The incredible fitness regime behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s enviable success

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The incredible fitness regime behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s enviable success | Image: Emaze.com


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Portuguese footballing genius Cristiano Ronaldo has proven it yet again that he is an “insatiable footballing machine”, specially after some unstoppable performance in the last couple of months after recovering the serious injury he suffered during the Euro Cup last year which started questioning his dominance in world football in the future. But as he has always done like a true legend, he proved his critics wrong once again. His last two Champions League performances against footballing giants like Bayern Munich and Atletico de Madrid.

The man himself has confessed of late, that he is looking after himself carefully, that he isn’t spending every hour possible on the training field. This is another Cristiano Ronaldo, both mentally and now physically. He is taking the steps to completely reinvent himself, convinced that he has reached the point where he must change to keep performing at the same level.

After Euro 2016, Cristiano Ronaldo decided that he had to reshape himself, to change, to change his style. It was a personal decision, not a medical one, nor one from the physios who do everything that they can in order to help him physically. The Portugal international put himself on a special diet, and from getting on the scales at 82 kilograms he started the season at 79 kilograms. Famous physiotherapist Puspaketu Koner told www.xtratime.in , “The basic difference from Ronaldo and the other athletes is that Ronaldo is extremely serious and conscious about his fitness, rehab and diet. His personal nutritionist and fitness trainer too work tirelessly for him. After the Euro Cup, it was more like a challenge for him. He changed his fitness regime too I think.”

With this change, the Real Madrid forward wanted to regain some of the freshness that he had previously felt in football. He felt a little heavier and wanted to shed some weight, to feel as he always had done previously on the pitch.

Hand in hand with the choice to put himself on a fitness regime came a change to his daily workload. He had previously worked on his physique, to levels which some players would have found worrying. Carlo Ancelotti, for example, was not a fan of working in the gym without any control, and due to this he slowed Alvaro Arbeloa right down. Some coaches believe that building excessive strength and muscle is the best option, as it gives more speed and agility on the field of play.

This change, with the objective of reaching the end of the season at his peak, came with the intention of building training and work up slowly. He looked to come into the final months of the season at 100%, something which he hasn’t been able to do since 2013.

Ronaldo has arrived in April without any physical problems, with less muscle, but with the positive feeling of moving much easier on the pitch. He isn’t the same size as in previous years, he now looks more like a traditional footballer, but his goals against Bayern as more of a No.9 have highlighted what he can do with his intuition and speed.

The physical structure of Ronaldo too is different from the other athletes, believes Phisiotherapist Puspaketu Koner. He told www.xtratime.in, “He has a different physical structure altogether. Normally, this kind of structure, muscle strength are not commonly found.”