Despite nearing his 40s, Cristiano Ronaldo still stays at the top of his game.
Cristiano Ronaldo: the Global Football Star
Being a back-to-back winner who has won 32 trophies throughout his career, Cristiano Ronaldo is considered a living football legend. Not to mention, he still manages to pull off matches when several professional players his age have already retired from the field.
This year, he is participating in the Al-Nassr Games in Saudi Arabia. The Goal reports that on top of having 11 goals and two assists during his first 13 appearances, he was also able to score all three goals to win against Damac and was the only one to be recorded in the scoresheet with a 4-0 victory against Al-Wehda.
How Cristiano Ronaldo Maintains His Premium Caliber
Cristiano Ronaldo's premium caliber is highly questionable. But now, the question is: how exactly was the global football star able to stay athletic despite already being 38 years old?
Apparently, the world star has strict and interesting diet and sleep plans that he sticks to.
Diet: 'Magical' Chicken, Fish, Avocado Toast
For one, the star athlete follows a strict diet regimen. As per MailOnline, the star typically opts for low-fat yogurt, ham, and cheese for his breakfast. Though excess dairy could lead to fat, small quantities or low-fat counterparts are rich protein and calcium sources. These may help build muscles and keep bones healthy.
But as a whole, the star opts for leaner meat for his protein fix. As per Republic Word, fish is an important part of Ronaldo's diet. He is known to regularly eat swordfish. sea bream, cod, and sea bass. Compared to red meat, these white fish have low fat and high protein.
Aside from fish, chicken is also extremely important for the world star. In fact, as per MailOnline, he once hailed it "magical" due to its low-fat and high-protein mix.
On top of these, fresh fruit, whole grains, and salads can be seen on his plates each day, while he reportedly eats avocado toast as a snack to power him up.
One thing, however, that he reportedly avoids are sugary drinks.
Sleep Regimen: Five Naps Throughout the Day
Ronaldo's sleep regimen is quite different from the eight-hour sleep schedule. Rather than this, he has five 90-minute naps throughout the day. This totals 7.5 hours of sleep.
As per Mirror, Ronaldo's sleep advisor, Nick Littlehales, has instructed him on how to rest, how he should prepare his body for kick-off moments, and what should be done before and after his naps.
The Sun also reports that Littlehales notes that this method is a way for the man to sleep less yet boost recovery.
Ronaldo also maintains a fetal position as he sleeps in order to reap health benefits, such as posture improvements and back problem prevention.
MailOnline notes that overall, the supposed advantages of the practice include better alertness, productivity, and the learning and retention abilities.
However, other scientists think that polyphasic sleep does not yield the same benefits as the typical sleep schedule.
Cryotherapy Chamber
Aside from having sleep and diet regimens, Ronaldo also has a cryotherapy chamber that is reportedly thought to help reduce injury swelling and inflammation. It does so by boosting the circulation of blood as the body reacts to the extremely low temperatures.
However, exposure should not go beyond five minutes in order to keep healthy tissues healthy.
Ronaldo has been a fan of the practice for almost ten years and has been using it cautiously.
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