At 38, Cristiano Ronaldo stands as the all-time leading goalscorer in football history, with a remarkable 782 career goals. His illustrious career includes five Ballon d’Or awards and 30 major trophies earned with Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus.
Ronaldo’s extraordinary success is driven by his relentless work ethic. He’s famous for being the first to arrive at training and the last to leave the pitch. Alongside his rigorous training, the Portuguese superstar follows a meticulous diet, consuming up to six meals a day to maintain peak performance.
For breakfast, the 36-year-old has ham, cheese and yoghurt. He then puts some avocado on toast as a mid-morning snack.
Ronaldo usually has two lunches. The first is chicken salad, and the second is usually some kind of fish accompanied by salad, eggs and olives.
In the evening, Ronaldo eats two meals. He will eat fish, steak or chicken. Ronaldo’s total daily energy intake is usually around 3,200 calories.
For the average person, that would be overkill. But with Ronaldo’s extremely active lifestyle, which includes on-field training, pilates, and swimming, this diet seems to suit him perfectly.
In fact, Ronaldo’s splitting of meals is a way to absorb energy for training but not put too much into one meal, leading to excess energy causing fat accumulation.
The meats that CR7 consumes are mainly white meats such as chicken and fish, which are the lowest fat sources of protein, beneficial for muscle gain.
Besides, eating a lot of salad also helps provide more fiber and creates a feeling of fullness quickly to avoid cravings later.
High intensity exercise often makes the Portuguese striker tired and sleepy.
Ronaldo is a client of sleep expert Nick Littlehales – who recommends all his clients take five 90-minute naps a day, for a total of 7.5 hours.
Some sources say that Ronaldo sleeps 5 short naps a day and sleeps all night, with a total sleep time of up to 14 hours. Getting enough sleep helps muscles recover faster.
Despite being extremely strict with his diet and training routine, staying away from alcohol and sugar, the Portuguese superstar occasionally indulges by treating himself to small gifts like a glass of wine or sneaking in a few bars of chocolate. During a press conference ahead of Portugal’s Euro 2020 opener against Hungary, the striker removed two bottles of fizzy drinks from the table and replaced them with water.
Perhaps it is Ronaldo’s strict routine that has helped him maintain his form at the age of nearly 40 and remain one of the all-time greats in football history.
