Gary Neville remembers an expression Cristiano Ronaldo used during his time at Manchester United. ‘Too much water kills the plant,’ remarked Ronaldo when Neville asked why he eased off in the final two sprints of an eight circuit session put on by United’s coaching staff. The player knew his body. He had done the hard yards in 2006, returning from the World Cup in Germany ripped. The stories of Ronaldo in the gym performing thousands of sits ups or press ups a day, at United and with Real Madrid, are legendary. Cristiano Ronaldo (right) showed off his well-honed physique after scoring in the Champions League final
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Cristiano Ronaldo does thousands of press-ups or sit-ups a day
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England's sports scientists take saliva to see whether stars have slept well
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Raheem Sterling was possibly naive in his conversation with Roy Hodgson
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Footballers could learn from the training stars such as Rafa Nadal put in
Take @placeholder, for example, a tennis player who, like the majority of players working at the elite level, relies on explosive power in short bursts to cover his working area.