Stephanie Mercado: ‘My mom Lydia de Vega taught me discipline and a healthy lifestyle’

Volleyball star Stephanie “Paneng” Mercado initially rose to fame as a member of the DLSU Lady Spikers. She helped see the team to three UAAP championships and a first runner-up title. Aside from her athleticism, Stephanie possesses admirable work ethic and discipline — thanks in part to being coached by her mom, two-time Olympian and track-and-field legend Lydia de Vega Mercado.

Stephanie continues her volleyball legacy today as a member of the Cignal HD Spikers. A true champ, she manages to balance pro sports and a corporate career as part of the Meralco marketing communication team. She shares her recipe for success with us.

THE PHILIPPINE STAR: What drew you to volleyball?

STEPHANIE MERCADO: I played lawn tennis before I started playing volleyball. Since tennis is an individual sport, I didn’t feel the sisterhood with teammates and the teamwork every training and game. For me, a team sport is more fun. That’s when I started to love volleyball and pursued playing the sport up to now.

What was your mother’s influence on you in terms of sports?

My mother has a big influence in terms of sports. She embedded discipline, a healthy lifestyle, and taught me self-motivation, as well as how to be a team player. She always reminds me to rest as much as possible, especially since I have a crazy corporate schedule from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and volleyball training from 6 to 9 p.m. daily. She reminds me as well not to quit and to do my best in every training and game. Training will always be hard, but your hard work will pay off and will show during the games.

How do you train? Is there any special routine that you do?

During training, we start with proper warm-up, more on dynamic movement, and after the warm-up, we start stretching with a partner. After that, our coaches will start with our training program; mostly ball handling leading up to a 6-on-6 scrimmage. My special routine is to have at least seven hours of sleep daily, eat chicken or fish before training and eat chicken or beef after training; plus drink whey protein for faster muscle recovery.

What is your physical objective in training?

My physical objective is to feel body pain after. For me, that means I did the workout or program properly. Also, throughout consecutive training days, I must feel stronger, lighter and faster, that means that I am improving as a volleyball player and slowly getting my peak performance.

How would you describe your habits? Are you a consistent health buff?

To keep your body in good health is a duty, otherwise you will not be able to keep your mind strong and clear. Do I consider myself a health buff? I must say yes because for me, the greatest wealth is health. I consider my habits an investment to be a healthier me. Eating the right food plus having enough sleep helps me to feel healthy, perform better, and feel stronger every day.

What part of your body do you work out the most?

My legs, core, and arms are the main body parts that I work out the most. In volleyball, we need strong legs to jump high, strong core for overall stability and strength, and arms for power spiking and serve. In every workout, I focus on these three.

What kind of diet goes along with your training routine?

Since I have daily trainings, I usually include fruits in my meal during breakfast. For lunch, I eat  either chicken or fish with lots of vegetables and for dinner, after training, I eat fish/beef plus whey protein for faster muscle recovery.

What is the best fitness advice that anyone has given you?

My mom advised me before, “The first step is always the hardest, but you’ll never regret it! Don’t forget to take care of yourself by eating healthy and having enough rest and sleep.”

What is the biggest challenge for you? Do you have a problem area?

I consider my daily schedule as a challenge. I have a desk job starting 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., sometimes I have to extend due to work deadlines. Right after work, I have to rush to our training venue for training from 6 to 9 p.m. Schedule is really a big challenge. I am lucky that my body can still manage the demands without any serious injuries or sickness, but I don’t take my body for granted. As much as possible I rest, especially on weekends. I just stay home and get all the sleep I can get. Whenever I feel body pain in my three important body parts, I go immediately to see my doctor to know what meds to take and therapy to do for faster recovery.

What is your greatest achievement and how did you attain it?

My greatest achievement in volleyball is when I won an award as the First Best Open Spiker in the Philippine Superliga All Filipino Conference Season 2, 1st Conference. I was a team member of the Air Asia Flying Spikers back then. I remember our training program was so intense that I lost approximately 10-12 pounds in less than two months and that was the time I was still adjusting to my schedule at work and in volleyball. I remember crying before I went to bed because of the extreme fatigue, but I had to go to work the next day and continue with my daily schedule. At first, it was hard, but I learned to cope with it and adjust. There were times that I had to miss my training because of work, but that helped me to rest longer and recover. I felt really great after knowing that I earned that award. All the hard work paid off.

How do you apply what you have learned from volleyball in your daily life?

Back in college, I learned that it is better to suffer with discipline rather than suffer with regret. I believe I was a disciplined student athlete. I sacrificed a lot of time with my family and friends just to reach my goal to become a responsible student athlete. With that routine, I learned to apply being disciplined and responsible in my daily life. Up to now, I still sleep long, eat healthy, and choose my actions that will help me as a person.

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Post me a note at mylene@goldsgym.com.ph or mylenedayrit@gmail.com.