Despite being 33 years old, the Portuguese striker still receives a “shower of compliments” from everyone because of his toned appearance, flexible body, and quickness and sensitivity. No matter what secret he applies, the key to Ronaldo’s success can be summed up in two words: “persistence”.
Recently, Cristiano Ronaldo underwent a medical examination at Juventus and the results surprised many people, even Juventus’ experienced medical experts were equally surprised.
Ronaldo’s medical report shows that the striker’s physical condition is as young as that of a 20-year-old athlete, which is 13 years younger than his actual age. From the results, it can be seen that Ronaldo’s body fat is only 7%, 3% lower than the average for a football player. This is indeed rare!
CR7 confirmed that he did not come to Juventus to “retire”.
Ronaldo’s muscle mass is at 50%, 4% higher than average. Not only that, CR7 completely surpassed other players in the 2018 FIFA World Cup when reaching the fastest sprint speed – 39.98 km/h.
Maintaining such a fit body for a 33-year-old player is not easy. So how did Ronaldo do it? It is thanks to his strict adherence to these 4 things.
1. Maintain a scientific and reasonable diet
Ronaldo always strictly maintains his scientific diet. Instead of eating 3 meals/day like others, Ronaldo often divides it into 5-6 small meals/day, helping his body have enough energy to perform best in each practice. His meal menu is quite simple but there are four things that must always be included: green vegetables, fresh fruit, cereals and protein.
“A good workout must be combined with a reasonable diet,” he shared. “I eat a high-protein diet with lots of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and avoid sugary foods.”
For CR7, breakfast is an important meal of the day and often includes dishes such as bacon, cheese, toast with fresh butter, yogurt,… along with some fruits. Besides, he often chooses filtered water, coffee or fresh fruit juice in the morning.
For lunch, he usually eats fish and often orders swordfish and sea bass because fish has a lot of good protein for the body and less fat than meat. Thanks to that, he always maintains a healthy body without excess fat while still providing enough protein required.
He will eat more beef, chicken, fish and salad for lunch and dinner. He only eats one or two plates at each meal and always makes sure his meals have enough necessary nutrients, especially protein.
Bacalhau a braz – a mixture of cod, onions, thinly sliced potatoes and scrambled eggs is CR7’s favorite dish. At restaurants, Ronaldo said he often orders steak and salad.
Because he understands the harmful effects of both sugary foods and drinks as well as alcoholic drinks on the body, Ronaldo always avoids eating and drinking foods such as soft drinks, alcohol, fast food… Instead, he actively drinks water and always focuses on replenishing water and energy for the body after each match with egg whites, whole grains or fruits.
2. Swimming and hot and cold showers to recover after each match
After every match, Ronaldo goes swimming. He usually swims alone or with his son in his private pool at home. After swimming, he takes both cold and hot showers to stimulate muscle recovery and also insists on taking ice baths at 3am if he wants to recover after a match or at 5am to warm up and start a new day.
Ronaldo also massages his muscles with a high-pressure water jet and installs a £50,000 Cryotherapy chamber for special treatments. This chamber sprays liquid nitrogen and the temperature inside the chamber will be maintained at -160 to -200 degrees Celsius.
After every match or training session, he usually spends 3 minutes soaking in the Cryotherapy chamber. Thanks to that, his body’s ability to recover is enhanced while excess fat is reduced, helping Ronaldo stay young longer.
However, the most important thing is Ronaldo’s spirit and will. He always strictly follows the muscle recovery regimen to “rejuvenate” and maintain his physical condition, not ignoring any treatment method to help restore his body because of fatigue.
3. Maintain a healthy lifestyle
Ronaldo doesn’t just spend a few hours, but his whole life pursuing a healthy lifestyle, not just physically but mentally. He said: “Learn to train your mind as well as your body. Mental strength is as important as physical strength and will help you achieve your goals.
Be disciplined. Staying motivated and following a daily routine is key. For me, there is no room for laxity, I have to be strict.”
When not training, Ronaldo tries to maintain a relaxed and peaceful lifestyle despite being a famous player and receiving a lot of attention. He explains that training and maintaining fitness are the most important things, but living comfortably will help you reach your best state both physically and mentally. “I spend my free time with my family and friends. This helps me relax and think more positively,” CR7 said.
In addition, he always sleeps 8 hours a day because getting enough sleep will help Ronaldo’s muscles recover after hours of hard training in the gym as well as on the field. Ronaldo said: “Going to bed on time and getting enough sleep is really important, it helps training achieve the highest efficiency. I always go to bed early and wake up early, especially before each match. Sleep will help the muscles recover.”
4. Strictly follow the training schedule and rigorous exercises
Every day, CR7 always spends at least 3-4 hours in the gym as well as on the field and practices diligently 5 sessions/week to help improve both physical strength and technique. In addition to practicing on the field with his teammates, he also practices on his own in a professional gym built at home.
Coach Paul Clement – who worked with Ronaldo when he played for Real Madrid – said that the striker is always ready to train anytime and anywhere. Ronaldo himself once said: “Train wherever you can. You can do abs in bed every morning when you wake up or before going to bed. If you do something every day, it becomes easier because it becomes a habit.”
Ronaldo often practices a combination of Pilates exercises – exercises that combine elastic equipment that can react to the body such as belts, springs and Reformer Pilates beds. This series of exercises requires the practitioner to spend more effort than other simple exercises but is very effective. It not only helps the practitioner increase muscle strength, improve health but also helps strengthen the will, improve flexibility, endurance and adjust the body to be more balanced.
Besides Pilates, he also has a pretty interesting exercise to increase his endurance and maintain his main shooting ability when he is not in the best physical condition: pull-ups with a ball between his knees. After every 10 pull-ups, he relaxes, brings the ball down to his right foot and takes a shot, sending the ball to a specific position 2 meters away.
Thanks to hard work and always practicing with high intensity, Ronaldo possesses a strong, healthy body that makes many fans admire and is in the top of the most beautiful bodies in the world.
At the same time, his “crazy” workout routine has also inspired Ronaldo to join hands with an American exercise equipment manufacturing company to open a chain of CR7-branded gyms worldwide in the coming years.
