Novak Djokovic’s Diet And Exercise Routine

23-time Grand Slam Champion Novak Djokovic is probably one of the most disciplined tennis players in the world in terms of his diet and workout routine. I take reference from Djokovic’s book, Serve To Win, The 14-Day Gluten-Free Plan For Physical And Mental Excellence to explore what he eats and how he trains to be the greatest player of all time.

Djokovic’s diet played a very vital role in bringing his game to another level. Early in his career, he often experienced severe exhaustion and blackouts during long matches which required him to take medical breaks.

It was not until 2011 when he finally found out what was causing these problems and it was none other than his wheat allergy. He listened to the advice of the nutritionist Dr. Igor Cetejovic who found out about his allergy and made changes to his diet by eliminating gluten. 

Djokovic has been insanely strict and careful about what goes into his body ever since. He now eats a gluten & dairy-free diet while limiting his sugar intake. He also tries to go organic as much as possible and his diet is mainly based on vegetables, beans, white meat, fish, fruit, nuts, seeds, chickpeas, lentils and healthy oils. 

Djokovic's Diet

Djokovic believes in eating a balanced diet consisting of a mix of good carbs and good protein rather than a protein-based one. Consuming some good carbohydrates enables him to have energy and endurance for long hours of training on the court, while the protein helps to convert excess calories to muscle mass. 

What Novak Djokovic eats

Djokovic also consumes a good amount of fibre, eating dry fruits like almonds, cranberries, raisins and cashews, as well as sunflower and pumpkin seeds. He also includes a lot of fruits like avocado, tomatoes, melon and apples, improving his digestive process and flushing out toxins from his body. 

Novak Djokovic boasts quite a comprehensive workout routine, consisting not only of tennis and strength training but also goes as far as training his flexibility and mind through other forms of exercises such as yoga, meditation and Tai Chi. 

Djokovic’s Training

1. After he wakes up, he does a full body stretch to loosen the stiff muscles after an eight-hour sleep. Sometimes he incorporates a little bit of yoga and Tai Chi to go along with his stretching as well. 

2. After breakfast, he will then head to the court to train, hitting with his training partner for about 2 hours. The intensity varies, depending on when the tournaments are. The duration and intensity of the drills will be adjusted accordingly. 

3. Cool down stretches after the intense training session 

4. After lunch, he would head to the gym to do strength, weight and resistance training. To condition his body to be match-ready, he does arm and shoulder exercises with push-ups and pull-ups to tricep pulldowns and bench presses. He would also do lower body exercises with box jumps, side lunges and barbell squats. 

5. He makes sure to allow his body to rest, recover and regenerate (varies depending on whether it is a match or training day).

6. He gets massages to help accelerate the recovery of his body. 

7. Pre and post-match recovery routine: Foam roller exercises like lower and upper back roll, hamstrings and quadriceps roll and calf and shoulder roll. 

8. Spends time in the fitness pod; a chamber that helps increase blood circulation throughout the body and aids in muscle recovery.

Yoga And Recovery

Yoga and meditation help increase Djokovic’s breathing capacity and improves his stamina and endurance, while Tai Chi, an internal Chinese martial art practiced for self-defense and health, helps increase his flexibility, balance and agility.

Djokovic places much importance in making sure his body is well-rested and recovered. He believes that one should respect the body by allowing it to rejuvenate when it is tired and in turn the body will reciprocate by keeping him healthy in between tournaments and matches. 

Djokovic’s diet and training routine is probably why he is able to compete at the highest level for a long period of time and how he was able to stay healthy for the most part of his career.

Even now at 36 years of age he is still capable of winning slams over the younger generation of players. The discipline of Novak Djokovic is not one that any other could easily replicate. I think there is probably no other player who is as disciplined as he is now. 

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Develop Djokovic’s Mental Toughness