Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani reportedly ate 10 bowls of rice a day in high school to reach his nutrition goals, namely adding a healthy amount of strength.
Ohtani grew up as a tall, but skinny teenager. His frame, due to Ohtani’s shoulder width and overall height, has long allowed him to put on muscle, but it has been a relative challenge for him over the years.
However, to help himself gain the needed weight, Ohtani would load up on carbohydrates, providing him with energy for workouts and a clean form of fuel.
Ohtani’s Diet History
As one of the more private figures in sports, there is little exact details known about what he eats on a regular basis.
In a story from Mainichi, a Japanese national publication, Ohtani’s dietitian, Kei Omae, has spoken since 2016 about how they have approached his diet over the years.
There is a lack of precedent for two-way players taking on such an intense workload, leaving Ohtani in the dark about how to prepare his body.
He has acknowledged as much in the past.
“There are no precedents of people like me in the majors. Since there aren’t any training or eating model cases for me to follow, I’m trying out various things on myself,” Ohtani said via Mainichi.
“I’ve studied nutritional science and how to eat so that I could go anywhere in the world and would not run into any problems (with food). They don’t need to do anything special for me.”
According to Omae, Ohtani was eating seven meals a day back in 2020, along with taking multiple supplements.
His physical progress has shown what is possible for anyone from Japan, who tend to be on the leaner side. With meticulous work, anyone can build a good deal of muscle mass and improve their physique.
“You need courage to change things up in the midst of a season, but [Ohtani is] always searching for ways to evolve even a little bit,” Omae said.
“I think that the notion that Japanese people can’t do great things abroad has been dispelled. Of course, Ohtani has the advantage of being tall, but he was very thin at first.
“If you train right and get the right nutrition, you can hold your own among foreign players. I think you can say that as long as you make the effort, there’s nothing you can’t achieve.”
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
