We’ve reported several times here at DMARGE about how we should all be using the lockdown time afforded to us to put some extra effort and hours in at the gym. Not only will it do your body a world of favours, but it can have numerous benefits for your mental health too.
One man who has clearly taken that advice on board and has decided to hit the weights in place of playing regular soccer is Sergio Ramos. The Spanish defender was never lacking in muscle, but his recent Instagram posts show he’s determined to become even stronger in preparation for the hopeful return of the Spanish La Liga.
On March the 19th, Ramos posted a picture of himself on day seven of quarantine, according to the caption. In the image, we can see him in his home gym with an enviable rig, with virtually no signs of body fat to be seen. Fast forward to May the 19th and it’s abundantly clear the most carded player in La Liga has piled on the muscular pounds.
So what exactly is Ramos’ secret? We asked Ben Lucas, founder of Flow Athletic, to give his professional opinion. Ben told us that while it’s clear he’s been exercising a lot, a lot of his transformation can be put down to a good nutritional diet.
“In order to achieve [this] look in such a short amount of time his diet would have also been a factor. I would assume he has been limiting alcohol and sugar given his body and an increase in protein. This could be in the form of eggs, meat and supplements.”
But of course, even though what happens in the kitchen is incredibly important, what you do in the gym is an equally prevalent factor. “Exercise wise it looks like the biggest changes have taken place in his chest and abs,” says Ben.
And if you want to achieve a rig like Ramos, Ben has provided a few exercises to get you on your way.
- Bench Press – “Ensure you go up in weight to appropriately build the chest muscles. The bench press can also work your abs.”
- Push-ups – “While push-ups are great for working your chest, they are incredibly good for your posture, assuming they’re performed correctly.”
- Weighted Squats – “These are great for the legs, glutes and abs. While ab-specific workouts are great for getting results, compound exercises, such as squats with a heavy weight, are great for building abs as well.”
- Weighted Russian Twists – “These help work and build definition in the obliques.”
Indeed, even without checking his Instagram feed, Ben has been able to single out some exercises that Sergio has posted evidence of him performing, such as the weighted squats.
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Throw in some weighted pull-ups…
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…and some cardio…
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… and you’ll have an enviable rig of your own in no time.