Kobe Bryant Diet and Fitness Plan: Lots of Water, Green Tea, Proteins and HIIT Workout

Photo Credit: London Ent / Splash News
Kobe Bryant

Photo Credit: London Ent / Splash News

During his career, Kobe Bryant’s diet and workouts were the stuff legends are made of. As one of the widely-regarded greatest basketball players of all time, the lifetime Los Angeles Laker likely has all kinds of secrets that kept him relevant in the league for 20 seasons, which can make for a fun game of “true or false.” Here, I’ll start: “ex-NBA star Kobe Bryant loves bone broth.”

If you answered “true,” you’ve won. Great stuff.

The perennial All-Star, five-time NBA Champion, and one of the most decorated athletes ever, attributes bone broth soup to helping with the longevity and quality of his career.

Bone Broth Soup: What Is It?

Bone broth soup is getting its time to shine as the next super-food. It’s like kale or quinoa, and has been praised for a number of health benefits; however none of them are yet to be backed up by scientific research. Bone broth is rich in nutrients, minerals and collagen, which can keep joints, bones and tendons strong—very important for athletes.

There are also claims it can prevent or reverse osteoarthritis, digestive distress and autoimmune disorders. To make it, you’d take the bones of cow, pigs, fish, etc. and simmer them with other ingredients for about eight hours. Afterwards, it’s cooled in the fridge until a gel forms on top, which is reportedly where all the benefits reside!

Kobe’s Workouts

Kobe worked out very intensely, and a quick Google search for his workouts will turn up some results featuring the number 666.

What is Kobe’s 666 workout routine? It’s actually our next true or false question. Would he work out for six hours per day, six days a week for six months? It’s hard to say.

The Lakers typically played into June for almost every season of Kobe’s career, so the math doesn’t make sense. With an off-season of about four months—at most—it’s likely he would have not been able to keep up with such a routine. The basketball season simply doesn’t allow for that kind of workout time commitment.

A photo posted by Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) on

So let’s say this: he trained four hours per day during the season (plus games, which I guess can bring it to six) and six hours per day during the offseason.

It is likely, however, that he structured his workouts like a 666 routine. This routine consisted of two hours of running, two hours of basketball skills and two more hours of weight training. Bryant describes his weight lifting as Olympic style, using the following lifts:

  • Power clean
  • Deadlifts
  • Romanian Deadlifts
  • Back squats

For conditioning he would jog, do high-intensity sprints and suicides.

Kobe’s Diet

When you’re 212 pounds and stand between 6’4 and 6’7– those are Kobe Bryant’s body stats—you need to eat big. Kobe made sure his diet was made up of lean proteins and healthy fats, and just enough carbohydrate to keep him from insulin surges and energy crashes.

A photo posted by Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) on

According to Gary Vitti, ex-Lakers head trainer who retired alongside Kobe, the foods that fueled Bryant on the court (and through his tough workouts) included:

  • Pasture-fed beef, chicken and eggs
  • Free-range chicken
  • Butter
  • Milk
  • Green veggies
  • Olive Oil
  • Nuts
  • No sugar or junk food

Sources:
Guarneri, B., “Kobe Bryant,” Men’s Fitness, October 29, 2007; http://www.mensfitness.com/life/entertainment/kobe-bryant, last accessed August 16, 2016.
Holley, P., “How Bone Broth Became Kobe Bryant’s secret Stone Age weapon,” Washington Post web site, January 22, 2015; https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/01/22/how-bone-broth-became-kobe-bryants-secret-stone-age-weapon/, last accessed August 16, 2016.