Alright, so I’ve been getting tons of requests towards building the body of Cristiano Ronaldo.
I’m assuming this is due to his recent body transformation, as well as the constant announcements that are being made of him.
Plus, it’s the summer, and people want to look sexy for the beach so that they can attract the ladies.
Well, if those are your goals, I can definitely help you out.
I’m a strength and conditioning coach that focuses on performance gain, which in turn translates into aesthetics.
Therefore, in this article, I will provide a detailed analysis that seeks to strengthen the major muscle groups of Christiano Ronaldo, which will, over time, grant you his physique.
Now, I want to first let you know that his physique is 100% attainable naturally.
Why? Because he is seriously not that big.
As a matter of fact, it should take you but a few months to look like him muscular-wise.
I’d say no more than 3-4 months. (worst case scenario)
The real challenge, however, is to acquire his bodyfat percentage. This will be the long part for most of you.
For these reasons, the following workout will have tons of conditioning work in order to make the dieting process much easier for you.
So without further ado, let’s start analyzing the physique of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo Chest
Now, as I mentioned previously, Cristiano Ronaldo is not that big in total muscle size. He has a rather small frame, with good definition of course.
That being said, his chest is actually quite good for his size.
It definitely stands out when you look at his physique.
This is interesting, because most soccer players don’t have chest development like Ronaldo.
Anyhow, because Ronaldo has pretty good chest development, it needs to be a priority in this program.
However, we now have a problem.
To acquire good chest development usually means to get strong at horizontal presses such as bench pressing and dumbbell bench pressing.
But by getting strong on those lifts, it also develops the shoulders and triceps, while overbulking the chest. This would not give us the chest of Ronaldo, but rather one of a bodybuilder or powerlifter.
Therefore, we will have to focus on exercises that do not overbulk the upper body, while simultaneously building the chest.
Now, my solution to this problem is very simple.
Rather than performing horizontal presses with external resistance, all you must do is perform horizontal presses using internal resistance, mainly lots of pushup variations.
That is because your bodyweight will never bulk you up, unless you are extremely overweight.
Therefore, in terms of pressing, we can incorporate multiple pushups to build a great chest, while simultaneously keeping the muscle size low.
Then, to really finish off that chest, the adding of dumbbell, cable, and/or machine flyes will do the trick without tapping into the shoulders and triceps.
In these ways, you will acquire excellent bodyweight strength (which all soccer players have), which automatically grants you the right amount of size. Plus, when you add the flyes to that equation, you have the ultimate recipe for developing the upper body of Ronaldo.
PS: Keep in mind that in this program, you will be performing multiple variations of pushups and flyes. Not doing so will cause you to plateau very early, and shall not maximize complete muscular and strength development, which will ruin the aesthetics of your physique.
Cristiano Ronaldo Shoulders
This analysis on building Ronaldo’s physique seems to get even more interesting.
Ronaldo is a small guy, but for some odd reason, he has 3D delts.
It almost looks strange on him, because his shoulders aren’t big, yet they are popping out sideways.
For this reason, we are going to stay away from heavy vertical presses, as this will make the shoulders much too big, which isn’t what we’re looking for.
Instead, we will keep our shoulders small, while simultaneously developing the side and rear delts, which is what causes that 3D look to occur.
Thus, you will perform some sort of side raise variation or rear delt exercise every time you train.
There will be no heavy compound movements. Only isolation exercises.
I’d also recommend that you stay away from doing handstand pushups.
I did mention earlier that calisthenics will prevent you from gaining excessive amounts of mass, but handstand pushups are really the exception. This is due to the fact that you are essentially doing an overhead press with your bodyweight, which would technically constitutes “heavy weights”.
That in itself is enough to overbulk the shoulders, which we cannot have in this program.
So remember, the only shoulder exercises you will perform are for isolating the rear and side delts.
Cristiano Ronaldo Back
Damn this guy has a unique physique!
Yet again, despite his small frame, Ronaldo has great lat development.
Now, his overall back thickness (upper back and spinal erectors) and trap development is pretty bad if you ask me.
I’ll give him credit for the lats though.
Due to this weird back development, it’s imperative that we stay away from exercises that promote back thickness.
