Transcription
What's up folks, welcome back to the Whoop Podcast. I'm your host, Will Ahmed, the founder and CEO of Whoop, and we're on a mission to unlock human performance. We've got an amazing guest for you today, arguably the most famous and well-known athlete in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo. Cristiano needs no introduction. We're going to be sitting with him in just a second.
Now, we discussed his early football career, what it took to ultimately become a global superstar, work ethic versus talent. We go deep into his Whoop data and some of the things he does to recover at a superhuman level. And we talk about our partnership, in which Cristiano is now an investor in Whoop and a global ambassador. It's a really fascinating conversation. Stay tuned.
If you're thinking about joining Whoop, you can visit our website and sign up for a free 30-day trial. That's right, try Whoop for 30 days, no cost to you. Here we go.
Okay, Cristiano, welcome to the Whoop Podcast.
Thank you. I'm grateful to be here with you.
We're we're here in your home. We're going to talk a lot, I think, about training and data and recovery. But I thought I would start just by asking you, what's your first memory of playing football?
Well, for me, it's a pleasure to be with you. When I start to play football, you mean? Yeah, when I was very, very young, probably 7, 8, 9 years old. I start to play in home, in the street with my colleagues, with my friends. And I think this is where everything starts. You know that you start to feel that the sport is fun.
Did you fall in love with the game immediately?
I think so, yes. Yeah. I thought it, it was like the first love when I start to to play in a in a street. It was fun and I said, listen, I like this.
Now, did you know that you were going to be a superstar your whole life? Did you have that feeling?
Never, never, never. I will I will be false if I say yes. In the beginning, when you start, you always have that passion to enjoy yourself, to spend time with friends, and, uh, to have fun. But in the begin, not, not even with 14, 15, 16 years old, I didn't feel that. Maybe after that, with 18, 19, 20s, yes, I start to feel everything was different.
And in that time period, did you find there were a few people that you gravitated to or who gave you that sort of motivation to say, okay, I can do this?
In the beginning, probably was, uh, my, my father. Uh, my father in the beginning pushed me a lot, not a lot, a little bit to follow my dream. In the beginning, with seven, eight years, it was my father because he saw some that I, I had some talent and he keep pushed me, uh, to play. Not only in the street, but we had a local team in Madeira that they call Andorinha. I don't know how you say in English. And I don't know how you say, but now they're going to thinking it's a club. Sure. Madeira club that everyone knows. If they Andorinha, I will tell you in English, it's a name of the bird. Yeah. And I start, you know, to be with teammates and I start, you know, the role of football. I start that there.
Now, we talked, uh, when we first first met about this difference between making it because of talent and making it because of work ethic. And you said to me, you felt like an enormous percentage of your success has come from work ethic, and that there's sort of an unfair perception maybe of you of just being hyper talented and that's where all the success comes from.
To be honest, I think both have to work in the same time because talent without work is nothing, and work without talent is nothing too. So I think the both mix up. Uh, so, and of course, I have, I have two. I'm not, I will say that I have more one than the other one because if you see my, my old career for the last 20 years, my level was high. And this is, as you can know, it's really tough, not only in in a football, but in any area. If you are top for 20 years, it's unbelievable. And I, and I do that, and I continue to do that. For me, it's a big achievement. And my biggest motivation is to carry on, to still enjoy, to make people happy, to make my family happy. So for me, I have both talent and work ethic.
Do you think you got a lot of that work ethic from your father, him pushing you when you were younger?
Maybe both my mom too. Mom and Dad. My brothers too. I think it's, it's this childhood to make you feel what you are or make you be what what you are. The difficult of of things that you pass through in your life make you being stronger mentally to challenge a hard life. And of course, the environment too helps. I don't know if he knows, but I move with 11 years old from Madeira to Lisbon. Which is, it's, it's hard, to be honest. It's probably was the most difficult part in terms of professional of my career. So it was hard to leave my family in, uh, in Madeira to follow my dream in Lisbon without your family with 11 years old. I can see now my kids. Cristiano, my oldest son, I don't know if I will be capable to let him go to, I don't know, at this age.
In this age? Two years more.
Yeah. Will be tough.
What's the cost? What's the sacrifice of being this good for that long, you know? What do people not see that you're doing?
