“I feel like I should find a job in the off-season,” Caitlin Clark had said in a press conference prior to the LPGA Pro-Am. Clear with her break, away from the court, the Indiana poster girl turned to golf during the 2024 off-season, rejecting a once-in-a-lifetime deal from the Unrivaled. Clark has probably been the most stressed-out athlete in the country in the last two years, going from a record-breaking season at Iowa to the WNBA, the top of the basketball ladder. All that with little time to rest in between. But, as much as Clark is competitive and hardworking on the court, she balances that with plenty of activities away from the sport, too.

A few weeks in Cabo with her boyfriend, Connor McCaffery, and some Fever teammates is all she had before stepping into the ring of fire that is the WNBA. She got that because she was snubbed from the Paris Olympics squad. It’s definitely a privilege to play a sport you love at a professional level, as she has confessed multiple times, but everything takes a toll on a person. Clark is a human, after all.  

“I think [the break] was great for her body, her mind, her soul, probably,” when White said, Clark couldn’t stay away but agreed.“It was nice to get away from everything and just kind of be able to live my life as a normal person … to just be Caitlin,” Clark told ESPN. So, does CC not like all the glamor that comes along with her on-court brilliance? The Fever star had an answer. “Don’t get me wrong, I love basketball and having the spotlight and playing with my teammates … but eventually getting away from that was really healthy for me.”

After her hectic schedule in the past year, Clark had a time to reset at last. Her time this off-season involved some quality time with family and friends back in Iowa. Since she is a grade-A star, there were some public appearances she had to make, while some she got to. The basketball star hung out with Taylor Swift as both watched a Chiefs game. It was a major crossover moment for the Swifites, who are WNBA and Indiana Fever fans. She caught up with her boyfriend after an intense season over a game of golf, only 10 days into the offseason.

To live like a normal person is a challenge for any celebrity; they have to pretend to be the ideal person all the time, be it on camera and on the court, or even off camera. Even the slightest flaw or the slightest of mistakes that would be looked over for a normal person is scrutinized for a person like Caitlin. So, each minute in this time off carried its worth in gold for Caitlin. It gives her space to let go. To be with the people she loves, to whom she can’t give enough time during the season.

Even in her offseason, there was no getting away from one of her teammates as Lexie Hull and Caitlin Clark share a bond even beyond the court. McCaffrey and Caitlin are frequent to Lexie Hull’s game nights along with her fiancé, Will Matthiessen, where things would get competitive, according to Lexie.

“You see her and her boyfriend going at it, her and I going at it,” Hull said. “I don’t know if she and her boyfriend talk on the ride home because it gets so competitive, but it’s fun.”

McCaffrey, being a former basketball player at Iowa, too, has that competitive DNA ingrained in him along with Clark. Every sports person, be it at any level, has that instinct to be better than their competitor, be it anything. Even a simple card game could turn extremely competitive, even if there is no prize.

This instinct is amplified when it’s someone at the top of her sport, like Caitlin and Connor, who is no slouch either, being among the coaching staff at the Indiana Pacers. It’s this drive that somehow shapes Caitlin and Connor to be successful. I am sure the loser in the game at Hull’s would challenge the winner for revenge the minute they were back home.

Caitlin Clark is getting stronger, but how?

“I certainly feel a lot stronger,” CC said ahead of the 2025 WNBA season, and she has visibly gained a lot of muscle mass, as her photo of accidentally flexing her biceps while cheering on the Iowa Hawkeyes at the Big Ten Conference Tournament went viral. She has long mentioned that was going to be her main focus in the long offseason.

Her struggles against more physical and stronger players last season are well documented, as the rookie had a hard time adjusting to the physicality of the WNBA. She eventually found her way out through finesse and her skill, but now she doesn’t have to. Clark can now be just as physical, seeing her gains from the offseason.

Sarah Kessler, the Fever’s head athletic performance coach, was the go-to person for Caitlin as she assisted her through the transformation from last season. Since the offseason in the WNBA lasts more than 5 months, what Clark wanted was achievable. She had to be disciplined through her rigorous training and diet.

Alexa Philippou wrote, “Kessler focuses on a lot of single-leg work to build explosiveness with guards, and Clark was no exception. Kessler incorporated isometrics to help Clark improve her time under tension and keep a low center of gravity. She tends to play upright, White said, which makes it easier to get knocked off balance.”

What Philippou means is the weight distribution of Clark is such that with very little force she was losing control of her body. With these exercises, she can now better soak in the impact and work around the defender using her quick thinking. It also helps reduce injury risks as it enhances the integrity of the joints.

The explosive runs that Clark often makes will now be quicker, as she will be going past the defender before she has the time to think. Kessler also incorporated single-arm exercises, which improved the muscle imbalance in Clark’s arms. The guard herself acknowledged that her left arm was a bit too weak to throw certain passes. With both arms capable of giving pinpoint passes, it just multiplied the threat that Clark was before. Along with all the exercises, Kessler also added creatine to Clark’s diet.

Being one of the most researched supplements, creatine helps in increasing your muscle mass and basically gives you more power. While doing the weights, you can lift more than usual, which leads to better growth. It is particularly helpful in explosive activities, which are one of the most important parts of basketball. With this added strength, Caitlin Clark is poised to elevate her already impressive game to the next level.