How Serena Williams Trains For Power & Fitness

Serena Williams is a formidable athlete and is widely considered the GOAT of female tennis.

As well as possessing incredible skill and finesse, she’s a powerhouse who intimidates her opponents with her athleticism.

That power and fitness has been built over a number of years, working on a training routine that suits her and finding the right approach to her diet to get the best out of herself.

Here’s a look at Williams’ lifestyle, including her workout routine and her diet.

Serena Williams Fitness Routine

Williams says the most important aspect of her cardio training is variety and keeping things interesting.

“For me, it’s so important to mix it up,” she told Fitness Magazine. “I ran, and then I biked. Then I did elliptical. That didn’t work out so well, because it was boring, so I tried yoga.”

Now, Williams includes Zumba in her cardio training because it’s something that really works for her.

“I started dancing because I couldn’t train when I was sick. We started making up moves, and it was fun. Now I run for 10 minutes, and then I dance.”

She also has three main strength and conditioning sessions to ensure her body is strong enough to perform well and avoid injuries.

Williams doe a regular arm workout to ensure she maintains the incredible power in her shots. Alongside this, she has a session focussing on squatting and a core and leg workout.

The squat workout consists of 3-5 sets in the 8-12 rep range of the following exercises: barbell pause squat, barbell front squat and barbell box squat.

The core and leg workout involves exercises like bicycle crunch, leg crunch (horizontal followed by vertical), pillar holds, dumbbell walking lunges and dumbbell step-ups.

Serena Williams’ Diet

Williams keeps things simple with her diet and isn’t too strict. "My philosophy is eat to live, don't live to eat,” she says. “I want to have a healthy lifestyle and, so you know, [I'm eating] a lot of greens and mostly plant-based lately, just super healthy stuff."

That approach means Williams doesn’t worry about skipping breakfast, preferring to wait until she feels hungry for her first meal of the day. She says she just doesn’t have much of an appetite first thing in the morning.

Lunch varies depending on what she’s in the mood for, but it usually involves some sort of protein and greens.

Dinner also changes by what she feels like eating on the day, but Williams says she tends to draw inspiration from what she sees on Instagram and likes trying to create new meals.