Life is, is a, a box of surprises. And it's hard, you know, it's not, it's not easy, you know, to be in this level and still push and still motivate to carry on, you know, to score goals, to be in a good shape, to compete with the young lions. They, they coming, and when they play against me, they want to show, they want to show me that they are stronger than me and faster than me. You have to prepare very well, not in terms of physically, but mentally too. I think it's very hard. But in the same way, it's a challenge, you know, because as you can see, you, if you treat good your body, you can maintain so many, many years. And this is, is the big challenge for me. And, uh, it's great. I feel, I feel proud for that to have this age and still compete in a highest level. For me, it's, it's great and give me motivation to carry on.
Well, a lot of your discipline comes through actually in your Whoop data. And we're going to talk a little bit about that. When did you first discover Whoop?
I discovered Whoop, uh, a few years ago. And to be honest, it's for me, it's a tool that can help me. It's like to have a doctor in your wrist. Yeah. And for me, it's, I cannot live without Whoop because it's helped me a lot, not only in terms of physically, but mentally and in a sleep way. It's, it's a great tool in my opinion. So I'm, I'm really pleased that I use it. It's like, in the beginning, I fall in love since I start to use it. So I feel good with that.
Well, a big thing that we've, we've tried to do at Whoop is is find people who authentically love the product and then amplify their story. And, uh, you've been on Whoop for 646 days now. Turns out you've got 95% compliance. So you literally wear the product non-stop, it seems like. And for us, like, what's amazing is now we get to show the world, how does Cristiano Ronaldo train? What's it like to be him? What is all the dedication and work ethic that goes into it? So with that in mind, I want to talk a little bit about your data. First of all, you have a resting heart rate of 43 beats per minute, which, you know, that's in the top 1% of men on Whoop. And even amongst professional athletes, it's in the top 3%. So that's, as you say, top, top, top. That's good. Uh, your sleep performance, 81%. So that's pretty good. On average, your strain is 14.9 every single day. 14 point, 14.9 out of out of 21. So that's high. You're getting 51% of your days are in the green, and then the rest in the yellow, and then a very small percentage are in the red. So even with all this training, your body's still recovering, which is really impressive. What are you doing to recover so well?
Well, I, I can say, I can be cookie and say, I give you the map. You are willing to do that? Yeah. It's the main, the main point because everyone wants to be Cristiano, but I give you the map. You think you will do it? That it's difficult. It's the discipline. The discipline is the most difficult thing, not only in the sports, but in life.
So the Whoop Journal, which for people listening to this, allows you to input all sorts of behaviors and activities and lifestyle decisions. You actually track 43 different things in the Whoop Journal. So let's see here, from a diet standpoint, you're tracking carbohydrates, turmeric, zinc, caffeine, vitamin B, vitamin C. Which of those components do you find helps you?
I think it's all package helps you to to maintain a good nutrition in my opinion. It's all component, not only these components, but you have a few more that helps you to be good in my opinion. So small details in the end of the day will make the big difference in my opinion.
So, so as you say, and I will keep repeat, the consistency is the most difficult thing. Just doing it every day?
Yes, every day.
Do you ever wake up and you say, I don't want to do it today?
I fight against my mind. Yes, sometimes it, it happens. We are, we are all human beings. We are, we are not happy every day. We are, you know, not in a good mood every day. It's normal. It's part of, it's part of us.
What do you do to overcome that?
I fight against that, you know, it's, it's the big challenge. It's when you're not willing to do something, but you have to do it. This is, is the main point. This is why I say our mind, it's, it's a box of surprises, and you have to challenge yourself to be consistent. I repeat, sometimes it's hard. It's what many people say, um, you like to go to the gym every day? Of course, no, it's not true. Nobody likes to go to the gym every day, but you have to do it.
Probably yes, because your mental strength is coming from that. From that moment that in a hard moment, you know, you should do it. So, and I do it because after that, maybe in the beginning, you feel hard to start, but after when you finish the gym or cold plunge or even the training, you will feel better. I think it's, it's the big key there.
What's up folks, if you are enjoying this podcast, or if you care about health, performance, fitness, you may really enjoy getting a Whoop. That's right, you can check out Whoop at whoop.com. It measures everything around sleep, recovery, strain, and you can now sign up for free for 30 days. So you'll literally get the high performance wearable in the mail for free. You get to try it for 30 days, see what whether you want to be a member. And that is just at whoop.com. Back to the guests.
Let's talk about some of your recovery modalities. You've got massage therapy, cold showers, cold plunge, sauna, steam. There's 208 days where you've logged cold showers. 35% of the days you're recording a recovery modality. Talk a little bit about these different habits.
