The man, the myth, the (self-proclaimed) legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic bagged his newest Serie A title recently. The 40-year-old Swede has scored 570 goals so far, with 8 crucial goals in just this season, despite coming back from a nasty injury. This makes us wonder: Has he secretly discovered a fountain of youth? While we may never find out the answer to that, we did find out the effort he puts into staying fit.

No treats for Zlatan 

While details are scarce about the Swede’s diet plan, a GQ Italia report gives a brief glimpse of what the 40-year old likes to eat on a day-to-day basis and how. As per the same article, Ibrahimovic works with a personal chef who’s tasked with maintaining the footballer’s weight between 92-94kgs. 

He does this by weighing every single food item Ibrahimovic eats on a scale, measured to the exact gram! And when he does eat, the diet consists of white meats like poultry and fish, fresh vegetables and bresaola meat, which is made with meat from the eye of the round cut of the cow. A big no-no includes frozen foods, ice cream and Italian pasta. 

According to GQ, a dispute once broke out between Zlatan and the PSG’s chef about the absence of fresh fruits and vegetables at the training ground. The chef claimed that the club, which recently made Mbappe one of the highest-paid athletes in the world, didn’t have the budget for the nutrition levels expected. 

No weight lifting 

Considering the number of shirtless pictures the AC Milan forward posts, you might think the 40-year old is constantly pumping iron at the gym. But contrary to popular beliefs, Zlatan isn’t a fan of lifting weights. 

Instead, the veteran focuses more on power and mobility training. This involves a 90-minute workout consisting of footballing drills like sprints, headers and shooters. Although, the AC Milan striker has integrated some HIIT exercises into his routine, which consist of ab rollers, wall slams. exercise ball twists and battle ropes. However, what really keeps him moving and agile is…

Taekwondo

We all know about the 40-year-old’s fondness of martial arts, as demonstrated by many of his on-field antics over the years. But that’s not just for show. Instead of doing the heavy lifting at the gym, Ibrahimovic spends a fair amount of time doing strength and conditioning training with South American taekwondo expert Nilson Damacena. According to the athlete, this helps in improving the elasticity of his muscles, which is better suited for his game. 

(Image credits: Instagram.com/iamzlatanibrahimovic/)