Real Madrid’s ‘secret weapon’ is Aqua Running suits, £160 buoyancy aid that boosts injury rehab and speed
Developed by a former soldier, the suits are used five times a week at Real's Valdebebas training complex
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REAL MADRID have been the most successful team in world football in the last five years - winning the Champions League FOUR times.
Although having Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Sergio Ramos et al has helped, their 'secret weapon' costs just £160.
The Aqua Running Suit X6 Flotation suit has been at Real's Valdebebas training complex since 2012, when the Spanish giants decided to order 50 of them after just one presentation by creator Terry Nelson.
Since then, Real medical staff have apparently taken to calling the suit their 'fourth kit'.
A Liverpool youth player in the 1980s, Nelson wanted to join the British Army Parachute Regiment, but tragedy hit during a routine medical examination.
He was found to have kidney failure, later needing a transplant and then a second - his condition eventually led to him having half his leg amputated.
Nelson, who has run the London Marathon and won three gold medals at the World Transplant Games, designed the suit after 12 years on dialysis and while recovering from a broken metatarsal.
The suits - a bit like the £36,000 anti-gravity treadmill that Harry Kane will use to get back from his ankle injury - work by allowing the user to lose their body weight.
But while the Nasa-developed treadmill allows a user to drop 20 per cent of their bodyweight, the Aqua Running suit sheds 90 per cent of it.
For a person recovering from injury that means there is almost no strain on muscles, ligaments and joints.
The suit, which keeps the wearer in the correct biomechanical position for running, has not just been designed for those coming back from injury, however.
Hydrostatic pressure from the water also means that a heart beats 10-15bpm lower than on land, meaning an individual can exercise much more intensively than they could on land.
A fully fit user can also use the suit to improve speed, agility, strength and stamina.
Nelson told the : "All the players, all the management staff, all the medical team gathered around the pool to watch me jump in.
"Ronaldo was there, smiling.
"All the doctors were wearing white coats – it's very formal there.
"The moment they saw me in the water, showing what the suit could do, they loved it.
"I was hoping they might buy a couple. They took 50 on the spot."
Nelson revealed to the that since buying the suits, Real Madrid "use them four or five times a week, with small groups of players."
Other clubs and organisations around the world quickly copied Real's decision.
Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool are among the Premier League clubs to have some of the suits, while there are suits at St George's Park, England Rugby's Pennyhill Park and the Team USA Olympic Training Centre in Colorado.
Hollywood star Mickey Rourke even used one to get fit for a role in a superhero film.
Man City owner Sheikh Mansour was so taken by the suit that a couple of hours after he watches a presentation, he sent an aide along to Terry's hotel to order four on the spot.
But speaking in November, Nelson told the he wished he could encourage Jurgen Klopp's medical staff to use them more.
"Yes, Liverpool have a few suits," he said.
"But whether they use them correctly is something else.
"I always think I should be at Liverpool Football Club – Melwood is two miles from where I live.
"Liverpool could do with me coming in two or three times a week because I'm the top guy in the world.
"They are my club and I'd really like to see them use the suits more."
Reds fanatic Terry also reckons the suits played a part in Real Madrid beating Liverpool in the Champions League final last May.
He told the that Los Blancos superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was carrying a knock in the build-up to the final - using the suit to recover.
"The week before the Champions League final, Ronaldo was carrying an injury," said Terry.
"And in that week he was in my suit every day running in the pool.
"Whenever the players get any type of knock, the first thing they do is get in the water as its low impact.
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"Then it's just rest and ice to help them get back on the pitch as soon as possible."
Nelson, whose firm is based in Liverpool and exclusively employs disabled people, now plans to add wearable technology to the suits.
That will allow medical staff and coaches to get data on the wearer in real-time, so training can reach maximum efficiency.
He was named as one of the Top 100 Entrepreneurs by the Sunday Times last April.