Serena Williams and MMA fighter George St. Pierre recently joined forces to lead participants in a killer workout to demonstrate a brand new product: the Enduracool instant cooling towel. Considering that overheating, heat illness and heat stroke are among the top concerns for athletes at all levels, these two certainly understand the need to keep cool.

Serena, who has played in some of the hottest conditions imaginable, well over 100 degrees in Australia, says that the old school ice in the towel trick to wrap around your neck to prevent overheating just wasn’t cutting it anymore.  She worked with MISSION Athletecare to create a product which would achieve the goal of cooling down athletes or anyone else after a grueling workout.  The Enduracool towel is made of special fabric which once wet and snapped in the air cools down to 59 degrees for up to 2 hours.  The company says it “delivers fast, long lasting cooling effects to enhance performance and combat overheating for athletes at all levels of play.”

We certainly were going to need to cool down after working out with Serena who kicked our butts with a killer boot camp circuit.  Tuck jumps, pushups, and V sit ups were among the moves that the legendary tennis star had the group doing for 1 minute high intensity intervals for 30 minutes.  If this is her usual workout then no wonder she has 13 grand slam championships!

After the workout (and after we were able to recover a bit), I spoke with Serena about her favorite workout hair tips for black women, her favorite healthy meals, and her favorite guilty snacks.  Black women and hair is one of the biggest deterrents to getting in a high intensity workout because it sweats out any fresh style.

Serena says after trying a lot of different hairstyles, she finds it easiest to wear the curly look where she just works out without tying it up. After a workout, she rinses her hair and applies a lot of leave-in conditioner.  The big and bouncy curls she has are certainly a good look and probably a good choice for someone who is very active especially in the hot summer months.

Another key challenge for women looking to get fit is improving our nutrition.  After her sister Venus Williams was diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that can cause fatigue and joint pain, Venus changed her diet and now eats only vegan and raw foods.  “I live with my sister now and she went raw and vegan so since we live together I try to not eat too crazy.  I try to just eat what she eats and I’m starting to love green juices.”  Serena also said one of her favorite healthy meals is arugula salad with apples.  When she’s not at home she, like everyone else, sometimes cheats.  Serena says she doesn’t crave chocolate but put her in a room with some Swedish fish and she might eat the whole bag.  “I love candy.  I ate all the Swedish fish in my hotel today [laughs].”

Serena is off to Madrid next and will certainly take her Enduracool cooling towel along for the hot summer matches coming up.