NBA Icon Luka Doncic in frame (Credit: X)
Luka Doncic, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar, has decided to keep himself in shape. However, this time he is also relying on a new training regimen involving racket sports like pickleball and padel.
Doncic, 26, is being helped by trainer Anže Macek, physiotherapist Javier Barrio, and nutritionist Lucia Almendros.
According to a report in Men’s Health, the trio of experts (known as “Team Luka”) tried to reduce the amount of time Doncic spent on the basketball court over the last few months and replace it with other activities instead.
“He disagreed at first. But he quickly filled the time with a weights routine that helped him build total-body strength. And he eventually found a distraction playing pickleball and padel, sometimes against friends, sometimes with Barrio and Macek,” said writers Andrew Heffernan and Ebenezer Samuel.
“For Doncic, the new games were a blast from his childhood past, long before he fell in love with basketball. They challenged new muscles, relieving his knees, thanks to fewer vertical jumps, while strengthening adductors, glutes, and ankles with footwork.”
“At the beginning, it was hard,” said Doncic. “I can’t be without basketball. But when I was a little kid, I played a lot of sports.”
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