Why Ronaldo is simply the best

Besides being born with immense talent, Cristiano Ronaldo works very hard to perfect this talent that has seen him win numerous accolades that make him the envy of many a footballer.

That he is the reigning World Footballer of the Year is the result of a rigorous, yet specialised training.

Castrol, official sponsors of the 2010 Fifa World Cup and their team of performance analysts have conducted rigorous research into the Portuguese superstar playing style and training plan to reveal the full extent of his astonishing physical attributes.
THE OLYMPIC SPRINTER

Ronaldo will sprint 900 times more in a season than an Olympic sprinter.
How: On average Ronaldo will sprint 20-times per game at full pace. A 100-metre track athlete will complete an average of 20-30 competitive races in a season. A footballer averages 50 games per season – 50 times 20 equals 1000 sprints.

AMAZING EDURANCE

In one season Ronaldo will run the equivalent distance from Madrid to Lisbon.

How: Ronaldo will run an average of 10,5km per game. A player can average between 50-62 games a season (including pre-season friendlies, League, Cup, European and International matches). Calculating the average between 60 and 62 matches is 56.56×10.5km= 588km. Madrid to Lisbon is 503km.

THE SUPERMODEL

Due to his rigorous fitness training regime, Ronaldo has less body fat than a supermodel.

How: Ronaldo has 10-percent body fat (Calculated from Durnin & Womersley 1974 Formula). An average supermodel measures in at 13,8-percent.

IMPRESSIVE AGILITY

Ronaldo will perform more turns and bends in one game than a Formula One racing car competing in the Monaco Grand Prix.

How: Ronaldo will perform on average between 1000-1500 movement changes per game. Monaco is 78 laps and and has 12 bends per lap which equated to 936 bends.

EXPLOSIVE JUMPING POWER

Ronaldo’s aerial threat is down to his extraordinary spring step. When jumping, he will generate five times more power than a cheetah in full flight.

How: Ronaldos’ weighs in at 75kg. Using biomechanics one can determine that power equals force times distance divided by time. In Ronaldo’s case his power equates to 750N.

This is multiplied with the average 3m he jumps (vertical and horizontal combined) plus his average flight time of 0,43 seconds. Using this formula, one calculate that Ronaldo generates 5 232-watts. A Cheetah in full flight generates about 1000-watts.

EXPLOSIVE FOOT TO BALL CONTACT

A Ronaldo free kick accelerates four times faster than the Apollo 11 rocket at blast off.

How: Apollo 11 reaches 160km in six seconds. Therefore acceleration is 7,3m/s.
A Ronaldo free kick reaches a speed of 112km per hour. Flight time is around one second. Therefore the ball accelerates at 31,1m/s.

FASTER THAN A SPEEDING TRAIN

Ronaldo’s reaction times while playing football are so fast that they would circumnavigate the world over 31 hours faster than the fastest bullet train.

How: The speed that a nerve impulse travels at is 430km/h. A TGV’s (a fast French bullet train) top speed is 320 km/h.

The distance around the equator is 40074 km. Therefore the bullet train would take five days, four hours and 48 minutes to circumnavigate the globe. Ronaldo’s nerve impulses would take three days, 21 hours and 36 minutes – a difference of 31 hours and 12 minutes.
LIFTING THE WEIGHT OF 16 CARS

Training his leg muscles and upper body is crucial to maintaining Ronaldo’s superior power and strength from the first to the last whistle. During a full weight training session, Ronaldo will lift the equivalent of over 16 new Toyota Prius cars.

How: A Toyota Prius curbed weight, that is the weight of the car full of fuel but without passengers and cargo, is 1379kg. Ronaldo lifts 23 055kg in one weight training session. By dividing the 23 055kg with the weight of the car the solution presents itself as 16,72 cars