Marcos Llorente Hasn’t Missed a Minute Since March — Here’s the Secret Behind His Ability to Play Every Game
By Kris Garo | 17 November, 2025
Marcos Llorente hasn’t missed a single minute for Atlético Madrid since March of this year. This fact has sparked curiosity about how he’s managed to sustain such remarkable consistency. In a sport defined by fatigue, injuries, and burnout, where players are getting injured more and more frequently, the 30-year-old midfielder has turned himself into a model for other players. Llorente has proven to be a player who runs tirelessly, recovers rapidly, and maintains an elite level of consistency.
So what’s the secret behind his superhuman endurance? His consistency is not an accident; it stands as a product of discipline, science, and a unique lifestyle.
Marcos Llorente hasn’t missed a single minute for Atlético Madrid since March. (ESPNFC)
The Diet: Eating Like an Ancient Human
According to Telegrafi, Llorente follows the Paleolithic diet, a nutritional approach based on how humans ate thousands of years ago. He avoids carbs, pasta, legumes, dairy, refined sugars, industrial oils and processed foods altogether. His meals consist mainly of fish, eggs, meat, potatoes, and cassava, with almost no modern additives.
“Anything that’s pasta, bread, wheat, or rice is off my menu,” he told Cadena SER’s El Larguero program. “I eat meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, and carbohydrates like sweet potatoes and cassava.” Llorente also advocates for the elimination of all ultra-processed foods. In fact, he stated that he doesn't “even look at them.” To Llorente, this commitment goes far beyond football. “I will go 100 percent with the Paleolithic diet,” he said. “It is a way of life and a very quality way. I do it for health, not for football.” By removing refined sugars and processed foods, Llorente maintains low inflammation levels, which helps to explain his ability to recover quickly and avoid soft-tissue injuries, one of the biggest challenges in modern football.
Llorente also trains on an empty stomach and eats only two meals a day according to Telegrafi. He usually eats lunch at 2 p.m. and dinner at 9 p.m. to align his body’s rhythm with natural cycles.
Llorente follows a Paleolithic diet inspired by the habits of early hunter-gatherers. (Daily Mail)
Red Light Therapy: The Hidden Advantage
While his diet gets most of the attention, Llorente’s red light therapy routine might be the real secret weapon behind his success.
According to Athletic Lab, red light therapy is a treatment that uses low-level wavelengths of red light. It has gained traction among elite athletes for its ability to reduce inflammation, speed up muscle recovery, and improve mitochondrial performance, which is the part of the cell responsible for producing energy.
Marcos Llorente incorporates red light therapy into his daily wellness routine in order to stimulate cellular energy and strengthen the body’s natural antioxidant defenses, according to Mundo Deportivo. Beyond being a user, he’s also the co-founder of Aureo Lifestyle, a company dedicated to advancing photobiomodulation, the science behind red light therapy and healing through light.
Llorente’s approach fits into a growing trend in modern sports, with many athletes turning to recovery technology as their next competitive edge. From cryotherapy chambers to sleep trackers, teams and players are realizing that recovery is now a billion-dollar industry and one of the biggest keys to sustained performance. His focus on long-term recovery reflects what many clubs and sports-tech companies are embracing, which is that science-driven recovery products can build longevity and value for thousands of athletes around the world.
Red light therapy plays a central role in Llorente’s recovery routine. (Athletic Lab)
Grounding and Sleep: The Natural Reset
Beyond his strict diet and modern recovery tools, Llorente also practices grounding, according to Mundo Deportivo. Grounding is the process of connecting with the Earth's surface to gain its electrical charge. It is performed by walking barefoot outdoors, even in the cold sometimes, to reconnect with nature and balance the body’s natural energy. It may sound unusual, but it does serve as another example of how the football player blends old world principles with modern day science. This grounding technique is also used by Erling Haaland, the Manchester City striker who holds the record for most goals in a single Premier League season (35), and he often shows on social media how he takes off his shoes after games and places his feet directly on the grass.
Sleep, too, plays a central role in Llorente's recovery. According to ESPN, Llorente said, “I sleep eight and a half or nine hours a night. Going to bed early, above all, is fundamental. Sleeping from midnight to eight a.m. isn’t the same as sleeping from four a.m. to noon. Going to sleep when the sun goes down and getting up when it comes up is essential.” This shows how intentional he is about optimizing every detail of his performance and highlights just how essential sleep is for high-performing athletes.
The Lesson: Discipline and Recovery
Llorente’s methods might sound extreme, but they are a part of a system designed for peak performance. He treats his body as a company, with every input, recovery technique, and sleep cycle adding up towards a common goal. Every part of his routine is grounded in scientific reasoning, something he both practices and openly defends in his daily life. For a player who hasn’t missed a minute in months, it is clear to say that the secret isn’t luck, but the dedication the player has to his lifestyle. In an era where athletes monetize longevity through sponsorships, content, and image rights, Llorente’s discipline reinforces his marketability. For clubs and brands alike, his routine serves as a business case for how consistency and self-optimization can translate into both athletic and commercial success.
