LeBron James’s Trainer Shares the Keys to the Superstar’s Diet, Training, and Recovery

LeBron James suffered a groin injury on Christmas Day and missed 18 games. His trainer, Mike Mancias, revealed all the details about the recovery process.

This was the longest “break” LeBron had, and some still say that he came back too early. But, his trainer knows they worked really hard.

“It’s always a blow when you have an athlete down with an injury, especially a guy like LeBron,” the trainer talked about LeBron’s injury. “We do everything under the sun, from prehab treatments to strength training, in order to help curtail injuries. First and foremost, we need to focus on getting the groin better and stronger. As far as his diet goes, we’ve eliminated extra carbohydrates and extra sugars in order for him to drop the weight, because the more weight he’s carrying around, the more stress that can be on the body. The whole world knows he’s a wine aficionado, but we’ve kind of cut down some of that extra alcohol, the liquors, the wines, etc. Starting January 1, we promised each other we both cannot have a sip of alcohol, especially red wine, until after he plays his first game back.”

Yes, he did Dry January. Mancias said, “We’re doing it for all of the reasons, not just as a New Year’s resolution. But it will eventually be a little reward after all the hard work and rehab he’s doing.”

When asked about the activities LeBron had, the trainer revealed some of the wellness trends they followed.

“Yeah, as part of the rehab, we do have a flexibility and stretch session,” Mancias said. “I guess that could qualify as yoga; there are some yoga parts to it. He utilizes a hyperbaric chamber for his recovery. And there is a daily meditation. He’ll either do that first thing in the morning or at night, once he’s calming down and getting ready for bed. He kind of reviews the day and prepares for the next one.”

LeBron sticks to a cleaner diet regimen. We all remember his Paleo efforts.

“He’s definitely showing all of the desserts and the fun stuff,” Mancias added. “As far as Paleo goes, that was a one-time trial. It started off as sort of a challenge amongst his friends—I think Ray Allen, one of his teammates in Miami, was also doing it with him. It was a 30-day experiment, but he ended up doing it for two months because he was looking so lean. But about a month before the season started, we started eating regular again. Just clean eating all the time, with the occasional dessert and glass of wine.”

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