For me, it's right now, it's a, a normal day in office, as you say. Sometimes it's, it's part of my life, you know, it's like some people, they don't brush the teeth every day, they don't take a coffee every day. So I take cold plunge every day because it's part of my, my routine, my, my journey, you know, it's, it's, and it's, it's not a sacrifice for me, to be honest. I enjoy to do that. Serious. I'm not, I'm not say that just surprise the people. No, no. I enjoy to do it. This kind of stuff. Probably for some persons, there's a sacrifice, it's a nightmare, but for me, no. I really enjoy to be honest because I feel after that, I feel good.
What's your routine like? Uh, which order do you do things?
We are animals of routines, you know, and my routines, it's 90% of my days, they are very similar, you know. You want to, you want to know, uh, since I, I wake up? Let's, let's do it. So in the morning, I wake up. I have my cold plunge. I have my machines. I have my showers. And everything. I wake up. I go there first thing. I dive in. First thing in the cold? First thing, yes. I prepare my water to drink because, you know, as you know, during the night, we've been dehydrated. It's, it's, it's very low. So I take my water, my shower, my cold plunge. Are coming down, you know, be nice with my, with my family, with my kids. I give a hug. Are coming out to have lights in my eyes.
Morning sunlight?
Yes, two, three minutes, just to give the information to my brain that it's, it's early to wake up. Yes. And after that, I take my coffee. And when I start my day, a nice conversation. Uh, it's my routine. What I like to do it. It's like in the morning to sit, take my coffee, speak with with my kids, with my wife, and start the day. This is my routine. After, of course, during the day, there's a thousand things to do it, but this is the basic points. This is the that gets you started.
Yes. And do you have any form of, uh, mindfulness, meditation, breathing practice?
I don't do it every day. I do it for example, the breath. Uh, I do it in meditation when I feel a little bit more stressed, especially the day of the game.
Game? Yeah. When you do, uh, meditation before a game, do you visualize the game at all? Visualize moments in the game?
Yes, yes. Sometimes I do to visualize a few points that can happen in a game. I like to do it. And sometimes it's my subconscious that do it by himself. Yeah. So, but it's nice. You visualize a few things, not even during the game, but during the period that you go to the stadium to warm up, you know, before the game, during the game. And it's fun. It's fun to be honest. And I like to do it.
It's amazing how they can come true, what you see can come true, right?
Many things is, is, uh, even, even sometimes I speak with my, my friends and I tell them, I said, listen, today in the game, they're going to, we're going to have a penalty. I felt the day of the game that they're going to give a penalty. And something happened. Will happen in the game. I felt. So I go more prepared because if you visualize before, you will be more prepared, uh, for that moment. So it's, it's fun.
I notice when you do a free kick or a penalty, there's like a moment right before you kick the ball, right? Or you go like, breathing because it makes you calm. When I do that, make me, my heart rate comes down, coming down. Is that something you practiced?
Yeah, you have to practice. But, but the routine of it, everything routine because even in the training, I do it. I don't do it only in a game. I do it even in a training. So because it's the habits. When you do so many things, one thing, you become a habit. So this is what I try to do with every time.
Well, it's, it's really exciting to get to know you more, Cristiano, and talk about all of this. Uh, tell me, why Whoop? Why this partnership?
Because I think, as I told you before, for me, it's a fantastic tool. Help me a lot to be a better man, better person, better athlete. And, um, you can see what you do during the day, during the night. So it's a fantastic tool. And of course, that I know through that, you, the company, they're going very well. And, um, the perspective for the future, it seems very bright. So this is good. And I really love the product. So it's easy match up for me. And to meet people like you, good people, I know even better that my decisions was perfect. So I'm really glad for that. And congratulations for invent this tool because it helps so many people. And one of these people, it's me. So thank you very much.
I'll just say like, for me, and everyone who, you know, works day in and day out to build this company, and it's many hard hours, these moments and getting to work with people like you make it very fulfilling. So thank you, Cristiano, and thanks for coming on the Whoop Podcast.
Thank you very much. All right. Much.
If you enjoyed this episode of the Whoop Podcast, please leave a rating or review. Please subscribe to Whoop Podcast. Check us out on social, Whoop, Will Ahmed. Have a question? Want it answered on the podcast? Email us podcast@whoop.com. Call us 508-443-4952. If you're thinking about joining Whoop, you can visit our website to sign up for a 30-day free trial membership and take the first step to unlocking your own best performance today. New members can use the code WILL, W-I-L-L, to get a $60 credit on Whoop accessories. And that's a wrap. Thank you all for listening. We'll catch you next week on The Whoop Podcast. And as always, stay healthy and stay in the green.