This includes all forms of barbell and dumbbell rows, as well as shrugs and deadlifts. Essentially, we must remove the major compound movements.
Because as I mentioned a million times in this article, we need to build muscles at precisely the right places to prevent overbulking the physique, because Ronaldo is not that big.
For these reasons, the back portion of this program will consist of exclusively vertical pulls.
Although they can still thicken the back to a certain extent, we can eliminate that problem by performing high rep lat pulldowns, as well as doing no more than bodyweight pullups.
Also, I noticed that Ronaldo’s serratus is quite developed, which means that we can incorporate a certain exercise that will give us a major effect towards promoting this complete look.
That is, the dumbbell pullover.
This special exercise will build the serratus, chest, and lats in away that does not overbulk the upper body.
It will also promote the vacuum effect, which is great for giving the illusion of having a smaller waist than you actually have, thus accentuating lat width.
In total, the combination of all these exercises will promote a wide back that is not thick, which is exactly what we are looking for.
Cristiano Ronaldo Arms
As you may have realized from the previous pictures, Ronaldo has some pretty small arms.
The only thing that really stands out in his arms would be his biceps, which are strangely overdeveloped in comparison to his forearms and triceps.
Now, because Ronaldo’s overall arm mass is small, there will be zero need to perform direct triceps and forearm work.
The little bit of mass that he does have can be attained through the simple pushup variations that I have you do at the beginning of this program.
That will be enough to give you a tiny little bit of size in the triceps department. The forearms are also taken care of by the vertical pulls.
Now in terms of the biceps, we will isolate them with various forms of curls.
Why? Because Ronaldo’s biceps are proportionately overdeveloped in comparison to the rest of his arms.
I can’t understand why this is the case, as having nice biceps has nothing to do with soccer. To each their own I suppose.
Anyhow, to recap…No direct triceps and forearm work, only biceps.
And the volume will be low because even though they are overdeveloped, they still aren’t that big.
Getting to 30lb-40lb dumbbell curls should be more than enough to satisfy such development.
Cristiano Ronaldo Midsection
It’s safe to say that Ronaldo’s midsection is quite good.
As a matter of fact, I believe that this area is the reason why people want to look like Ronaldo in the first place.
I’m convinced this is true because of all the six pack advertising that people see nowadays.
Anyhow, as I alluded to earlier, in order to attain such a midsection requires that your bodyfat is on the lower side.
We are talking 8-12% bodyfat here, which is extremely lean. (see medical disclaimer)
Most people would call this shredded.
For this reason, your diet is going to have to be perfect in all respects, and conditioning work will be a valuable tool towards burning calories.
Other than burning fat, you will also need to strengthen the midsection, because otherwise your stomach will be flat, but will not have popping abs.
Now, because we want to accentuate our lats through having a small waist, it also makes sense that we’re going to want abs that pop yet are still small.
Thus, bodyweight ab exercises are the name of the game.
There will be no form of weighted ab exercises in this program, as this overbulks the midsection.
In other words, you can say that you will be training your abs like a gymnast.
Luckily, this is super easy, fun, and non-time consuming.
Plus, the results come within 1-2 months at the absolute max.
Just one thing though.
After thoroughly looking at Ronaldo’s midsection, I realize that his obliques are overdeveloped in comparison to his abs.
Just take a quick look yourself and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Therefore, although there will be lots of ab work, there will be more emphasis on obliques throughout the entire span of the program.
Cristiano Ronaldo Legs
Alright, so now we’re at the end of this program.
We finished analyzing the upper body, and now it’s time for the legs.
So I’m sure you caught on to the theme of this analysis by now, which is the fact that Ronaldo is seriously not that big, but certain muscles make him look good.
The legs are no exception.
He has some good looking quads, especially in the VMO area, but damn his hamstrings, adductors, and glutes are just terrible. No size whatsoever.
I can’t blame the guy though, because he is a soccer/football player after all. Big legs would only hinder his performance.
For these reasons, squats and deadlifts are absolutely out of the equation, because even acquiring a bit of strength in those movements is enough to make your legs bigger than Ronaldo.
