Successful athletes have their own whimsical ways to stay in shape and healthy. The veteran footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo also has some bizarre ways to have that advantage and edge over his competitors.
Cristiano Ronaldo and his bizarre ways to be in form
Every athlete wants to win. And for that he or she does practice regularly. Also, most of them have some odd ways of their own to remain in health and shape. Similarly, the famous Cristiano Ronaldo tries some weird methods for it.
Recently, some of his eagle eyed fans noticed that Cristiano had painted his toenails black. When queried, he replied that it was to prevent athlete’s foot. This is a condition in which bacteria and fungi infect the toenails due to warmth and moisture after perspiration at that site with socks and boots on.
Cristiano is obsessed with his health. He is into vigorous fitness routines. And the results are clear. A test done on him revealed that the 38 year old athlete has a body that is 14 years younger than his chronological age. He has 7% fat and 50% of his body is muscle mass. An average football player has 11% fat mass.
Cristiano’s daily diet
Most people eat three major meals in a day. But Cristiano has six mini meals in a day. Instead of breakfast, lunch and dinner, he has breakfast, brunch, lunch, snack, supper and dinner. But these are all mini meals. Scientists are still unclear on whether frequent smaller meals are good for health or not. But many athletes globally have food just like Cristiano does.
This type of eating pattern probably helps to keep up the energy levels that football players need for their daily training and exercise routines. Cristiano has a personal nutritionist who has been with him since his early days with Real Madrid.
If we look at his food favorites, he enjoys nutritious avocados and fresh fish. Cristiano has high proteins in his daily diet. But he has less of fats daily. He prefers chicken and believes that it is a magical food. Moreover, he also has fresh fruits, salad and whole grains like quinoa daily.
His team players had once revealed that Cristiano loves Bacalhau a Bras. This is a traditional food dish that contains scrambled eggs with fried potatoes and salted cod.
But Cristiano avoids all sugary drinks. During a press conference at Euro 2020, he asked for Coca-Cola bottles to be kept away from the seating area. He had at that time shouted in Portuguese language: Drink Water.
Other health routines of Cristiano
Cristiano has multiple small naps in a day rather than one long sleep. But the total amounts to 7.5 hours of sleep daily which is good. He takes this as 5 naps each lasting 90 minutes. This is polyphasic sleep. And this is similar to baby’s sleep. There are claims that this type of sleep increases alertness, focus, ability to learn and retain and productivity. Cristiano started this after meeting sport sleep expert Nick Littlehales.
Moreover, he has a Cryotherapy chamber worth £50,000 in his home. In this liquid nitrogen brings the temperature down to -200C (-328F). This is said to help reduce body inflammation and swelling at injury site. Muscle pain decreases and recovery time is faster. But a person should be in the chamber for less than five minutes. Scientific data on it is mixed. Cristiano uses it for 3 minutes at -160C (-356F) only.
Also, read Who is Cristiano Ronaldo? Family, Partner, Biography
Cristiano has 3 to 4 hours of workouts daily. These include Pilates, and regular swim sessions with five trips to the gym in one week.