Speaker
Aly Raisman
Appearances over time
1 episodes
Episodes
1
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
Aly Raisman's body fat was measured at 5% before the 2016 Rio Olympics, lower than many NFL players, prompting serious medical concern.
At age 16, Aly Raisman's body fat was measured at 8%, well below the healthy female range of approximately 18–20%, alarming her medical evaluator.
Aly Raisman has been hospitalized multiple times with complete body paralysis and stroke-like symptoms she links to PTSD and years of physical overtraining.
During her second hospitalization, Aly Raisman was kept in the ER for three days and needed assistance to walk, sit up, and use the bathroom.
Aly Raisman says she has barely exercised in 8 years because her body still cannot recover properly from the overtraining she endured as a gymnast.
Aly Raisman trained six days a week, four to seven hours every other day, attending public school and completing homework between sessions.
Boys called Aly Raisman 'roids' and said she looked like she was on steroids starting in 5th grade, which affected her so deeply she only began wearing sleeveless dresses at age 30.
Under pressure to stay thin, Aly Raisman would secretly eat Power Bars in airplane lavatories so coaches and staff wouldn't see her eating.
Aly Raisman revealed that the person who abused her was a doctor, making hospital visits especially triggering given her PTSD.
Aly Raisman said male CEOs and men of all backgrounds have pulled her aside privately to disclose their own experiences of childhood sexual abuse, highlighting widespread male survivor silence.
Aly Raisman paused her daily exposure therapy homework because her body's physical response to stress made it too difficult to sustain alongside public events like Olympic trials.
Aly Raisman called out the high cost of egg retrieval as deeply unfair, noting it gives wealthier women a longer timeline that most cannot afford.
Aly Raisman wore a sleeveless dress at Olympic trials at age 30 for the first time, calling it a significant milestone after decades of hiding her muscular arms.
Before the 2016 Rio Olympics, Aly Raisman's body fat was measured at 5% — lower than some NFL players — and the medical professional conducting the test refused to reassure her. She was already dealing with a sore Achilles, extreme nausea, and muscle cramps. Her body was failing her even as she went on to compete at the highest level.
Under crushing pressure to stay thin, Aly Raisman would sneak into airplane lavatories to eat Power Bars where no one could see her. She was an Olympic champion publicly, and starving in secret.
Boys called Aly Raisman 'roids' in 5th grade and told her she looked disgusting in 7th grade. The damage lasted so long that she only wore a sleeveless dress in public for the first time at age 30 — at Olympic trials. That milestone felt genuinely freeing.
PTSD can bring you back to a traumatic event instantly — triggered by a smell, a name, a sound. Aly Raisman explains that healing is not linear and that people can be living their worst moments every single day, even decades later. Telling someone they should be over it by now is the worst thing you can say.
Elite athletes often have no identity outside their sport. Aly Raisman warns that Olympic athletes who succeed or fail this summer may not know who they are beyond their result — and without mental preparation, failure can be devastating. She gets nervous watching any gymnast from any country, knowing exactly what's at stake.
When you're single, you compare yourself to the engaged. When you're engaged, you compare yourself to the married. When you're married, you compare yourself to the moms. Alex Cooper reveals that no milestone breaks the cycle — and the only way out is to choose to stop.
Aly Raisman hasn't properly exercised in 8 years. A few minutes of running can trigger a migraine or nausea that takes days to recover from. The body she pushed to 5% body fat and six hours of daily training is still paying the price.
Exposure therapy rebuilds comfort with trauma triggers through graduated contact — a children's book with an abuser's name, a familiar smell encountered daily. Aly Raisman had to pause her homework sessions as Paris approaches because being back in gymnastics environments is already overwhelming enough.
Society asks single women 'How are you still single?' but never 'Do you like who you are when you're with them?' Aly Raisman wrote an article on being single at 30 that exposes the unsolicited advice women receive and the questions nobody bothers to ask.
In her early 20s, Aly Raisman couldn't tell partners what she needed. Now she speaks up from the first text or the first date — and finds that men respond better to it, not worse. Communicating a need early is a 30-second conversation; waiting 50 times makes it a 3-hour fight.
Aly Raisman has been hospitalized multiple times with complete body paralysis where she couldn't speak, remember her name, or move her fingers. The second episode lasted three days. Doctors initially dismissed her — until her mother revealed who she was. She connects the episodes directly to untreated PTSD and years of physical overtraining.
Aly Raisman thought some exes were just 'moody.' Alex Cooper reframed it: moodiness from an insecure partner is a power tactic — a way to reclaim control when they feel threatened by a successful woman. Aly's people-pleasing made her absorb it without naming it. Now it's her number one deal breaker.
Aly Raisman wrote about being single at 30 because she wanted someone to say it out loud: it's okay. The timeline that says you must find someone in your late 20s is not realistic, and chasing it produces miserable relationships. She'd rather wait for the right fit than be lonely in the wrong one.
Analysis
What they talk about
- Society & Culture 55%
- Health & Fitness 27%
- Sports 18%
Connections
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