{"id":419383,"date":"2026-01-19T14:31:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/419383\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T14:31:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:31:10","slug":"wnba-star-cameron-brink-shares-her-favorite-high-protein-breakfast-to-build-muscle-and-boost-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/419383\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA star Cameron Brink shares her favorite high-protein breakfast to build muscle and boost recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img alt=\"Los Angeles Sparks player Cameron Brink in a purple 22 jersey runs across the court in a WNBA game\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1242\" height=\"931\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img w-full w-full h-auto\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cfe966b23cf1aec39398796afad04f1a.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>WNBA star Cameron Brink said getting enough protein and carbs has been key to building muscle and staying fueled for games.Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">LA Sparks athlete Cameron Brink said she&#8217;s lifting weights and eating more protein to build muscle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Brink said her typical breakfast is high-protein overnight oats or chia pudding with lots of fiber.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Her game-day routine includes PB&amp;Js for energy. She said a flexible diet is key to avoiding stress.<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Brink is on a mission to get jacked.<\/p>\n<p>Sure, she&#8217;s is already a pro athlete for the WNBA. But the Los Angeles Sparks forward has become &#8220;kind of a snob&#8221; about <a class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/how-to-build-muscle-fast-bodybuilder-scientist-tips-2025-9?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=yahoo.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:building muscle;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">building muscle<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m stronger than I&#8217;ve ever been, and that&#8217;s because I&#8217;ve tried to be genuinely intentional about what I&#8217;m putting in my body and my routine,&#8221; she told me for Business Insider.<\/p>\n<p>Brink recently gushed over Zoom with me about her favorite <a class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/powerlifting-doctor-shares-exercises-build-muscle-longevity-2025-12?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=yahoo.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:strength training exercises;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">strength training exercises<\/a> (Bulgarian split squats) and equipment (a Keiser leg extension machine at her trainer&#8217;s house), laughing a little at herself. It&#8217;s a level of gym nerdiness that would have been unheard of for her a few years ago.<\/p>\n<p>But &#8220;that&#8217;s what ACL recovery does to you,&#8221; Brink said. Last season marked her return from a 2024 injury, and since then, she&#8217;s been all about lifting weights.<\/p>\n<p>For maximum muscle-building, Brink has also doubled down on <a class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/protein-mistakes-health-issues-hit-your-goals-without-wasting-money-2025-4?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=yahoo.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:optimizing protein;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">optimizing protein<\/a>, partnering with nutrition app MyFitnessPal, which she uses to stay on track.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Something I never realized is how much protein I actually need,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>At a listed height of 6&#8242; 4&#8243; (Brink said she&#8217;s actually an inch taller), getting enough fuel can feel like a full-time job.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m doing things that the average person doesn&#8217;t do. So that&#8217;s where I really needed to start tracking my protein and my macros. And it really made a huge difference,&#8221; Brink said.<\/p>\n<p>The rising star of women&#8217;s basketball gave me the rundown on her low-stress approach to food tracking, and what&#8217;s on the menu for a typical day in her life.<\/p>\n<p>What an WNBA star eats in a day<\/p>\n<p>Brink&#8217;s game plan for good nutrition starts the night before a busy day.<\/p>\n<p>In the evenings, she preps the next day&#8217;s breakfast: overnight oats or chia pudding, mixed with protein powder, berries, and honey.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"an arrangement of overnight oats with berries, nuts, seeds, honey, and cinnamon\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1242\" height=\"931\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img w-full w-full h-auto\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2b325dfe4dbdc131e9c08bc1be7465b2.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Overnight oats can be a convenient way to start the day with protein and healthy carbs.rudisill\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>The combo is full of <a class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/eat-more-carbs-live-longer-but-choose-right-ones-study-2025-5?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=yahoo.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:carbohydrates for energy;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">carbohydrates for energy<\/a>, including quick-digesting carbs for a short-term boost, along with slower-digesting complex carbs so Brink can stay full and focused on training. Her breakfast also packs in plenty of protein for muscle growth and <a class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/dietitian-shares-best-high-fiber-recipes-better-energy-gut-health-2025-1?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=yahoo.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:fiber for gut health;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">fiber for gut health<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Next up is coffee \u2014 Brink saves it for after the first meal of the day, to help provide more stable energy and prevent a crash later.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve shifted to having my caffeine after I have my breakfast, which I feel like has made a huge difference,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Brink also has a daily supplement regimen that includes iron, vitamin D, and <a class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/creatine-most-effective-fitness-supplement-science-burn-fat-build-muscle-2024-8?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=yahoo.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:muscle-building creatine;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">muscle-building creatine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Then comes a chef-prepared lunch at the Sparks&#8217; training facility, where Brink often opts for two pieces of salmon with a side of Japanese sweet potatoes and asparagus. Lunch is followed by a nap.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the day, Brink said she relies on snacks like bananas, dates with almond butter, or almonds.<\/p>\n<p>Before a game, her go-to fuel source is classic peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I love peanut butter and jelly. That&#8217;s what really fuels me through the game is just having some of the protein from the peanut butter, but a lot of carbs,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>On nights when she&#8217;s not playing, Brink makes dinner with her fianc\u00e9, former Stanford rower Ben Felter, who handles the protein while she preps the sides like pasta salad or baked potatoes.<\/p>\n<p>No restriction required<\/p>\n<p>Brink also treats herself, especially on the weekends, with food from Dave&#8217;s Hot Chicken or In-N-Out Burger.<\/p>\n<p>She said it&#8217;s important to keep a flexible approach to eating so she doesn&#8217;t feel guilty or obsess over what&#8217;s on her plate.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not going to beat myself up like, &#8216;Oh, I should have had 30 more grams of protein or something.&#8217; It&#8217;s just something I can build on for the next day,&#8221; Brink said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Read the original article on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/wnba-star-cameron-brink-go-to-breakfast-protein-fiber-2026-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Business Insider;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">Business Insider<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WNBA star Cameron Brink said getting enough protein and carbs has been key to building muscle and staying&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[46638,49,12189,48,2490,632,46640,32254,82,630],"class_list":["post-419383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-building-muscle","tag-ca","tag-cameron-brink","tag-canada","tag-lifting-weights","tag-los-angeles-sparks","tag-muscle-building","tag-protein-powder","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}