Zé Roberto turns 50

Zé Roberto is experiencing his third golden age as a fitfluencer in his home country. Our four-time double winner is now 50 years old. FC Bayern members' magazine ‘51’ visited him in his home museum and gym to discover his elixir of youth.

Fitness guru at 50

He runs online training programmes, has over half a dozen advertising clients and boasts 2.8 million followers on Instagram alone. These days, people like Zé Roberto who share their sporty lifestyle with the world on social media are called ‘fitfluencers’. With the slight difference that most of these fitness freaks are just half the age of the former Bayern player. Zé Roberto turns 50 on 6 July. After a brilliant and extraordinarily long career, the Brazilian still sees his body as his greatest asset. He himself likes to describe daily exercise as "looking after yourself" or "taking care of yourself". For him, it is as normal as brushing his teeth, and just as important.

Thirty years ago, José, who was already known by everyone as Zé, made his professional debut. As a lean winger, he lifted his favourite club Portuguesa from the east of Sao Paulo to a runners-up finish, the greatest success in the club's history. Zé Roberto was the team's young star but had to put in extra shifts to build up muscle mass. Real Madrid signed him in his early 20s. Photos, pennants and jerseys in Zé's meticulous house museum are reminders of that time. His Memorial ZR11 museum is modelled on a football dressing room, with an open locker dedicated to each club of his career. Real Madrid was followed by Flamengo and then Bayer Leverkusen. At Real, Zé won titles as a youngster, but hardly played at all; at Leverkusen it was the other way round. "When I came to Bayern, I had a very personal drive. I wanted to finally become champion."

After two runner-up finishes at Leverkusen and missing out on the Champions League title, his thirst for success is particularly great in 2002. Alongside Michael Ballack, Giovane Élber and Oliver Kahn, he won the league and cup in 2003. "The time in Munich was really important for my development, because I realised that I'm not just a footballer. I'm not just a footballer, I'm an athlete." In Germany, he learnt that his body was his tool, which he had to look after. In the following years, he won another three doubles with Bayern. After a temporary return to Brazil in 2006 to Santos - he wore Pelé's number 10 shirt - he played a further two years under Ottmar Hitzfeld in Munich. In his six years at Säbener Straße, he experienced a wide variety of management styles and training concepts.

"Felix Magath was the toughest coach of my career," Zé remembers the hard training regime under ‘Quälix’. "I wasn't in the military myself, but that's how I imagine it. It was only later that I found out that Magath's fitness coach had actually been in the German army before," he says. "It was a bit exaggerated overall. You have to respect your body and its limits," says Zé Roberto, a recognised fitness expert. But looking back, he also realises: "We took off like a rocket at the start of the season."

Magath’s discipline, Hitzfeld’s warmth

If Zé took away Magath's determination for fitness from those days, then it was Hitzfeld's leadership style: "Hitzfeld was like a father, a very warm guy," he enthuses. Today, there is always a little bit of Hitzfeld in Zé Roberto's speeches as a motivational coach to workforces around Sao Paulo.

He also speaks in praise of Jürgen Klinsmann and his team, who brought about a turning point with their sometimes ridiculed modern training methods and sports science diagnostics. Under Klinsmann, for example, simple cycling was part of pre-season. "Two hours there and then two hours back. Everything hurt afterwards!" Since his time in Germany, mountain biking has been an integral part of his personal sports programme. During the pandemic, Zé battled his way through the subtropical low mountain range to the north-west of Sao Paulo on his bike and shared it on video for his audiences on social media.

And his teammates? "They all had to go to the gym, of course. But Bixente Lizarazu was already fully involved in strength training. He put in extra shifts before and after training. A super guy," Zé remembers the well-trained Basque with whom he often shared the left flank. Others like Jens Jeremies didn't need strength training. "Jens was a horse on the pitch, a top defensive player. But he hardly ever went to the gym. Daniel van Buyten, on the other hand, was also someone who did a lot of muscle training." He doesn't understand players who don't pay enough attention to their bodies. "A player has to understand that their career is short," he says. "You used to be able to cover up a lack of fitness with talent. Nowadays, if you don't train properly, you lose touch."

From Munich, Zé moved via Hamburg to Qatar, where, at the age of 38, he was supposedly facing the logical end of his career. But Gremio in his homeland approached him, and a supposed tour of honour turned into three successful years. Zé's second spring. At the end of 2014 - at the age of 40 - he re-signed with Palmeiras, where he played 128 games in three more years and even won the cup and championship. Before his first competitive match, Zé gave a dressing room speech that remains legendary to this day. Some Palmeiras fans regard it as a turning point in the club's history. He was not only a fitness role model but also an emotional leader. In November 2017, Zé played his last professional match at the age of 43 years and 144 days.

Recovery the secret to success

At that time, the media increasingly reported on his impressive body, with a body fat ratio of just six percent, compared to an average of around 10 percent for footballers. And he didn't train any differently, even at an advanced age. "My key was continuity. I didn't make any radical changes" - not even as an over-40 professional. In addition to disciplined training without heavy weights in order to maintain his mobility on the pitch, another factor became central to his performance: recovery.

"Taking care of your body as a competitive sportsman is not just about training, but also about regeneration." This was all the more important given the very tight match schedule in Brazil. "There's no time to train, you HAVE to recover," Zé Roberto is convinced. Once he realised this, he invested extra in his body. What the clubs didn't provide, he paid for himself. A large ice barrel, a built-in sauna or massage boots. "And sleep is also really important for regeneration. Other players often had problems getting a good night's sleep after matches." But a good night's sleep alone won't make you look like this...

Does he feel like training every day? Zé laughs. "Yes, it's really always fun," he says as he warmly greets the car park attendant at the gym. "They know me here," he smiles. Then, like a host, he guides us through the spacious gym. Zé trains for one and a half to two hours every day. "I only have Sunday off," he says, as if his training schedule is still dictated by a higher authority.

"Since I finished my career, I've been doing more muscle training. And muscle building works quite well for me." And then Zé raises his voice enthusiastically: "And I play football at least once a week! We have a small-sided team with a few friends." He proved that he still has a lot of ability on the ball at the age of almost 50 at a tournament with the FC Bayern Legends in Germany at the beginning of the year. He also occasionally leads training sessions for the Palmeiras youth teams. And, of course, he also plays.

Zé loves training hard and does press-ups with his feet up. "Felix Magath used to do them!" he laughs. A few metres further on, he strokes the metal of a training machine like a car enthusiast. "I first encountered this machine in Germany." A quick glance at the weight setting and he demonstrates the exercise. In the gym, Zé is automatically in coaching mode: "Here, the machine shows the intensity of the repetitions, which is great!" He uses the latest technology on a curved treadmill, his sprint machine. "The short sprints used to be immensely important for me on the field. That's why I still train them today." And Zé takes off like a rocket. The machine shakes.

"Anyone who wants to train and can't motivate themselves should follow me on Instagram!" he says with a grin as he says goodbye and then adds profoundly: "If you have a goal in mind, then motivation is not a problem. And today my goal is to help others! I am a role model for many people! That is my life today, my essence. And I want to keep at it, keep going, because everything goes by so quickly." Don't worry, Zé, 50 is half-time at most.

© Photos: Gabriela Portilho

An extended version of this text can be found in members’ magazine ‘51’