, I want to encourage people that we focus on the training, this and that, but what’s so important is that it is all about our nutrition. It’s a bummer because it’s the hardest one and it’s the one that could be the most sexiest or fun that we use to medicate like I'm bored, I'm heartbroken whatever. But I want to encourage people to not give up on that because that is the most important part of this whole equation.
AM: You’re a brand ambassador for Rebalance Health. What is synergistic to you about incorporating this into your lifestyle and what made the partnership right for you?
GR: Well, typically, I don’t know why I have always been like this, but even in my early 20s when I was first starting out in this work, I would never talk about things or represent things that I wouldn’t personally take. I will say that in the case of Rebalance for example, they wanted to vet me as well. I took the product for a lot of months actually maybe 5 or 6 months because you have to feel it right? Especially with things like this which are subtle. So what attracted me to the product initially was that it felt realistic to me, it was easy to use, it had a melt in your mouth lozenge, they have 3 kinds of mint in there and it didn’t say it was going to do this overnight – it’s a system to help you manage cortisol levels. I am familiar with a lot of the ingredients – ashwagandha and maca. The womens formula is different than the mens imagine that! They have things like tongkat ali which I know about from Laird which can boost or support your system for testosterone. Just things like that – I felt that this was well created and formulated and the ingredients were high level and it was very thoughtful. There was this idea that some people thought that cortisol was bad, but no we want cortisol – it helps us get a lot done, but we do want to manage it so that we can have a restful sleep.
I love that there is the Morning, Evening and Bedtime. That made sense, the ingredients made sense, it’s easy to use and it’s achievable. If you tell someone to take this 30 mins after you eat and 4 minutes before something – no one is going to do that. I love the other side. I know that this is pretty obvious, but I love it when there is no downside!
The idea of something being really good and things like this that are focused on natural herbs, they elevate your own system so that it can do its job better. When I hear things like that, that I believe. I started taking it and for me, I had an energy and my sleep improved. For me, that has always been my Achilles in terms of my sleep. I do a lot of mind grinding like a lot of people and trying to solve all the household issues at night when I’m sleeping or when you get up at 3am and you think, I’m going to tell that kid that thing tomorrow! It really helps with that and I felt that pretty quickly. For me, it was about a week and then we collaborated and after checking me out, we agreed to work together and that's how we got here. For me, it's in my cabinet and the way that I do it, I have coffee in the morning and as I’m running out the door, no one wants coffee breath and I’ll just pop my Rebalance Morning lozenge in the morning and it’s like boom I have mints and it’s melting. I want to encourage people that try the product, please don't eat it just try to let it happen so that you can absorb it through sublingually – let it melt. It’s one of those ones where I know how hard it is to formulate it and to bring it at such a high level and to encourage people to do it this way. I feel really honored.
AM: I have been taking it for the past few days and I have noticed that my sleep is better. The Morning part, I have it after my protein shake as the shake is a bit dense so it’s good to have something to freshen up with after drinking it.
GR: Yes! Doesn’t it help – it’s like the double whammy! When I use my Night one it’s when I’m preparing dinner, because you’re just held in one spot and I just sort of pop it in and then I let it happen. What I say to people is for the Bedtime one, if you’re taking a shower before you go to bed, maybe pop one in and just let it happen.
What has your boyfriend thought about it?
AM: I know the Morning one was a bit much for him as the minty aspect was a lot for him, but I think that he liked the Bedtime one. I like that it’s something that we can do together as it sits on our vanity and it’s a system. It gives you something to add into your day, I like the stickers and the packaging!
GR: It’s beautiful! Then they do the refills which is less packaging and it’s just the bag.
AM: I think that it’s something that is working for me and it’s nice after that first protein shake – I chug it and put the lozenge in.
GR: I think that they want people to know that it’s not a sleep aid, but because you are dealing with your cortisol levels, it helps you manage and that ends up leading to a better more restful night sleep. We’ve talked about movement and food, but we all keep our sanity and the only time that we recover is when we’re sleeping. Whether you want to manage weight, deal with vitality, longevity or you just want to look younger, it’s sleep.
AM: I do have to say because I check my REM cycles and stuff, I feel that I have gotten 20 – 30 mins more of the REM sleep.
GR: Interesting.
AM: I’m not saying that that will be the case for other people.
GR: No no it’s your experience.
AM: Yeah, it’s something that I have seen and in terms of things that I do for my sleep, I feel that that tablet has something to do with that over time. So if that’s what it is for me, then bring on the tablets!
What will your partnership look like in terms of what you will do with Rebalance Health?
GR: One thing I am excited about is the ability to do giveaways and to give people the opportunity to try it out. They've been very kind that once a month that we do 1 female and 1 male giveaway so people can try. It will really be about hopefully using the idea that the credibility that I represent that people will say that they are curious to know more. There is also an educational component as well for people in terms of how they would use it in their own lives and why.
So not to make it too technical, there has to be an educational process because it would be too hard for people to try something new where people have to take it orally and not sort of give them some information. I think it’s important to empower people in any part of this whether it's exploring physical health or nutrition and what have you. They have to understand their why and providing that user friendly information especially since it’s new and they haven’t taken certain herbs or things. What’s the difference and certain things have a systemic impact on you and it’s understanding that whole organism and system. I take it, I want to give it away and if makes sense for their day to day lives, I want them to know about it and why they should take it. We’ll be doing that in the upcoming months and year. My thing is, if I find stuff that is good, because it is hard to find things out there that are, we need to put some light on it. I use this and I find it to be really good and if you were my girlfriend down the street, I’d be like, I learned about this or I saw that and I would vet it first so that you’re not coming back to me 6 months later saying, “hey Gabby, I don’t know about this.” The other part is making sure that I am being responsible. I want to feel good about things and feel proud to work with companies and that if people are trying it out, they are your friends.
It’s like when I go to a doctor, I ask them, what would you tell your sister? I treat everyone like my neighbor. If I’m not going to do it, I wouldn’t suggest it to someone else either.
IG @gabbyreece
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Gabby Reece
Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see THE WELLNESS ADVOCATE | Gabby Reece in mag.
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