Burnley vs Tottenham: Ryan Mason reflects on weight problem

Spurs midfielder blames wrong type of weight-training for slow development

Miguel Delaney
Saturday 04 April 2015 17:53 BST
Comments
(Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Ryan Mason’s career may be soaring right now, but the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder blames the wrong type of weight-training for injuries that hampered his progress.

Mason made his international debut against Italy in midweek, bringing to a head a brilliant first full season for Spurs, but even that came at the relatively late age of 23.

While he describes it as a “dream come true”, Mason admits to thinking it would never happen after a series of injuries plagued his career.

“I got caught up in a time when I had too many people telling me I needed to put on weight and I was probably putting on the wrong weight. I was in the gym probably doing the wrong stuff. But now I’ve addressed that and I have a team around me who work to do the stuff that best benefits me on the football pitch.

“That wasn’t sitting on the bench-press doing that kind of stuff; it was more working on my legs and quads and strengthening me that way. I think times are changing. The Premier League has become a lot faster and it probably suits footballers a little bit more.”

Mason also thinks the technical level of young English footballers now matches those of Germany and Spain. “Definitely, many more clubs can be breeding English talent. You look at the Germans and the Spanish, they’re not better than us technically. It is important to bring young players through if they are good enough. You see what the [England] Under-21s are doing now. They are unbelievable.”

Burnley v Tottenham Hotspur is on Sky Sports 1 today, kick-off 1.30pm

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in