Professional athletes are just like any other athlete. They have to practice heat safety while optimizing their athletic performance. There are serious risks to pushing the limits, especially in higher temperatures or during the summertime. The most serious heat-related illness is definitely heat stroke. Heat stroke happens when the body stays over 104 degrees and cannot cool itself down. When that happens, it’s essential to use cooling techniques like ice baths and air conditioning to avoid serious and harmful injury.

Serena Williams is definitely someone who needs to keep herself cool, especially when she’s on the court. As one the greatest women’s tennis players of all time, she has had an impressive career that includes Olympic gold medals, Grand Slam titles, and wins at three of the four major tennis tournaments.

 But, just like anyone else, she is susceptible to the risks and dangers of overheating and suffering the effects of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. In fact, during the 2015 Australian open, Serena got sick due to a previous illness but undoubtedly worsened because of the excessive heat and grueling physical conditions. But, of course, she bounced back and is doing better than ever.

 She recently changed to an all-natural clean diet, partially because of her sister’s diagnosis of an autoimmune disease called Sjögren’s syndrome that causes fatigue and pain in the joints. Serena admits that she didn’t have the best diet habits before, and still sometimes has the occasional candy craving. All in all, she says that her healthy diet makeover has helped improve her game.

 Serena is also a big fan of adding some variety to her fitness routine. Obviously, she plays tennis. But she also runs, bikes, does the elliptical, practices yoga, and loves to dance. Her point-of-view is to try something new, until it gets boring, and move on to something else. She believes it’s important to mix it up and she’s always trying to have fun, both on and off the court.

 Another thing Serena has to worry about is how to keep cool. She used to use a towel with ice to wrap around her neck, a trick to prevent overheating. But now, she uses something more effective. She is a big fan of MISSION’s cooling towels that instantly cools you down.

 “I’m totally competing, sometimes against the heat,” she said. But with technology that keeps the towels cool for up to 2 hours, the heat is one less thing she has to worry about. She believes in the towels so much that she is one of the professional athletes who endorse them.

 So, if you’re looking to up your game and perform like Serena Williams, you can follow in her footsteps. MISSION’s cooling towels deliver fast, long-lasting cooling effects to enhance performance and combat overheating for athletes at all levels of play.