Without playing an official football match in two months due to the new coronavirus pandemic, Neymar Jr. has been dedicating a good part of his time at home, in Brazil, to physical training. Despite not having a definition about the return of the games, in France, his physical trainer, Ricardo Rosa, has an important task on the number 10’s process: Maintaining the athlete’s professional rhythm and minimize risk of injuries.
“I’m here, training hard, on the same rhytm and frequence that I would in the club. Training even harder actually, with more activities to compensate for the lack of games. The intention is to be ready for when they signal the return of club activities, so I can be in the best possible condition. Of course that I miss the competition, but Rica made a planning that I have been following on the line”, Neymar Jr. reinforces.
The training schedule that used to be divided between club activities and home are now made with the structure at Brazil’s residence. Neymar Jr.’s last official game was against Borussia Dortmund, on the qualification round for the quarterfinals of the Champions League, in March 11.
“To maintain a healthy and good performance so that he (he – Neymar Jr.) may return to France at any moment, in good conditions. The work we make is still being varied and we have done, not only on the strenght department, but also preventive, mobility, myofascial liberation (a kind of massage in body points that helps to relax and extend muscles), stability on the most needed articulations and the cardiorespiratory part”, Ricardo Rosa details.
Football was not excluded from Neymar Jr.’s activites at home. The physical trainer adapted his mobility to value resistance training. “On the most specific parts of that which football requires, we work with the ball on the footvolley area and also on a field. We try to make a few games in a ludic way. I believe that through this manner, he might return in a good condition, since we should return with a small time to train and play”, Rosa evaluates.