As a matter of fact, I have guys runnng my novice program who are squatting 225 for reps by the 3 month mark.
Believe it or not, that type of strength is too much for this program. We can’t have big legs, plain and simple.
The result is that in this program, there will only be bodyweight leg exercises. It’s the only way to prevent overbulking the legs.
Plus, the added conditioning work will sculpt the legs in certain places such as the quads and calves, which is icing on the cake towards achieving these Ronaldo legs.
Final Discussion
Now that we have all the information we need, it’s time to compile everything together into a well-organized program.
The program will be executed in a full body concurrent training style, which means that you will be performing full body workouts 2-4x a week, while frequently rotating exercise selection.
We do this to prevent accommodation and build overall strength and hypertrophy.
Plus, as you may have noticed, there’s a lot customization that goes into building the physique of Cristiano Ronaldo. This was demonstrated through his small frame/size, yet still having very specific muscles developed. So we must make sure that we attack this look in every possible way.
Anyhow, I now present you a 4 week Cristiano Ronaldo workout program that will give you his aesthetics.
Although it’s only a 4 week program, it’s completely repeatable.
And as I mentioned in the article, it will only take you around 3 months to achieve his muscularity. The longer part, which is also the real challenge, is getting to his bodyfat percentage.
So without further ado, here’s the program.
PS: If you learned something or have any questions, share your feedback down below!
WEEK 1
Pushups 5xAMRAP (As Many Reps as Possible)
Flat Dumbbell Flyes 3-4×8-15
Lat Pulldown 4×15-20
Dumbbell Side Raises 3×8-12
Spider Curl 3×6-12
Bodyweight Squat 5xAMRAP
Hanging Leg Raises 3×20
20-30 Minutes Bike
WEEK 2
Incline Pushups 5xAMRAP
Cable Flyes 3-4×8-15
Chinups or Assisted Pullups (bands/machine) 4×6-8
Cable Side Rases 3×8-12
Incline Dumbbell Curl 3×10
Bosu Ball Squat 5xAMRAP
Russian Twist 3×AMRAP
20 Minutes Interval Sprint/Jog Training (60s jog, 30s sprint alternating)
WEEK 3
Close Grip Pushups 5xAMRAP
Incline Dumbbell Flyes 3-4×8-15
Hammer Strength Lat Pulldown 3×8-15
Dumbell Pullovers 2×10
Rear Delt Flyes 3×12
Cable Curl 3×12
Pistol Box Squat 1-3RM
Box Jumps 3×10
Windshield Wipers 3xAMRAP
20 Minutes Incline Brisk Walk With Added Weight (ankle weights, weight vest, holding 5-10lbs dumbbells in hands)
WEEK 4
Clap Pushups or Plyo-Pushup 5xAMRAP
Cable Crossovers 4×15-20
Underhand Lat Pulldown 4×12 or Pullups 4xAMRAP
Power Side Raises 4×8
Dumbbell Preacher Curl 3×10
Sissy Squats + Jumping Lunges 3-4xAMRAP
Windshield Wipers 3xAMRAP
20 Minutes StairMaster or 12 Minute Swim Max Laps or 45 Minute Jog
FIN
Alex, you have once again made me one step closer to achieve my goals. I can now have the body i have been wanting. Because of you, i can be that agile and efficient soccer player on the pitch with some muscle on my frame.
Thanks again bro!
Hey Alex awesome article
I was wondering what strength levels would you recommend before starting this workout ?
I believe most you would recommend at least intermediate strength but is it different for this ?
And would your novice program be a good prerequisite for a soccer player to do for a couple of months ( 3-6 ) before doing this ?
Thanks in advance and keep up the awesome work.
I’d say this is fine for all levels, because Ronaldo is not big at all. Like I said, getting his bodyfat percentage is the real challenge.
And yeah my novice program is probably a better choice for athletics if that is what you want. Although careful, as you might get too big following it.
@alex and abdul,
What if one were to run your novice program until they hit specific numbers before doing this program? For example, getting 135 lbs on the bench, 225 on the squat and 315 on the deadlift. You are still in the novice phase, built some type of strength, but you won’t get as big as you’d expect considering your numbers aren’t super impressive anyway! Besides, at my age and level of play (16 years old, competitive tier 1) I haven’t seen anyone squat 225 for 3×5 anyway.
