Cliff Diving
How cliff diver Constantin Popovici builds a 'Bruce Lee' physique
The ripped Romanian cliff diving champion talks gym training and the exercise regime that has helped him achieve peak performance on the diving platform
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Strong body, strong mind. The mantra of reigning Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series champion Constantin Popovici, the super-fit ‘Romanian shark’ known for his incredible persistence and determination.
Popovici has been diving since 1997, driven by his ultimate goal of simply being ‘the best’. At the age of 35, he finally achieved his cliff diving dream last season in Auckland, New Zealand, when he became only the fifth diver in the history of Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series to take home the King Kahekili trophy. All in the same year that he took gold at the World Aquatics High Diving World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
This main character moment was, without a doubt, the result of Popovici’s relentless grind. For more than five gruelling seasons in the World Series, the Romanian had put in countless hours in the gym, in the pool, out on the platform as well as plenty of physical rehab after some pretty painful injuries, all in a quest to hone his physique and perfect his dives for peak cliff diving performance.
A fast recovery
Constantin Popovici suffered an injury in Boston
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
Popovici returned to the diving platform as reigning champion for 2024, but his season has been anything but easy. After a perfect start with a first-place finish in Athens at the season opener, Popovici was forced to withdraw from the second stop in Boston, USA, having suffered a significant injury to his knee.
Travelling up to 85kmph in the air, and hitting the water at forces up to 10G feet-first, the defending champion landed slightly off vertical during a round of diving in the US leg of the competition. On resurfacing, Popovici was clearly in pain and was carried from the water by the team of medical personnel.
An MRI revealed that the Romanian had hyperextended his knee, causing bruising to the bones and damage to the cartilage. Following this news, no one expected to see the Romanian back in action just two weeks later at the following stop in Polignano a Mare... much less finish the event on top of the podium.
So how did he do it?
Popovici celebrates in Polignano a Mare
© Romina Amato/Red Bull Content Pool
“I did a lot of physio, a lot of manipulation, a lot of compression and decompression, icing and heat,” Popovici recalls. “I put a lot of argila [a natural blue clay with mineral properties] on it to help the bone to recover. Every night I would wrap my knee with it and in the morning I cleaned it, then put other things like anti-inflammatory gel and pain relief on it.”
Popovici’s recovery also included magnetic therapy and a PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) injection into the knee. “PRP is where they take some of your blood, and they spin it to separate your plasma, and with hyaluronic acid they inject it to help with a faster recovery,” he explains.
“It was a really fast recovery. I’ve seen other people with the same injury who took two to three months to recover, but for me, after two weeks I was back in the competition.”
Prevention is key
A proper warm-up is vital
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
Popovici’s overall incredible fitness was also, of course, a factor in his recovery. With his physique conditioned to withstand the huge forces of cliff diving, Popovici is also well-versed in exercising to prevent injury.
“I do a lot of prevention for things that have previously affected me, like my groin, my back and of course now my knee,” Popovici states. After recovering from his knee injury and building up the muscle, he continues to work on keeping his knee structure strong. Exercises can include bodyweight squats, lunges, knee extensions and glute bridges.
“I learned through my diving career that I have to learn how to get better and then continue to maintain that level. It’s not always perfect, but this approach is allowing athletes to keep competing into their 40s,” he says.
Goals, goals, goals
Popovici needs to bring together athletic power, speed and agility
© Romina Amato/Red Bull Content Pool
As one of the titans of cliff diving, Popovici is known for his incredibly dynamic and complex dives, some of the toughest sequences performed in the competition. In less than three seconds, the Romanian diver performs a stunning array of manoeuvres, such as his Optional Dive – an Armstand Back 3 1/2 Somersaults 3 Twists Pike.
To throw down the perfect dive time after time, Popovici needs to bring together athletic power, speed and agility, while staying committed to training and maintaining a physique that keeps him competing at his best.
If you look at Bruce Lee, how he was super slim but just muscles, basically that’s what I want so I can have the speed for my Optional Dives
“As a diver, my overall fitness goal is to be as slim as possible but also with fibre muscles,” he says. “In my particular case, I need more speed because I execute very difficult dives. And of course, I’m not 20 years old anymore to spin so fast so naturally. If you look at Bruce Lee, how he was super slim but just muscles, basically that’s what I want so I can have the speed for my Optional Dives.”
Training plan
Popovici carefully manages his workload across the competition schedule
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series calendar is an intense schedule of competitions, with some stops taking place over two-week intervals, thousands of miles apart. With each dive from 27m taking its toll on the athletes’ bodies, competition season is a time to strike the right balance to avoid overtraining, fatigue and injury. In fact, as a competition looms, many divers will actually reduce their training regimen to avoid burnout.
“If we have a competition coming soon, I will dial down the intensity of my training level, diving and gym sessions and do just the minimum required for my body,” Popovici explains. “Everybody is supposed to know their own body - I know mine, I know how much I can push if I have a competition this week or next,” he continues.
In the weeks approaching a competition event the 36-year-old dials down his training schedule by 40 to 50 per cent, sometimes more with back-to-back events. “You have to plan accordingly and know your limits, know how much you can push to sustain the number of competitions,” he adds.
