There is no doubt in any ardent football player's mind that Lionel Messi is one of a kind when it comes to playing football.
While the debate on the best player in the world rages on, it is hard not to place the little Argentine right up there when mentioning football greats.
However, there is more to Messi than the magic he puts on display week in, week out in the La Liga.
In fact, just like his counterpart Cristiano Ronaldo, it is not only talent which has kept the 32-year old at top level for more than a decade.
It turns out Messi, like any other successful person, has had to have high levels of discipline in various departments to ensure he is always on top.
A comprehensive report by Pinata revealed that unlike many players who work on stamina and overall body strength, Messi's workout revolve around maximising his agility and working on his linear speed.
To capitalize on this, Messi takes on workouts which include bridge-front, lunges, hamstring stretches, and pillar skips.
Many fans are wary of Messi's seamless dribbling skills and these are mostly down to his ability to be quicker than most opponents.
To achieve this, the Argentine maestro usually takes on workouts to boost his multi directional speed.
These include skipping past diagonal hurdles, cones and other obstacles to improve his lateral movements, not to mention pillar skips, skipping ropes, and squats for leg strength.
As far as his diet is concerned, Messi's meals have been revolutionised by popular Italian nutritionist Giuliano Poser since the pair started working together in 2014.
There are five key intakes in Messi's diet: water, olive oil, whole grains, fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, while he is discouraged from sugar as much as possible.
"[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." Giulano said as quoted by Goal.
Meat consumption is also discouraged since beef is fairly difficult to digest compared to other forms of protein.
Barcelona also shared a post on Wednesday, April 22, detailing Messi's favourite meal which consists roasted chicken with root vegetables.
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