Thanks for the reply Alex
Ya I was thinking of maybe doing the novice program for aroud 3 months then following this to get where I want to be.
On another note any estimations on his stats ?
Weight, measurments etc..
I’m asking because I’m around the same height as cristiano 186-187 cm tall so it would help with goal setting.
Thanks again
You should make a ‘Master of Illusions’ program. You know, like how some guys are 180, but look like they’re 210 because of good proportions and muscles built in the right places. Big delts, upper back, upper chest, lats, and small waist. I guess you could call it the Greek Statue physique because I can’t think of a name off of the top of my head, but I’ll try to check back in with a name. Off the top of my head, I think Steve Reeves might be good.
No idea man I have trouble identifying skinny ripped stats. Don’t look at stats, just look at the mirror.
I suppose that could work.
I really like your article and I believe that you have hit the main points very well but I that his legs are incredibly strong. He can squat more than 440lbs and shoot a ball over 130 km/h. There’s no way squatting 225 would over bulk you. I’d recommend that you search “Cristiano Ronaldo leg muscles” on Google. Overall a great job on the upper body.
Glad you liked the article.
One thing though, there is no way Ronaldo is squatting over 440lbs. If he claims to do so, it’s because he is doing quarter reps, which simply don’t count.
In terms of shooting the bar over 130km, that has nothing to do with gym leg strength. I’ve squatted 500lbs and I bet I couldn’t kick a ball further than 100m. That’s why I mentioned that this article is not meant to give the performance of Ronaldo, only his aesthetics. No way in hell can I teach you to kick over 130km, lol.
Hi Alex,
How much rest between sets ?
1-2 minutes would be ideal
What weight have to use for each exercise ?
Hi Kliment,
Whatever weight allows you to hit the desired sets/reps format.
Okay thanks .. But can you tell me which are the maximum weights , because i don’t want to overdeveloped ..
P.S Thank you for this programm . It is work very good for me and i see big progress for only three week with it .. Thank you a lot Alex
The mirror will tell you when you’re getting too big, don’t worry.
Hey alex ,
I am playing soccer and my question when is the good time for this program before training or after ?
Second my question if i should take whey protein shake .
And the last question is i start the program yeaterday , and the bodyweight squat are very easy to me i could do 40 50 in each set its ok ?
Or should i have some barbell ? Or weight ?
1) Different days, make sure you are fully recovered from the soccer
2) Read The Alpha Diet. It will cover everything you need to know about nutrition and save you thousands of dollars.
3) You don’t need weights for legs, but if you want dumbbells are fine.
Hey alex ,
I have every day soccer traning .
I have few question about the program ,
1. If i dont have boso ball what can be alternative ?
2. What is it power side raises ?
3. You write pistol squat 1-3 what is mean ?
4. And sissi squat+ jumping lunge how should i do this ?
1- Standing on an uneven surface or unstable object.
2- Side raises with body momentum
3- 1-3 rep maximum. Meaning no less or more reps.
4- You should look up some tutorials on youtube. Very common exercises.
hey alex .
so power side raises its same like side raises but with help of the body .
about pistol squat how many sets should i do ?
and about the sissy squat with the jumping lunge you write AMRAP but i should doing first the sissy squat AMRAP and then immedatley do jumping lunge AMRAP ?
also i dont have the hammer strength machine so what could i do ?
and last question in my gym i dont have box to jump on hit so what can i do ?
And one more question : in your program there is only quads muscle workout .
and i have read and know if we always strenght the quads without work on hamstrings we can get injury in ACL and its realy dangours …
so why ?
There is almost no quad in my program. Box squat is all posterior chain. So are deadlifts for the most part.
1) Yes power side raises are cheating versions
2) I like doing 1×1-5RM
3) Your call.
4) Use bands
5) Jump on something else
Yes of course. Rows will still build your lats to a tremendous degree.
Is this not too little work just in every single week? … when I was looking at others ronaldos work – outs there was lot more exercise in those weeks, and what do you mean when you say “we don’t want to overbulk” ?? But I like how you are focused on this program and give us very good explanation why we should pick this work – out instead of the others ronaldos work – outs
It’s more than enough, trust me.
