Did you ever wonder about what Cristiano Ronaldo does to keep in shape? What kind of training exercises and drills does he take, in order to always be in top form? Below, you may find plenty of information regarding Ronaldo's workout, diet plans and gym exercises that you can replicate to get the same body as CR7.
Cristiano Ronaldo is known for being obsessed with his training routine. There's a particular quote from Sir Alex Ferguson, which illustrates this phenomenon perfectly: "There's no fluke about it. I see Ronaldo practising all the time in training." Besides the mental motivation needed, there's certainly another very important attribute that CR7 owns and that everyone need to keep in mind when attempting to get in shape: Discipline. Common or trivial quotes such as "No pain, no gain" are indeed true, but Cristiano Ronaldo and other top athletes are well aware of how important it is to set training routines and follow them without slacking.
An important note that should be outlined before we start, is the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo is indeed a professional athlete and he's surrounded and followed closely by professional fitness coaches and expert dietitians. Since his arrival to Old Trafford, Ronaldo has suffered a major body transformation, from a skinny boy to a muscled man and that didn't happen by accident.
Cristiano Ronaldo practices around 5 times per week in Real Madrid training camp, Valdebebas, depending on the games schedule they have that week. On average, he trains around 3-4 hours per day and follows a strict diet plan. In the "Regresso dos Incríveis 2010" documentary (it can be seen inside the "Videos section), Ronaldo also assumed that he respects a lot his sleeping hours and that he likes to go to bed early at night, so he can get up early as well.
::: 3 to 4 hours of daily practice that assure a very low body fat level (<10%)
::: Several periods of running for state cardio (25-30 mins)
::: High intensity and "explosive" sprinting drills (short-period exercises)
::: Technical drills to enhance skills and ball control
::: Football tactical exercises to improve understanding with teammates
::: Gym exercises to develop specific muscles but also his total body strenght
Getting the famous six pack abs like Cristiano Ronaldo has, can be a hard challenge. One thing you must have in mind is that your abs definition will only show up after you achieve very low body fat levels. If you're still a bit fat, it doesn't matter if you do 1000 or 3000 abs per day, because your abs will always keep beneath some of your fat skin. That being said, the first advice is to work on getting your body fat levels at 10% or below that, and assure you burn your excessive fat faster than usual. To improve the core strenght, you should aim at exercises such as planks and renegade rows, as those will help more than regular crunches, in order to reduce abdominal fat. As a curiosity, in 2009, British media "Daily Star" released a piece reporting that Cristiano Ronaldo had a 3000 sit ups daily routine (3.000 abs per day), even quoting a close source to Ronaldo saying: "He can spend well over an hour every day toning his abs, sometimes while watching TV."
There's no secret behind the fact that a great workout routine won't work well if you don't combine it with a good diet plan. Cristiano Ronaldo is well aware of this need and he surely pays great attention to what he eats. Below, we'll give an example of a typical diet plan you can follow:
::: Meal Frequency - One of the most important factors is how often you eat during the day. There's a recommended period of 2 to 4 hours between small meals/snacks, which could result in around 6 meals per day. Eating less, but eating in a more distributed way during the day, will help your body turning stronger and also keep your metabolism high. You should avoid foods and drinks with lots of sugar (yes, including coca-cola), since they create blood sugar pikes.
::: Breakfast - A good night sleep should probably be set as step 1 (around 8 hours of sleep are recommended for the body to properly rest). After that, you should go for food with protein and carbohydrates, such as fruit, whole-grain cereals, eggs or milk. This is one of the most important meals of the day, so pay great attention to what you eat and don't forget to don't let pass more than 2-3 hours before you eat a small snack.
::: Lunch - First rule about lunch is to don't eat too much food. You'll need to aim to a low-calorie meal, with fruits and lots of vegetables. You can choose from a light pasta dish or a chicken "Caesar" salad, since they are rich in vitamins, proteins and minerals (low in calories).
::: Dinner - The final meal of the day (not including periodic snacks) should consist in food rich in fiber, proteins, vitamins and carbohydrates. You could pick several dishes for this purpose and as our suggestion, you could go with a chicken breast, green beans, rice and a piece of fruit for dessert. Try to avoid eating dinner near to your bedtime, since that won't help at all. As far as we know, Ronaldo doesn't include any sort of "whey protein isolate" or anything similar, within his workout and eating plans, but those who are interested in speeding up the bulking up process, might find these type of products online, for quite affordable prices.
Bottom of line, following these training exercises, drills and tips can help you becoming more healthier, since they are based on Cristiano Ronaldo's workout routine, but you'll need to be strongly motivated and disciplined. Take Ronaldo example, as he has always worked hard and he's mentality strong, allowing him to keep focused on his targets during his entire life so far.
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