Long before the likes of Leon Goretzka and Alphonso Davies hit headlines after impressive body transformations at Bayern Munich, Robert Lewandowski's shifting physical frame was the stuff of legend.

Once a reasonably skinny forward who had only not been sold to Blackburn Rovers due to the result of the Icelandic volcanic ash could that spread through the skies in 2010 while at Lech Poznan, the 32-year-old is now a machine. 

Linked with a move away from the German giants in pursuit of a new challenge after conquering the Bundesliga on nine occasions, the Poland international has shown little sign of slowing down. 

Last season, Lewandoski broke the late Gerd Muller's record for number of goals in a Bundesliga campaign (41) and, while he has much more to his game than just physically, the kind of shape he's in must seriously help hit such impressive numbers. 

In 2019, his wife Anna - an accomplished karateka - told Bild that a change to her husband's diet has helped keep him in such fine fettle. 

"The most important thing is training and nutrition," she said (via The Sun). 

"We refrain from lactose and wheat flour. It's about quality food.

"Pancakes, brownies, vegetable spaghetti, porridge or millet. We also like to eat high-quality fish.

"Sometimes after training we drink beetroot juice with cinnamon or cayenne pepper.

"When we mix many foods at once, sometimes we aren't doing the right thing."

Interestingly, Lewandowski also revealed that he likes to eat desserts first when dining, due to the fact they are digested quicker. 

"As desserts are sweet, they can be digested quicker," he told Tageszeitung (via the Bundesliga's official website in 2019).

"Soups too. But proteins take longer to digest. If I eat something sweet at the end and it mixes with the protein in my stomach, then it's harder to process as well.

"Healthy eating is important to me and this method suits me. It improves fat burning. My wife suggested it to me. She's a fitness coach and has a great deal of expertise about how the body works. She's really good at what she does – so good that a lot of other players in international football want to work with her."

That, coupled with an intense training regime has led to one of the greatest careers in football's modern era.