She’s stepping off her podium. Laurie Hernandez is a gold medal gymnast and a female sports icon, but she’s also just a 21-year-old Gemini trying to figure out what she wants to be when she grows up. In that way, Laurie’s like the 43% of young women who played sports as teenagers—but unlike Laurie, they might not have stuck with it, even though when girls do stick with soccer / gymnastics / track / ballet, they get better grades and report less mental health distress.

“Being part of a team means someone always has your back,” says Laurie from her home in New York. “And as women, that can be so important to our well being and our future.” That’s why Laurie’s paired with Walmart and Always to help young women stay in sports, whether it’s club lacrosse or once-a-week kickball in your best friend’s backyard.

Here’s Laurie’s advice for staying connected to your Sporty Spice alter ego, stretching after a long day of laptop time, and embracing “ADHD brain” instead of trying to keep it a secret.

At the Olympics, you either win a meet or lose a meet. How do you embrace more nuance in your real life to make sure it isn’t just about winning and losing?
Oh, great question. Honestly, I try to work with my nerves instead of combating them. When I feel myself getting nervous or hung up on a challenge, I’ll put on slow music and do some breathing exercises—and then I’ll tell you that like, 9.5 out of 10 times, that does not work at all! [Laughing.] So I learned to find a way to tell my body that it’s okay if my heart is beating a little faster. It’s okay that I’m really in my head. And I end up leaning into that high energy instead. I’ll invite people over. I’ll put on a lot of high energy music, like hip hop or rave music—I’ll literally pretend I’m at a rave. Sometimes I’ll even do high knee kicks or jumping jacks. And that means the energy is flowing through me in a really positive way without denying the energy is there. Because you can’t lie to your body. Your body knows how it feels!

How do you think physical strength and mental strength go together?
They’re absolutely connected 100%. My coach and I used to say, “You could be 100% physically ready, but if you’re only 80% mentally ready, there’s a very good chance your routine could not work out.” I mean, there’s always a possibility that your routine cannot work out. But it’s higher if your brain isn’t connected. You’ve got to be ready for challenges in your mind, not just your body.

What about when you’re not competing?
You know, I do have some anxiety about telling my story when it’s not a big public moment. When it’s just me telling my story instead of me in front of a big audience giving me energy. I have to tell myself, “Okay, you know you can do this. You’ve done it before. You’ll do it now.”

People ask you to work with them all the time. Why pair with Walmart and Always?
They’re on a mission to encourage girls, and that’s my mission, too. Sports help develop [girls’] confidence and skills… And it’s a really common thing, especially in the gymnastics world, for girls to drop out as soon as they hit puberty… I mean, I almost quit! Because as soon as you grow like an inch, or your body changes just a little bit, you have to essentially relearn your skills. So it’s great to have a platform like Walmart that gives me the mic to say, “Hey girls, it is tough if your body changes to keep playing sports or working out the way you love, but hang in there! That’s where you learn so much. That’s where you make new friends.” And they’ve donated $500k to the Women’s Sports Foundation to help girls stay in sports. They really mean it. They know this is important.

If you weren’t a gymnast, would you still be an athlete?
Absolutely! I’ve thought about this a lot. I would either be a dancer because I love music and performing, or I would be some sort of track athlete. Except I’m short, and I know you need really long legs. Like, I think I could do hurdles because I’m fast and powerful, and I love to be in the air. But I’m also fairly sure that a real track hurdle is my literal height. So that’s a problem. I’d have to hop onto it like it was a balance beam.

Can you give me some advice? After I work out, I am so hyper that I can’t wind down. How do you calm yourself after a really awesome workout, especially if it’s in the evening?
Are you skipping your cooldown? I know how it feels to have endorphins kick in and just want to burn that extra energy. But cooldowns are very important! And if you think they’re boring, you should make some adjustments. A cooldown is technically supposed to be active; it’s supposed to help transfer that energy into your everyday movements. So active stretching is key. My favorite thing in the world is doing lunges. That’s a great transition.

Do you have any stretches for all of us sitting in front of our Zooms? I’m afraid I have a “Zoom Hunch.”
Yeah, I may be only 21 but my lower back pain is elite. I can help you with this. So when you’re in your chair, take one leg up like it’s going to sit in a criss-cross-applesauce position. Keep your other leg long in the chair. Then raise the opposite arm all the way up, and stretch over the criss-cross leg. It shouldn’t hurt, but it’ll really open up your body… Do it to your lower back two times a day for like 30 seconds…  and it tells your muscles that they are not stuck in “laptop pose” forever. Child’s pose is also fantastic for releasing your back, if you can do it on your rug or a mat a few times a day.

Very important final question: You were training the Jonas Brothers on Instagram! Which one has the most potential to be part of Team USA.
I swear, they’re all really good. But if I had to pick one, the thing is, Kevin has some gymnastics background. And that is something that is sometimes brushed over, because of his other accomplishments, but I watched him do parallel bars, and he crushed it. I do think that he’s underrated. So even though they’re all very strong gymnasts—honestly, I was terrified!—I think Kevin is the one to watch.