Lionel Messi has over the years received accolades for his extraordinary talent and star qualities, but how does he keep up his physical condition and form?
Whether he is considered the greatest player of all time or not, Lionel Messi remains among the best to have ever stepped onto a football field.
Every season it seems like the Barcelona star gets better, confounding the expectations that come with being older and past your ‘peak’ years.
Despite freshly landing in his thirties, Messi still looks better and brighter than ever and doesn’t look to be slowing down any time soon. So what is the secret to his football abilities, and how much of it is down to his dietary and workout regime as opposed to raw, innate, natural talent?
How Lionel Messi Train
Compared to his former La Liga adversary Cristiano Ronaldo, who is well-known for his intense training schedule, Messi isn’t as physically fit. He must, meanwhile, adhere to a consistent training schedule while being watched over by his coaches.
Pinata claims that the Argentine’s training are mostly focused on making sure his physique is ready for action. Prior to every game, he concentrates on increasing his agility and improving his linear speed.
In order to build his speed, his workout is divided into different sections which contain several exercises. In terms of basic movement, he practises the pillar bridge-front, lunges, hamstring stretches, and pillar skips. He also uses the hurdle hop as well as split squats in order to strengthen his core and leg muscles. To end his portion of the workout, he does different acceleration drills to boost his pace.
Making the most of his multidirectional speed is the next stage of the linear speed training. To strengthen his legs even further, Messi performs squats, skipping ropes, and pillar skips. He avoids cones, diagonal hurdles, and other obstacles to increase his agility and lateral movements. Drinks a plenty of water to stay hydrated after working out, and jogs for five to ten minutes to wind down.
Lionel Messi’s Diet
Since you are what you eat, it seems sense that Messi follows a strict diet in order to keep up his football skills.
Since collaborating with him in 2014, Italian nutritionist Giuliano Poser has completely changed the Argentina international’s diet. He has determined that the cornerstones of Messi’s diet are five essential foods: water, olive oil, whole grains, fresh fruit, and fresh vegetables.
“Also very good are nuts and seeds,” Poser explained and has also advised his client to cut down on the sugar.
“[Sugar] is the worst thing for the muscles. The farther he stays away from sugars, the better,” he continued. “Refined flours are also a big problem as these days, it’s difficult to find uncontaminated wheat.”
Like many nutritionists working with athletes, he has advised against excessive meat consumption – something all too common in South America and Spain. “The amount of meat normally eaten by Argentinians and Uruguayans is too much, as it is difficult to digest,” he said.
“My methods are not in doubt, everyone can see Leo week in, week out.”
Messi’s “favourite recipe” was revealed by Barcelona to be roasted chicken with root vegetables. The club shared the recipe with supporters on its official website and it goes as follows:
- 30g olive oil
- Salt
- Four smashed garlic gloves
- One onion
- One bunch of carrots
- One leek
- 700-800g potatoes
- Four chicken thighs
- Fresh thyme
The instructions for cooking Messi’s favourite dish using the above ingredients are simple: Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade, add oil and salt to roasting tray, then add chopped vegetables and chicken. Once prepared, roast for 45 minutes at 190 degrees.
Messi is also a self-confessed fan of the Argentine speciality Milanesa (a thin fillet of beef shallow-fried in breadcrumbs), and has previously admitted his struggles with cutting out regular meat from his diet: “What you can put into your body at 18 or 19 years of age is not the same as what you can put in at 27.”
According to AS, the striker has also been told to give up pizza, another one of his favourite foods.
