cristiano
ronaldo

Footballer

9 steps · last checked 20 oct 2026

bed around 11:20, up 8:30, water then the cold plunge, two to three minutes of morning light before coffee, and as much recovery as training.

in his own words on his UR · Cristiano channel and two WHOOP conversations. At 41 he says he doesn’t diet and doesn’t always want to train; he relies on routine and recovery. He invests in WHOOP, so those interviews are brand-hosted.

see the routine

bed~11:20 pm
wake8:30–8:45
resting hr43 bpm
steps~17,000/day

food · what his former chef described

what cristiano eats.

breakfastmorning
eggs, avocado, black coffee
no sugar at all, not even in the coffee, says his former chef, giorgio barone.
8·’26 9·’26
lunchafter training
chicken or fish, always vegetables
carbs from vegetables rather than pasta or bread, says his former chef.
8·’26
dinnerearly evening
fish or a fillet with vegetables
light, and early: “you don’t sleep well with your stomach full,” says his former chef.
8·’26 9·’26
the chef’s platedinner
salmon or cod, spinach, black rice
with lemon and extra virgin olive oil, and black or red rice instead of white, per his former chef.
9·’26
treatabout once a week
a burger and chips, or a dessert
his own words (2025): “once a week, it’s fine to eat ‘bad food’”; and he won’t refuse a cookie from his kids.
6·’25 7·’25

diet, to him, means routine6·’25
when young you can get away with 50% junk; the margin shrinks with age6·’25
no milk (his former chef)8·’26 9·’26
no protein target and no weighing food (his former chef)9·’26

the routine · 9 steps

cristiano’s day.

morning3 steps day6 steps

morning

8:30–8:45
The same bed and wake time
“I go bed around 11:20… and wake up 8:30, 8:45. It’s my routine.” He aims for about 8 hours.
sleep
First thing
Water, then straight into the cold plunge
he wakes, drinks water and dives into the cold plunge before he showers. By the WHOOP podcast he had logged 208 days of cold showers.
cold & heat
Before coffee
2–3 minutes of morning light
after family time, a few minutes of morning light in his eyes, then coffee.
light

day

Every dayapprox.
Train on commitment, not mood
“You think I go to the gym every day wanting to? It’s not true… I go because there’s a commitment.”
fitness
After training
Recover as long as you train
“If you’re training 2 hours, you have to recover 2 hours.” He uses cryotherapy and compression.
recovery
All day
About 17,000 steps
wHOOP showed an average of about 17,000 steps a day, much of it playing with his kids as well as football.
fitness
Daily
Log the small things
he logs 43 behaviours in the WHOOP journal, including carbohydrates, turmeric, zinc, caffeine and vitamins B and C, alongside sleep, strain and recovery. His resting heart rate was 43 bpm.
Free kicks and match days
Breathing rehearsed in training
the breath before a free kick or penalty is a practised habit he repeats in training, so it’s there under pressure. On match days he visualises the walk in, the warm-up and key moments.
focus
Mealsapprox.
Routine, not a diet
“I don’t diet, because the word diet for me comes from Latin and means routine… for me it’s having good routines.”
nutrition

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more routines.

steven bartlett

host of the diary of a ceo · investor

up at 9 or 9:30 with no alarm and no meetings before 11, three basic supplements, a near-keto baseline, a CO2 monitor beside him in every interview, and a workout pretty much every day.

see the habits