Luka Doncic is the cover star of the summer issue of the prestigious specialist magazine Men’s Health in its US version, showing an amazing physical transformation that silences the critical voices who had harshly criticised his alleged overweight. All this in a summer in which he has been working hard in the gym to get in shape before the Eurobasket in which he will lead Slovenia, and above all to be in top form for his second season with the Lakers.
In the report, the former Real Madrid player shows the publication the training sessions he is carrying out in a quiet Croatian village together with his personal trainer Anže Macek, in double 90-minute sessions in which he combines weight training, agility work and shooting exercises.
In the first of these workouts, the five-time NBA All-Star trains on an empty stomach, doing strength exercises towards the basket with a thick resistance band tied around his waist that pulls him back with each sprint attempt. The workout consists of a series of circuits, each designed to include an on-court challenge and an upper and lower body exercise.
The center, located in the town where Doncic has spent every summer since his teens, did not have weights until earlier this month, when he was brought dumbbells, bars, discs and medicine balls. Now, Doncic can do everything from trap bar deadlifts to landmine shoulder presses, and also trains sprints and jumps on an outdoor track.
It doesn’t even need breaks
He quickly moves from one circuit to another, doing hip stretches at times, and the next, renegade rows. It’s a session with very few breaks, which is fine. This unfamiliar version of Doncic doesn’t need them. This Luka is different.
Men’s Health perfectly describes how this new Doncic likes himself: “His Jordan Brand jersey fits loosely and in the new hints of definition in his arms. You can see it in the complete absence of fatigue he shows as he moves from heavy Romanian deadlifts to dumbbell bench presses and lateral jumps, one after the other. And you can see it in the way he smiles when he admits that he’s noticed his sleek silhouette in the mirror. He subtly nods to his remodeled deltoids during our Zoom interview.”
A gluten-free and low-sugar diet
For perhaps the first time since playing in the NBA, Doncic can truthfully acknowledge that he is slim: “Just visually, I would say my whole body looks better,” admits the Slovenian, who trains twice a day while following a gluten-free, low-sugar diet that includes at least 250 grams of protein and an almond milk shake a day
He barely needs any rest to recover and take a breather: “If I stop now it will have been in vain,” he says. “Every summer I try my best to work on different things,” he says. “Obviously, I’m very competitive. This summer was a little bit different, you know? It motivated me to be even better. It was a now or never”
Every summer I try my best to work on different things, but this summer was a little bit different, you know? It motivated me to be even better. It was a now or never
In the gym, his team has focused on footwork and deceleration. Doncic’s main virtue on the court has never been pure speed. Few athletes can change speed like Luka, who can lunge forward with force, only to stop abruptly while his defender is still fidgeting and prepare for an easy jump shot. This requires his muscles to contract quickly and decelerate his body, creating what is known as eccentric force.
Javier Barrio, the Spanish physio who has accompanied him in the NBA since he started working with him at Real Madrid, explains this virtue perfectly: “His eccentric strength is very good. And his strength is impressive; he has incredibly strong legs. Also, his center of gravity is very low. So when he’s in position, when he crouches down, it’s very difficult to move him, you know?”
It’s not all about jumping high,” he says. “I think I’m very athletic in other things: in balance, in body control, in what I do when braking, in deceleration
Doncic has always valued these stealthy skills. “Not everything is jumping high,” he says. “I think I’m very athletic in other things: in balance, in body control, in what I do when braking, in deceleration,” explains the former Real Madrid player, who for the first time in years has been able to let his body fully recover from the constant wear and tear of basketball. And this has been reflected in his physical improvement. “My dream, my body, everything about me… I felt more rested,” he says.
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