Kobe Bryant’s Workout And Diet (Revealed)

If we talk about reminiscing about one famous basketball player, Kobe Bryant might pop up in most of our heads.

For all the NBA fans, he was undoubtedly the most legendary basketball player of all time, known for his position as the shooting guard in the team, Los Angeles Lakers.

He had been a proud representative of his position in his team for 20 years, getting retired in the 2015-16 era due to physical fitness concerns.

He was widely known for his mind-boggling defense skills, being able to win the basket at the end of the game, taking vertical leaps like no other, and dribbling skills on the court.

He was also famously nicknamed “The Black Mamba” – a name he gave to himself after watching the film – Kill Bill, inspired by a code name(Black Mamba) owned by an assassin. He nicknamed himself after a Black Mamba to “separate his private life matters from his career professional life.”

He was an incredible player who spent a chunk of his life playing the game he loved and pursued it as his full-time career.

Luckily enough, he made a great significance in the history of the NBA. An integral part of his success on the court is credited to his rigorous workout and diet plan.

Therefore, in this article, we will be having a look at the diet that Kobe followed to get shredded and play his best on the court. Let’s move on to see what it looks like!

Kobe Bryant’s Biographical Details

Full name	Kobe Bean Bryant
Birth	August 23, 1978, Pennsylvania, the US
Age	41 years (1978-2020)
Height	6 feet four inches (1.98 m)
Weight	96 kg (210 lbs)

Kobe Bryant’s Workout Routine

Before we head on to discuss his normal workout routine, let me shed some light on the workout principles he followed religiously.

He was a morning person, (as it is pretty self-explanatory) Waking up at 4 am was usual for him after sleeping early, using the rest of the day for working out and eating healthy.

He indulged himself in a unique workout routine he would follow: the “666 routine.” In this routine, he would train for 6 months, 6 days, and 6 hours in one year.

In six hours per day, he would do tons of weightlifting activities, which included practicing basketball drills like shooting and defensive drills to improve his agility and performing mental-strengthening exercises.

He performed strength conditioning by training his muscles to bulk up and increase their size. This included doing a plentiful of plyometric and weightlifting exercises that he would perform daily in his routine.

He also liked to include elements of exercises like swimming, sprinting, and cycling for a cardio workout.

He performed injury-risk-preventing exercises like yoga and pilates to improve his body flexibility.

Moreover, he also performed mental training to back up his “Black Mamba Mentality” by doing meditation and practicing different visualization techniques.

Now that we have covered a basic aspect of his overall workout routine, let’s peek into his day-to-day workout routine:

Mondays And Thursdays: Upper Body

For Mondays and Thursdays, Kobe had an upper-body-specific workout routine to strengthen the muscles in that area by performing the following exercises:

1. Incline Bench Press (3 to 4 sets, 8 to 12 reps)
2. Bench Press (3 to 4 sets, 8 to 12 reps)
3. Military Press (3 to 4 sets, 8 to 12 reps)
4. Bicep Curls (3 to 4 sets, 10 to 12 reps)
5. Lat Pulldowns (3 to 4 sets, 10 to 12 reps)
6. Isometric hold Push-ups (3 to 4 sets, 10 to 12 reps)

Tuesdays And Fridays: Olympic Lifting

1. Stiff-legged Deadlift (3 to 4 sets, 10 to 12 reps)
2. Romanian Deadlift (3 to 4 sets, 10 to 12 reps)
3. Clean Pulls (3 to 4 sets, 8 to 12 reps)
4. Dumbell Lateral Raises (3 to 4 sets, 10 to 12 reps)
5. Straight-bar Dips (3 to 4 sets, 8 to 12 reps)
6. Tricep Pushdowns (3 to 4 sets, 8 to 12 reps)

Wednesday And Saturdays: Lower Body

On Wednesdays and Saturdays, Kobe follows a lower body workout focusing on his leg muscles, including the hamstring and gluteus muscles to strengthen his core:

1. Back Squats (3 to 4 sets, 10 to 12 reps)
2. Leg extensions (3 to 4 sets, 10 to 12 reps)
3. Calf Raises (3 to 4 sets, 10 to 12 reps)
4. Crunches (3 to 4 sets, 10 to 12 reps)

Sundays: Rest And Recovery

On Sundays, Kobe used to let his body rest and recover to come up with a stronger and more determined strength and mindset to follow his workout in the coming days.

It’s important to remember that consistency is the key and giving your body a reset by allowing it to rest and recover helps you to maintain it.

Kobe Bryant Diet Routine

Kobe didn’t set a diet plan on his own, he was assisted by the nutritionist hired by the Los Angeles Lakers franchise owners, who was responsible for devising a diet plan for each player in the team.

Kobe Bryant’s diet included eating lean protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats to keep it balanced. He had pre-work and post-workout meals that he had to consume two to four hours before or after he performed energy-draining workout sessions.

Moreover, hydration played a key role in optimizing his overall performance, thus he always made sure to drink water when his body was in need. It was particularly helpful in avoiding chances of getting muscle cramps due to a deficiency of electrolytes in his blood.

Here’s the diet routine Kobe Bryant used to follow:

Meal One (Breakfast): For breakfast, he would eat a veggie-filled omelet with oatmeal as a source of carbs necessary for consumption in the morning to give him the energy he needed. He would drink some green tea and eat a fruit like an apple or a banana.

Meal Two (Lunch): Fish grilled, with a handful of roasted veggies along with olive oil drizzled over the top.

Pre And Post-workout: A protein shake with banana

Meal Three (Dinner): For the last main course of the day, Kobe would eat chicken or fish meat with quinoa or brown rice and veggies.

He might have incorporated some occasional treats while following a strict workout and diet regimen to remain motivated.

Conclusion

• Kobe Bryant, famously called “Black Mamba” after he nicknamed himself after a poisonous black mamba, was a legendary basketball player to ever exist in the history of the NBA. He is remembered for the incredible records he made while being on his team: the Los Angeles Lakers and how enthusiastically he played the game, making people a fan of him with his outclassing dribbling techniques and defense skills that caught other players off guard.

• For the workout, Kobe follows the “666 routine.” In this routine, he would train for 6 months, 6 days, and 6 hours in one year.

• He performed strength conditioning like plyometric and weightlifting exercises to bulk up his muscles and injury-risk-preventing exercises like yoga and pilates to improve his body flexibility. He also mediated and did cardio workouts like swimming and cycling.

• Kobe Bryant’s diet included eating lean protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats to keep it balanced. He had pre-work and post-workout meals that he had to consume two to four hours before or after he performed energy-draining workout sessions. He also remained hydrated and occasionally ate cheat meals.