Soccer legend Mia Hamm has a 3-step longevity routine to stay strong and agile in her 50s

Legendary soccer athlete Mia Hamm said her routine these days is focused on golf, interval training, and muscle activation for long-term health.Luke Hales/Getty ImagesSoccer superstar Mia Hamm said she revised her fitness routine to focus on pain-free movement.She relies on golf and resistance bands rather than long, grueling gym sessions and heavy weights.

Hamm focuses on smart training with muscle activation and intervals for heart health and longevity.At age 54, one of the top soccer players in history is still thinking about how she should have listened to her mom as a young athlete."She told me all the time to stretch," Mia Hamm told Business Insider.

"As a young player, my warmup was much shorter, and the thought of stretching just took away from the technical and physical side of the game."After intense training, her recovery routine was minimal — maybe a dip in an ice tub after a match or a few minutes of stretching as an afterthought.Today, she wonders if a little more rest and recovery could have prevented the aches and pains, as well as the serious knee and ankle injuries.

After retiring from soccer in 2004, Hamm learned the hard way that a recovery routine is crucial if you want to stay fit without the support of a professional team. She realized she needed a different type of training for her next phase of life as a mom, advocate, and entrepreneur. "I tried to train like a former athlete, and that's a full-time job.

It's really hard to do that," she said.Hamm spoke with Business Insider in an interview on her partnership with Tylenol's PainTalk campaign, dedicated to raising awareness of better recovery habits for athletes at all levels."There's still this kind of mentality of, 'well, we just have to gut through it,'" she said.

Since then, she's tweaked her fitness routine to prioritize training smarter, not harder, for a long, healthy life."It's not just going into the weight room and throwing around as much weight as you can. It's specific to your sport