Some players are master technicians. Others are supreme athletes. The rest run around a lot. Ronaldo is a hybrid of the three. He is football’s Terminator.
Not only do those perfectly sculpted muscles cause an epidemic of wobbly knees; they also serve a functional purpose on the pitch.
His power-packed legs can propel him 78cm into the air – 7cm higher than the average NBA player – to score headers such as his towering effort against Manchester United in 2013. Or how about the time those legs carried him 96m in 10 seconds? He may have only hit the post against Atletico Madrid after hurtling across the Bernabeu pitch, but it’s an impressive show of speed nonetheless. And he managed it having already covered 7km during the game.
CR7 isn’t an Olympian masquerading as a footballer. His knuckleball free-kicks clock in at 80mph, helping him to score the odd goal (491 of them for club and country if you’re counting – he is).
He was blessed with extraordinary talent, yes, but Ronaldo’s dedication to training and self-improvement is even more extraordinary. “I’ve made the most of the talent I’ve got,” he says. “I know what to do. Everybody has some sort of talent; you just have to find a way of finding it. A lot of the time people look for excuses. When you want something, you can achieve it.”
Follow our specially designed pre-season training plan to arm yourself with defence-shattering strength and power. As the man himself would say: no excuses.
The Cristiano Ronaldo training guides
Boost your body to out-power all-comers
Rise above the rest
Train like a superstar: Essential cardio
Eat like a superstar: Muscle fuel
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