You said cable flyes then witch kind of cable flyes would you make us do low cable flyes, middle cable flyes or high cable flyes??
Hi i would really like to start this workout and i already have a very low body fat percentage so for me its just gaining the muscle. I didn’t understand how often I need to do this in a week as well, was it 3-4 times or like more? Also I only have dumbbells at home and no other gym stuff could I still do all of these exercises? I also have quite developed legs thanks so football so I wont really be working on those as much because my main priority is Abs, chest, back, shoulders and biceps so what should legs workouts should i do less of then in this case.
Thanks a lot of the help
Hello Zayan,
This program is done 2-4x a week depending on your ability to recover. Typically every other day is the best approach.
As for having exclusively dumbbells, yes most of these exercises may be substituted if you are creative enough.
Finally, in regards to the legs you can either lower the training frequency to 1-2x a week or do the workouts nonetheless for maintenance.
Hope this helps,
-Alex
Both work, although low is preferable.
okay thanks a lot and one more question. Ive already started this work out and am doing it about 4x a week. When would results start showing aha and how long would it take with this work out to active Ronaldo like results?
Thanks Again
Hi Alexander,
If I would like to add a little more muscle to my triceps would it be ok to add on some tricep extensions into the program?
Thanks.
Sure thing. Ronaldo had some small arms though.
Pretty fast like I said the bodyfat is your real concern.
Hey!
Nice Program Sir!
I was wondering what is the calorie intake for this program?
Me and my friend are going to start it together. My friend has fat on his belly while I am skinny.
Thanks Again!
Hi love the article but I was wondering if these exercises are enough to gain muscle and after a couple months get a body like Ronaldo because everywhere else I see people have programs with far far more exercises and sets to do per day and while I feel like you backup your program very well I cannot stop but think this program is a little on the lighter side maybe..?
hi alex. am nati from ethiopia i love ronaldo and this workout program help me to be like ronaldo
that workout help me to be like ronaldo and gain faster…..?
It’s more than enough.
If you want to get ripped like Ronaldo, you must eat in a caloric deficit.
what about his abs workout?
It’s there in this article
Hi Alex,
First, respect for putting the thought and time into this. Second, I completely disagree with article on every front and I’ll explain why in a very short way. I read through this article because I was interested to see where you were going and I’m not attacking you but I think you a misconception of what it takes to play at this level. Every high level soccer player squats, some squat a lot some don’t, but when your going through the strength camps they make you. I know because I went through them. The almost opposite of your workout is true save the push-up aspect and some others. Where your mistaken is how soccer players do deadlifts and squats. They do them for very low reps very fast, focusing on power and medium weight. Also upper body was compound as well…if you really want a body more like his do this three times a week, eat more veggies and fruits and lean proteins and sprint almost everyday or run fast everyday.
3×5
Incline bench or push-up
Chin-ups
Front squat or squats
Deadlifts
Focus on form and then speed. Athletes train fast and quick and for power. Don’t not attempt to do isolation exercises and then play soccer because you WILL get hurt. Anyway, Alex I respect what you do, hope you have a great day.
You fail to realize that this is NOT under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES an athletic program. This is purely an aesthetics program,designed to LOOK like Ronaldo. No shit if I were writing a soccer program this would look 1,000,000 times different.
what about food?
You can read The Alpha Diet if you want to know more about that.
What about progression Alex ?
Do I add more reps in every traning day ?
And do I have to use heavy weights or moderate weight to complete the sets
Hey Alex things for the program
I just have questions like
1.im 128Ibs so can I really get a body like his or close in 4 weeks or 3-4 months
2.can I do them Monday Tuesday Thursday and Friday rest on Wednesday Saturday and Sunday since it saids only 2-4 times a week
I also meant to say I’m 5’8 or 9 128Ibs but I struggle to gain weight cause I have high metabolism and cristiano is like 6’1 and weights somewhere in 170-185 so would I have to get my weight that high too and I’m like skinny decent/good muscles type what’s your best advice on this
I suggest you read The Alpha Diet because it includes the best nutritional strategies of all time, especially for guys like yourself who have a fast metabolism. You fix that, and you will look much better.
