Featured Image Credit: Atletico Mineiro's Twitter/Alamy
Topics: Football
Adnan Riaz
Former Porto and Zenit Saint Petersburg star Hulk showcased his incredible fitness after losing close to a stone from playing in a match for current side Atletico Mineiro.
Hulk returned to his native homeland in 2021 after signing a deal with Brazilian club Atletico, with the Brazilian player under contract until 2024.
The ex-Brazil international has been well known for his commanding physique and Hulk has shown little sign of calling it time on his career, despite turning 37 in July.
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Hulk was sidelined for the end of Atletico’s 2022 Brasileirao season, with his side finishing seventh in the league table.
However, the 36-year-old Brazilian forward made a sensational impact against Tombense on Sunday by scoring the late winner in the 2-1 victory for Atletico.
Following Atletico’s win, the club shared a clip (watch it in the video player above) of Hulk’s weight before the Tombense match and he tipped the scales at 97.6kg (around 15st and 3lbs).
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Hulk stepped on the scales after grabbing the winner and came in at 91.9kg (around 14st and 4lbs), with Atletico branding him a “machine on the field.”
Hulk previously lost a whopping six kilos and drank a staggering 30 litres of water after Atletico’s 2-0 defeat to Flamengo in 2022.
“Since I arrived at Atletico, that was the game in which I was most dehydrated. I lost six kilos today,” he told Globo Esporte at the time.
“It was tiring [doping control]. I was tired. I started [the game] with 97kg, finished with 91kg. I fell on anti-doping. I stayed there for four hours, drank 30 litres of water.
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“But it was difficult to urinate. It worked. Now it’s time to go home.”
A member of Atletico’s medical staff expertly broke down why Hulk ends up losing so much weight during matches after claiming that the Brazilian “sweats a lot.”
Atletico physio Roberto Chiari told TV Galo in 2021: “He sweats a lot, that doesn’t mean he is bad.
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“In fact, the athlete who sweats a lot uses the most efficient mechanism of dissipating body heat, which is through sweating.
“This sweat, when it evaporates, allows the athlete to lose body heat in a more efficient way. So, losing many pounds by dehydrating through sweating is not the problem.
“It just requires that we pay extra attention to hydration.
“Our masseuse, who is next to the field, already knows that at each stop in training the first player who has to receive water or isotonic is the Hulk, because he will dehydrate a lot.”