Professional footballers guard their fitness with a fierce determination these days.

However, while the vast majority of footballers are absolute physical specimens, none of them can quite much-up to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo's religious physical routine has seen him craft one of the healthiest physiques on the planet and is one of the driving factors behind his ascension to the top of the game.

When not on the field, Ronaldo is probably hard at work in the gym, while exclusively eating health 'super-foods' in between.

He sets the bar extraordinarily high but the rewards are there for all to see. Even as he advances in years, Ronaldo is very rarely injured, has no issues getting through a full 90 minutes and can still jump higher than most.

However, it seems that Ronaldo's strict dedication to supreme physical well-being is not something that began when he became professional but far earlier.

Speaking ahead of the upcoming European Championships, Portuguese coach shed some light on the some of sacrifices teenage Cristiano would make in order to bulk up and improve his game.

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Ronaldo had very little in terms of resources growing up. His family were very poor and at times Cristiano had to beg for burgers to eat.

That didn't stop him from getting fit and building muscle however, with Santos mentioning that, per a report in The Sun Ronaldo used to race traffic in the streets with weights on his legs in a bid to add to his muscle mass.

"Cristiano is represented by ambition, desire, determination, humility, work and the realisation of dreams.

"He defines it very well. He shows throughout his life that the dream can come true.

"That a boy like him in Funchal, he can be a great footballer. Of course, sitting around waiting for the dream to come true will not work.

The dream comes true when at 14 or 15 you cross the street with leg weights when the traffic light is amber to pass faster than cars and gain muscle mass.

"I think that represents Cristiano Ronaldo well."

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With that sort of insight, it is no surprise that Cristiano would go on to become one of the greatest footballers to have ever lived.

What is even more impressive though is, even at the age of 26, Ronaldo is taking nothing for granted, and is stiles fit as when he was a young whipper-snapper.

(Credit: The Football Terrace)