Shaquille O’Neal – or simply «Shaq» – is a basketball legend. The 2.16 meter giant was one of the best basketball players in the world in the 90s and early noughties. He hasn’t lost his ambition: last year – at the age of 49 – he worked his way into «the best shape of his life». Now he has delivered an impressive update.
In the recent past, basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal (50) had to cope with several strokes of fate. As he revealed in interviews, he not only lost his sister and his close basketball friend Kobe Bryant, but many other people around him. The blows of fate had pulled him down so much that he let himself go completely. He began to literally “eat up” the grief and frustration. Last year, the 49-year-old surprised his fans with a six-pack and announced back then: He wants more! Apparently, he followed his words with action, because now he posted a topless photo and shows his eight-pack.
That’s why Shaq grabbed the fitness ambition again
Personal strokes of fate, pandemic, lockdown – as Shaquille O’Neal reports «Men’s Journal», he lost all motivation to stay fit. In addition, sandwiches have always been his weakness. Not only did he eat them at any time of the day, but also at night when he couldn’t sleep. A carbohydrate nightmare, so to speak. «I was starting to look old and I didn’t want that. So I said to myself: I want to take my t-shirt off on Instagram one last time,» Shaq explains his positive change of heart. When he also discovered a muscular 70-year-old on Instagram, it gave him the last impulse to get back in shape.
Also interesting: Is it really more difficult to be fit over 40?
Shaq’s goal – 350 pounds and an eight pack
What more could you want than a six pack? An eight-pack, of course! Shaq revealed this in an interview with «Men’s Health» in 2021. In addition, he had set himself a target weight that he would like to achieve: 350 pounds, i.e. the equivalent of around 159 kilograms. Having stuffed himself up to 415 pounds or 188 kilograms during the coronavirus pandemic means Shaq is looking to shed nearly 30 kilograms. Incidentally, that would mean that he would not be so far removed from the body weight that he weighed in his active basketball career: 147 kilograms (325 pounds). In any case, for his 50th birthday in March 2022, O’Neal wanted to be at his absolute best – and proud to present himself topless.
Shaquille O’Neal shows off his eight pack
Although Shaquille O’Neal owed this photo for his fiftieth in March, he now caught up: On Instagram he showed himself topless in the gym! As he strokes his remarkably trained eight-pack (that’s when you can see four muscle bellies per side), a woman’s voice can be heard on the audio track: «When you are old as shit, but still looking young and good as f…!» That and the post line he wrote: «Damn, I’m old!» Makes his fans and followers smile – and amaze. Because even if Shaq is still massive and probably couldn’t lose 30 kilograms, he seems to be in top form and has reached his eight-pack goal. Respect!
What was the diet like on the way to the eight-pack?
In order to lose weight – but also because his doctor advised him to do so during a check-up – Shaq had said goodbye to the diet he himself called the “NBA diet”, according to “Men’s Health”. This consisted of «a burger or a sandwich with extra mayonnaise and two pineapple lemonades». The star, also known as «DJ Diesel», has largely banned lemonades from his life. And after he changed his diet, burgers and sandwiches were no longer on the agenda.
No bread, no midnight biscuits, no cake
According to an interview in Men’s Journal, Shaq has eliminated all the unhealthy white flour and sugar carbohydrates hiding in bread, cookies and cakes. Instead, fruit, protein shakes, salad, fish, chicken, asparagus and other vegetables were on the menu. All of this in very small portions and spread throughout the day helped him lose around 14 kilograms of weight. About this first success in 2021, Shaquille O’Neal said enthusiastically: «Suddenly I saw things I haven’t seen in years – like a six-pack». He last saw his six-pack in 2006 when he was still playing for the Miami Heat.
Also interesting: lose weight, six-pack, more muscles – the right nutrition for individual fitness goals
One hour of exercise a day is enough for Shaquille O’Neal
Thanks to the change in diet, he is now much more active, can sleep better and has more energy. «I just want to exercise all day,» Shaq says of his regained urge to move. His training is surprisingly simple, because CrossFit and Co. are not for him. Instead, he goes to the gym every day (he has a home gym in the garage) and does his standard exercises:
- 20 minutes of cardio to warm up
- 30-45 minutes of strength exercises per day: chest, biceps, triceps, back and abdominal exercises
- A total of one hour a day
Also interesting: The HIIT workout that Chris Hemsworth uses to keep fit
Because he has broken hips and knees from playing basketball, he can’t do any jumping or sprinting exercises. According to Shaq, a healthy, low-carb diet and an hour of exercise a day are all you need to get back in shape.