Meet personal trainer tasked with keeping 7ft5 Victor Wembenyama in shape ahead of long-awaited NBA debut
VICTOR Wembenyama’s basketball skills are out of this world and here’s the man that helped fine-tune them.
Guillaume Alquier, 30, is the lead trainer for Wembenyama’s professional French team and has been entrusted with preparing one of the game’s most prominent prospects ever.
Alquier began training the 7-foot-4 center last August and wanted to emphasize natural movements to sharpen his actions and coordination while triggering his body in the process.
He works with Victor before and after games and is largely his only trainer.
Alquier was interviewed by ESPN and asked what he did to keep the prized center healthy throughout the season.
“The most important thing is to have strength in the legs, to produce force to play basketball: To play inside, to play D, post up, everything,” Alquier said.
“After that, you have core activation, and the last thing is the prevention stuff — trying to do the best thing to be healthy all the time during the season.”
Victor’s workout plan is serious, and his diet is intense.
He has eaten five meals daily for the past five years but doesn’t want Victor to weigh too much.
“He’s adding some weight normally, but not 10 pounds or 20 pounds every month,” Alquier said.
“That could be difficult for his motor control, knees, and joints. We try to build it as best as we can.”
So far, the building has gone according to plan. Victor had a monster season for the Metropolitans 92, averaging 21.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 3.0 blocks in 34 games.
The 7-foot-4, 19-year-old grew up just outside Paris, France, in Le Chesnay.
Victor also has two siblings, Eve and Oscar, who also play basketball.
The 2023 NBA Draft will occur Thursday, June 22, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where Wembanyama is expected to hear his name called with the No.1 pick by the San Antonio Spurs.