1) Depends how much you eat, and your genetics.
2) Every 48 hours is optimal
Buy 10$ bands and use that as a cable machine.
Hey Alex. I am very skinny, and I want to develop a body just like Cristiano Ronaldo. I’m in tenth grade and I was wondering what I could do to my diet along with this repeatable 4 week routine. Could you recommend me a specific diet because I can’t go from skinny to ripped right? I need more substance to work with? If you could recommend a specific diet for a young skinny person like me that would be great because I have no clue what/when I need to eat. Thank you for this thoughtful post.
Hello Sanjay,
You must eat in a calorie surplus of approximately 10%. In terms of food, that’s going to vary on culture. Simply ensure that you are eating a balanced diet and reaching the desired TDEE, and you will be fine.
-Alex
Thank you!!!
Hye i am 6feet and i am skinny so doing this exercise for 6 months would help meh to gain muscle i dont want a ripped physique like him.i just want he shape and muscles like cr so will it help i getting there in 6th months
Yes
Hey alex , After going through so many articles regarding ronaldo workout and physique …. I found this program and i find it very useful … 2 weeks into this program , feels grt.. I have 2 questions in my mind as i m a 6 feet tall guy and i have devent amount of muscle but those muscles are covered with fat . Right now , i am 180 lbs and having 38 inches waist , so can you tell what should i do to have more muscle defination like ronaldo and how to loose my waist size simaltaneously.
Yes, you need to enter what is known as a calorie deficit. Your only issue is leaning down, nothing more. I suggest you check out The Alpha Diet if you want the ultimate package for getting lean fast.
hii, can i do that week 1 exercise on monday, week 2 exercisee on Tuesday, week 3 exercise on Wednesday and week 4 on Friday….?
Yes but that’s an entirely different program.
Hi,
Just a quick question about the diet. If you want to cut fat (I’m at about 15%) but also build muscle, should you be looking for a calorific surplus or deficit?
Thanks
ok, thanks but the workout also improve my game…?
No this will not help your soccer at all.
Small deficit
Hi Alex, great thread. Take week 1 as an example, and the press-ups. I’m quite green on programmes, are them 5 sets carried out straight after each other?
Do a “How to achieve Dan Green’s Physique” video. It’s gonna be great
thank you alex i run this routine and now look like ronaldo.
all women be loving my body now thanks so much
Hi. how are you ?
I play football and I want my body is like Cristiano Ronaldo.
Help me. Thanks with regards.
Hey! I wanted to ask you whether I can split this workout into two days, and go to the gym 6 days a week. So, I’ll be effectively doing this workout thrice a week. Will it have the same results?
@Tejas
Like an upper/lower? Sure, that works.
hey man…just needed to know…how many times should.i do this..like monday wednesday friday?
how.much rest?
Do I do week 1 workout 2-4 times a week and then week two workout 2-4 times a week the week after ? And how much rest should I have between each set ?
2-4x a week depending on how you feel, and rest 1-2 minutes between sets
2-4x a week, every 48 hours is good
Great write up but I would like to ask you a few questions on how to get the ronaldo look.
What weight would you recommend to get deltoids and biceps like ronaldo ? and also what exercises could you do to get his calfs ? I have also noticed that his triceps stick out more than his delts when looking at him face on, why is this ?
If you could get back to me you would it help me a lot
Thanks, Jake 🙂
Hey alex one question, the program says week 1 2 3 and 4 but how many days a week should i do it and how can i split each week thx.
Could you make a athletic soccer program?
He is on something, that is for sure.
Hi Alex I’m 14 could I do this workout?
Hi Alex, I’m 14 could I do this workout?
Do you know anybody who has completed this programme, and do you have a photo of what he looks like?
How do you get the speed and strength of Ronaldo ?
Rio Ferdinand who played for Manchester United program was very similar to this.
Brother, just let me know the dumbbell weight while doing chest work out, what should be the volume of dumbbells ?if i use 12 kg dumbbells and it over bulks then it means i should go for low volume than 12 kg dumbbell right? Thats the concept right?