Everybody is supposed to know their own body - I know mine, I know how much I can push
But when the 2024 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series wraps on November 10, Popovici is planning on two weeks of travelling in Australia with minimal training, before getting back to business. “After Sydney I won’t have any competitions until April. So during this time I’ll get my body in shape for next year. It takes two to four months to perfectly adjust everything and start the new season with fresh power.”
So what does training look like for an experienced World Series champion?
Power and energy
Getting some stretches in
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
In the off-season, you’ll find the gold medallist at the gym up to three times a week to train with weights. This is the time when divers will typically focus on increasing their strength, and for Popovici, it’s also a time to work on honing muscle fibre - especially fast-twitch muscle fibre for explosive movements like launching from the platform and speed in the air. Weights with low reps, box jumps and jump squats as well as isometric exercises such as side planks and wall sits can feature in a divers’ training plan.
Overall strength without creating bulk is a huge asset for divers, who need to retain immense core strength and stability, as well as both upper body and lower body strength and flexibility for those adrenaline-inducing acrobatic movements. Squats, walking lunges, kettlebell swings and compound exercises like bent over rows or pull-ups can feature in strength training circuits.
Some divers may also focus on plyometric exercises - explosive bodyweight resistance exercises using the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) - like hip thrusts, Russian twists and barbell reverse lunges - to help increase muscle strength and power and streamline movements.
Cardio, however, isn’t a focus for Popovici. ”I think my warm up routine is kind of cardio-based, but I don’t really jump on the bike or run. To be honest, I save my legs because they get tired fast, so I want to save all the energy that I can for the dives,” he states.
For the “Romanian shark” – the name given to Popovici and his fellow Romanian Catalin Preda by Gary Hunt when they began seriously contesting the Brit for the podium – most of his training takes place in the pool with dry-land training consisting of around one to one-and-a-quarter hours on strength, drills and simulating somersaults and twists on the mat, or on the trampoline.
But one advantage to a long career in diving is that Popovici is able to reduce his reps in the pool.
“Now I’m older and I have so much experience, I can do less reps because of my muscle memory. My body just knows what to do. I do less than half the actual diving than someone younger around 20 years old. So instead of doing 80 reps per training in the pool, I can do 20 or 30, maybe a little more in the off-season,” he says.
Now I’m older and I have so much experience, I can do less reps because of my muscle memory
The other advantage is that Popovici has nailed his list of dives for competition, so there’s no time spent learning and then finessing newer sequences.
“For younger athletes, divers who are just starting, there’s always new dives and it’s always scary to try at the beginning. You have to plan when you have enough time to practise, and then maybe re-do the whole dive at least once so you’re sure about this dive,” he explains. “Of course every diver is different and lately lots of divers have coaches [to guide their training]. But I think generally, if there’s a new dive you just practise whenever you get the chance.”
Staying agile
Preparing to dive from Mostar's iconic Stari Most
© Romina Amato/Red Bull Content Pool
With agility and flexibility such a major component of diving skill – think pike position with that major hamstring stretch - cliff diving training and conditioning has a major focus on mobility and stretching.
“If people see me on the platform, I’m always stretching. From the moment I start my warm up until I’m on the platform I’m stretching. If you don’t stretch, your muscles simply tighten up. Once people get older, they can sometimes skip this part… but it shouldn’t be skipped!” Popovici warns.
The world-class diver is also keen to try a new discipline to help with his general flexibility and conditioning. “I wanted to try Pilates last year,” he reflects. “I’d still like to try it at the end of the season to see if it could improve my flexibility.”
Dive deeper into the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series
Keeping your head in the game
Popovici has suffered his fair share of injuries throughout his career
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Balancing atop a 27m platform in armstand or launching from a small ledge on a rocky cliff face with swirling, choppy waters below before attempting to rip an entry at 10G takes a certain kind of courage and mental training, especially when returning after injury.
Throughout his diving career, Popovici has suffered his own fair share of injuries, but has always managed to come back fighting in top form. One of his more recent incidents occurred in 2022, when the Romanian perforated a lung after landing on his back during a dive. After this significant injury, he turned to yoga and meditation to help address the mental challenges of getting back to peak performance.
“I never used to need any other type of fitness or training other than my ‘normal’ training. But I had some moments where things were tough - around 2022 when I had my accident, and I wasn’t happy,” he says. “So I looked into mental health training. I started meditating and did some yoga, and it actually helped,” he adds.
I started meditating and did some yoga, and it actually helped
Even now, with the intensity of the competition circuit, Popovici finds that there’s room for mindfulness in his training plan. “From time to time I try to disconnect and let go of things, and the yoga and meditation just helps,” he finishes.
For now, all roads lead to Sydney, Australia. Currently in third place overall in the World Series standings, the Romanian shark is battling to retain his champion status against the US’s James Lichtenstein, currently in second overall, and the Brit at the top of the leaderboard, Aidan Heslop, who leads by a 16-point margin.
See Constantin Popovici in action at the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series final in Sydney, Australia on 8-10 November.
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