Olympic rugby’s biggest breakout star is not only a “girl’s girl,” she’s also a “team’s athlete.”
Despite her singular personality, 29-year-old Ilona Maher always thinks of herself as part of a larger whole, especially at the gym. Every time a fan asks about her workout routine — which is often — she answers truthfully: “whatever my coach tells me to do.”
“I am kind of a team’s athlete through and through, where I just really listen to what my coach says and do his plan,” the Vermont-born athlete tells The Post. Typically, that involves some kind of lift and some kind run. And it always involves trying to get stronger each time.
Her strength, or rather her physique, is the focal point of a lot of media attention and comments from internet trolls. Just this week, she posted on her Instagram about a “recent interaction” that made her feel self-conscious about her shoulders.
“Afterward, I looked in the mirror and got worried they were too big,” she wrote. “I flexed and checked them. I wondered to myself if anyone would find them attractive. If they are too much.”
Though she, like anyone else, may be prone to the occasional moment of weakness, she’s also been very vocal about embracing her body for exactly the powerhouse that it is.
For example, her thighs — muscular, mighty and famously fully bared on a 2024 cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit following Team USA’s first bronze Olympic medal in rugby sevens — are the stuff of legends.
She may be the one who made “rugby thighs” hot, but she never hits the gym with any kind of aesthetic in mind. “I go for strength,” she says.
Her genetics are also doing a lot of the heavy-lifting. If you want rugby thighs of your own, she says, the first step is to “get two parents who are built like brick houses.”
Bulgarian split squats and leg presses can help, but more often than not, Maher is just focusing on getting a full-body workout with optimal form.
“S–t, I was just blessed, you know. Amen,” she says. “Sorry, what can I say?”
She attributes some of her success at building muscle to her recovery, too. Especially her protein and fiber intake.
As part of a partnership promoting Perfect Bar’s new Protein + Prebiotics line of refrigerated protein bars — formulated with prebiotic fiber and 20 grams of protein — Maher talks about the importance of feeding the body what it needs after an intense workout.
“Food is fuel, but it’s also comfort in many ways,” she says. “And thankfully, the Perfect Bar is actually delicious, because I don’t like eating things that aren’t good. Does not fill me with joy.”
Her diet otherwise is surprisingly simple. “I really am just, like, a whole food person. I like anything that is real,” she says. That includes eggs, pasta and bread.
“Cheese! Frick. I love cheese too,” she adds.
“Because of how much my muscles are breaking down,” Maher says, a “typical” workout is followed up with something high in protein and fiber to help her body repair.
“When you’re not fueling right, it’s almost like [you’ve] lost the time that you’ve spent in the gym,” she says.
Speaking of the gym, Maher is pretty used to men who try to challenge her there — but though she puts them to shame, they’re usally impressed.
“I love doing a fit workout class with some older men,” she said. “It’s me and Bob going at it pound for pound.
“It gives me energy. And I am f—ing those guys up.”
