Roberto Leal, on his physical change: I combine CrossFit with strength training

Roberto Leal (Mayor of Guadara, 1979) is one of the big stars of Antena 3, where he presents Pasapalabra, and also El Desafo. The Sevillian is also an athlete; he looks after his physique with exercise, especially with CrossFit, and with eating habits that place him within the 64% of Spaniards who consider their diet to be healthy, which is the result of a study carried out by Zespri. Now, he speaks to AS to talk precisely about that, about what his day-to-day life is like, and how his physique has changed over the years, having even taken part in the Mens Health challenge in 2018.

– First of all, how are you?

Well, fortunately I am in good health and well, with energy.

– You passed the Mens Health challenge in 2018, but now in 2024 you have an enviable physique. How did you do it?

Mens Health was a challenge because I had very little time, I mean, I had two months to prepare it, but it taught me a lesson in terms of eating habits and training that I have maintained. Now it is true that for nine or ten months since I signed up for CrossFit I have been helped by a friend in my routine, my day to day, doing a lot more exercise and also taking care of my diet.

So, it’s true that a lot of people tell me that I feel better now than when I did the challenge, and I tell them that I don’t know if I’m better or worse physically in terms of appearance on the outside, but on the inside I feel much better because, as I said, I think it’s very necessary and I follow it to the letter. I’m very aware of it.

– Do you think there is a secret to staying in shape?

I think it has a lot to do with willpower and how much you want to care about your own health. In my case there is no secret, no trick, no magic, and neither in yours. In the end you have to like sport, and you have to like trying it. From home everything can seem like a problem, that we don’t have time, but I train at 7:00 am and there are people who have the possibility of managing themselves before or after, but taking an hour for yourself, not to train, but for yourself, is vital.

I think the only trick is to be consistent and if you fail one day, you don’t want to beat yourself up the next day. It’s okay. I always consider it to be 80% and 20%. 80% doing things right and 20% to rest or disconnect is enough. In the end it’s a question of planning.

– You were telling us about CrossFit, how did it come into your life?

CrossFit has been a complete discovery for me. It’s true that at the beginning, when I did other types of sports, I saw it as a kind of demon, because everyone said that it was very harmful and that you were going to screw up your back, shoulders, hips… Anyway… And in the end I think it’s like everything else, if you put your head to it and you’re guided by good professionals, CrossFit is one of the most complete sports I’ve ever encountered in my life. In other words, you do cardio, you do strength, you have a lot of flexibility, you work on mobility, and then you create such a good group of people who have the same interests as you. I think that for me CrossFit is here to stay forever.

I got to know CrossFit through a friend. I had heard a lot about it and I followed accounts where there were real beasts training and I said: My God, what they do. Because I always really liked gymnastics and it has a lot of that too, especially with gymnastics. Then the father of a friend of mine at school told me: Dude, you have to come one day, come, you’ll like it. He was after me for two years until one day I went and until today…

– Who is your reference in CrossFit?

Well, look, there are several, but for example, beyond the sporting aspect, who I think is one of our number 1s without a doubt, although he is now recovering from an injury, is Fabian Beneito, but because I have had the opportunity to speak with him through the networks and he seems like a fairly accessible guy, a reference to look up to because it’s not about anything. In this world, as in all others, there are always people who always want to win, very competitive. You can be competitive and not consider yourself to be number 1. He is a good mirror to look at, especially for the way he conceives this sport and for everything he projects. I hope he recovers soon from his injury, we are looking forward to seeing him back at full strength.

I also follow many accounts of people who may not compete at elite levels, but who are people who help you a lot. It is a very supportive sport. Those who have managed to do their first muscle-up then show you how they did it and share techniques and habits that I know create that community. I experienced something similar with running, when I ran marathons and it came in the form of a bubble, and running is still alive, and CrossFit is no bubble. It is here to stay.

– Running o CrossFit?

Now I’m sticking with CrossFit because my goal is to grow in this sport, even though I’m not an elite athlete, nor will I be, nor do I want to compete at high levels. I know I want to join some competitions to have a good time and to laugh and enjoy it with friends, but right now I’m in CrossFit, because it also combines running, you run, and I complement it, but I don’t run long distances like I used to. Now my priority is strength training and getting into shape, which if I really complemented it with running a lot, I wouldn’t achieve.

– Do you follow any specific diet?

Well, now I’m on a meal plan that a colleague who is also on the networks called Nmada Fitness, John, has given me, and I told him a little about what I was looking for in the workouts I was doing, the type of training, and he has given me, on the one hand, a meal plan in which I know I have quite a bit of flexibility when it comes to eating, which is about 2,700 calories a day because I need to put fuel in there.

And then I also started strength training. What I do is combine CrossFit with strength training at home, because in the end CrossFit really gives you a lot of things, but you don’t really focus on muscle groups that you also have to work on on your own, and that’s what I’m doing at home.

– What do you think of the supplement?

I take creatine every day, I think it’s important, after all, it was demonized for a long time, but today everyone agrees that it’s a basic supplement; and I also take protein and I also complement it, after talking to Marta (Verona), with Omega 3, with vitamin D, with magnesium and then some nights, when I can’t sleep because of stress or workload, I take melatonin.

– I went through different diets, such as intermittent fasting…

I did, but for a short time. I have nothing against fasting. In fact, I think it is a good way to control that anxiety when eating and to organize yourself, to plan your meals. I did it for two months, coinciding with Santiago Segura who was in El Desafo and he did it, and he spoke to us about fasting, and at that time I knew I had a lot of work, a lot of anxiety and I had too much for dinner, and very close to bedtime, and I learned to kill that anxiety by cutting it off a little before mid-afternoon and then having breakfast a little later, and I really felt very good during this time because what I did was not go to bed so bloated and wake up better, but now I don’t fast.

Now what I do is eat four times a day, but with just the calories I need for the type of training I do.

– What is the diet that you have been able to adapt to best?

One that is viable and bearable. I cannot follow a diet in which you have to measure and weigh everything you eat to the millimetre and that you can only do when you are at home. That could take me one or two weeks. In the end, the diets that I follow, if they can be called diets, are a way of eating with common sense. I already know that I have to include proteins, carbohydrates, fibre and the quantities with which I have to fill the plate. From there I don’t go crazy, and if I have to eat a hamburger, I eat it, and if it’s a pizza, I eat it too, but I don’t eat 14 pizzas every day.

– Two weeks ago, Pablo Motos took off his shirt on El Hormiguero. Who is stronger, you?

That’s a good question. I think we should give a huge round of applause to Pablo Motos because he’s a little older than me and he’s an example that age is just a number. He has a spectacular physique and just the other day you could see in one of his reels that they were throwing water at him and his shirt was so tight to his body that people were constantly talking about it, about his abs.

I am lucky to know Pablo Motos, he is a very disciplined guy, who trains a lot and a person who, when he has to, does it, but because his life leads him to do it. He is an example that you can do things well and your body responds. I hope to reach the discipline that Pablo Motos has. He is an example to follow. The abs are great for photos, but what you have to do is be well inside and out.

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