At 51 years old, the former NBA player shared details about the routine he adopted, which involves training and healthy eating.

If you do the exercise of thinking about NBA players who have marked history, Shaquille O’Neal appears as an undisputed nаme.

Throughout his career, the former basketball player won three titles with the Los Angeles Lakers and one with the Miami Heat, while he also won the 1994 World Championship with the United States National Team in Canada.

Those are just some of the achievements he achieved during his professional career.

However, although he always stood out for his ability with the ball, he himself has acknowledged that he did not take care of his physical condition during his time as a player.

In fact, that even led him to have significant differences with his former teammate, Kobe Bryant, who died in January 2020.

“If Shaq had my work ethic, he would have been the best ever. And we, together, would have won more titles,” the latter reflected on one occasion, according to Infobae.

It took decades for O’Neal to finally accept Bryant’s recommendations and decide to take care of his form.

Today, he is 51 years old and claims that he has lost 40 kilos with a routine that he adopted, which involves training and healthy eating habits.

“If he had paid attention he probably could have been like Udonis Haslem and played more than 20 seasons, but I did it my way. I didn’t really take it seriously until I looked in the mirror six or seven years after I retired. I looked terrible. He had no definition and was basically fa𝔱. Very fa𝔱,” stated O’Neal, who also said that at one point he weighed 188 kilos.

Shaquille O’Neal: his routine to stay in shape and improve his physical condition

According to statements recovered by the aforementioned media, the 2.16 meter tall former athlete goes to the gym almost every day and does cardiovascular exercises at least three times a week.

The expert in charge of advising him, Destiny Moody, explained that “this form of cardio involves alternating between short bursts of intense activity followed by a short rest.”

“It’s a very similar format to basketball, so I’m sure Shaq has no problem with this form of fa𝔱-burning exercise. Cardio effectively promotes weight loss, especially HIIT or high intensity interval training,” she added.

In this sense, O’Neal specified that he does 20 minutes of this type of activity and then works on “chest, triceps, biceps, abdominal and back strength.”

Later, he returns to exercising 30 to 45 minutes a day.

Regarding his diet, he said that he left out elements such as junk food, fried foods, chocolate, bread, sandwiches, cakes and certain cookies with a high number of calories.

In contrast, he began to eat more salads, chicken, fruits, vegetables and protein shakes. All this in controlled doses.

“The routine starts with a healthy breakfast that includes three turkey sausages, four egg whites and lots of fruit. At lunch it can be a salad with some chicken and at night I go with fish or beef, with something else,” she explained.

That, along with taking the corresponding breaks, has helped him “have more energy, feel better and be able to do things that I couldn’t before.”

“I can still eat as long as I do it in a healthy way and take out some things that weren’t helping me, like Cheetos, cupcakes, things like that. Not to mention the sandwiches. I always liked them for lunch, dinner and snacks. Sometimes I even got up at three in the morning and made myself a sandwich. And if he opened his eyes at five, he did the same.”

The decision to adopt these new habits was made approximately two years ago and for two main reasons.

One of them was for an aesthetic issue, while the second was directly for health.

“I remember going to the doctor after 11 years and learning things I didn’t even know. Like my sleep apnea. He told me it could cause hypertension or strokes. ‘You can diє,’ he clarified to me. And I asked him: ‘what? I can diє?’. He told me yes, that being overweight didn’t help at all, on the contrary. Now everything has improved, but I still sleep with a machine next to me to control the process. When he tells you that word that begins with ‘di’ and ends with ‘e’ (diє, ‘diє’ in English), everything changes,” stated the former Lakers flag bearer.