LeBron James is undoubtedly a physical specimen. In his 20th season in the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar is averaging over 36 minutes played per game while putting up 29.5 points per game. Over the past 2 decades, he’s played in 1413 games and it doesn’t seem like he’s going to slow down any time soon.
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For James to be as effective as he is at 38 years old, he’s had to follow an incredible strict diet and training regimen. Luckily for him, he struck gold early on his career when he met Mike Mancias. Mancias has the position of ‘Chief Human Performance Advisor’ in relation to LeBron.
The two met over 14 years ago, back in James’s first stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers and he’s has been training under Mike ever since. Most recently, Mike would take to his Instagram to publicly congratulate his client on passing up Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leading scorer in regular season history, an achievement that he was instrumental in orchestrating.
How has Mike Mancias helped LeBron James?
Mike Mancias covers many bases when it comes to making sure LeBron James is in top shape going into every single season. He’s involved in everything from nutrition, collaborating with James’s personal chefs on the regular, to rehabilitation, making sure his client recovers well from games on a weekly basis.
Aside from this, as expected, Mancias is also vital in his day-to-day training that includes his cardiovascular performances, his strength training, and overall maintaining a solid build to his 6’9 frame.
Having been an assistant trainer with the Cavs first and ten becoming James’ personal trainer, Mike knows quite a bit about various body types and how to tackle them in terms of helping them achieve their best possible physique. “My whole was to make it to the NBA and work in the professional ranks, never to be a personal trainer,” said Mike.
This of course, didn’t work out the way he wanted it to, and for the better. One of the main goals for Mancias as a personal trainer whose sole objective it to look after one man, is to look for longevity. “If we’re about to embark on three games in 4 nights or 4 games in 6 nights, it’s all about finding the right balance.”
How Much Does LeBron James’ trainer make?
A report from 2018 stated that LeBron James spends a whopping $1.5 million a year on his body. This includes his diet, his personal trainers, his chefs, and the state-of-the-art equipment. It has however been half a decade since this report and James has only grown in age, leading to more care being taken of his body.
His expenses in this department have certainly increased and while it’s not known how much Mike Mancias makes per year, he certainly makes a large chunk of money from the aforementioned $1.5 million+.
What kind of a diet is LeBron James on?
Mike Mancias is more than just a personal fitness trainer. He’s also a well respected dietician that helped LeBron James through every step of the process of figuring out what he should put into his food as fuel and how much of it.
In an interview with GQ in 2019, while LeBron battled a groin injury, Mike revealed that James tried out a Paleo diet when he was teammates with Ray Allen in Miami. He did so for only 30 days however and it was a one time thing. His diet isn’t as restrictive anymore as he has the occasional dessert with a glass of wine.
After a tough practice, game, or workout, LeBron has now also become accustomed to drinking a protein shake. This is to help rejuvenate his muscles from the fatigue they experienced in the workouts they had just gone through.
