The bizarre training method that helped turn Jarrod Bowen into a West Ham star

The Hammers captain has shot up in stature over recent seasons

Despite West Ham United's unexpected fall from the Premier League into the Championship for the 2026/27 season, there are no hard feelings from the London Stadium faithful towards Hammers cult hero and captain, Jarrod Bowen.

The 29-year-old winger has now spent over six years in East London after signing from Hull City under David Moyes in January 2020, and will be hoping his creative spark and experience can help fire the Hammers back to the top-flight at the first time of asking.

Naturally, there have been a split of opinions regarding Bowen's recent decision to stay in E20 for the Championship campaign, with many respecting the fact loyalty has been shown by the club's most high-profile player, while some believe he could have easily earned a move to a top Premier League side.

The Leominster-born winger is still under contract with the Hammers until 2030 as things stand, meaning that if he stays at the club until then he would have surpassed 10 years of featuring for one club, which would only further cement his status as a modern-day legend.

Jarrod Bowen's father helped develop West Ham star's strength using potato farm

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Before breaking onto the scene briefly in the Premier League, but mainly in the Championship, for Hull, Bowen plied his trade for local side, Hereford United (now known as Hereford FC), before being signed by Steve Bruce for the East Yorkshire side's academy in 2014.

Although many footballers utilise training in the off-season in many different ways, with some opting to take part in sessions abroad to adapt to intense heat, Bowen has stayed true to his roots throughout, and has often paid credit to his father, Sam, who put him through his paces in his uncle's potato farm.

“It’s a bit like running on sand, but a bit thicker. I’ve found it wonderful for muscle injuries and, because I’ve had weak ankles, to work on them and stabilise them,” the winger revealed in 2021.

“But also because it is really tough to train on because you feel so slow, when you go running on the grass you feel like you’re a sprinter.

“It’s been my training method for the past three or four years with my old man. He is pretty old school, he doesn’t want me to just go running round a normal field doing football runs, he wants me to run around a potato field with weights in my arms.”

Jarrod Bowen's old coach could see his mentality right from a young age

At 16, Bowen had already forced his way into Hereford's first-team, going on to make eight appearances and register two goal contributions.

Most of the players who have featured for England in recent times, with the winger already having over 20 Three Lions caps, have been hailed by their youth coaches, and the experienced figure was no different at the time of his first England call-up.

Bulls youth coach, Pete Beadle, stated that you could see the trajectory Bowen was going to take, even at such a young age.

"I think that comes form his humble background. He's a very humble boy and that philosophy has come from his dad that you've got to work, he said.

"That's the mindset you need to have to be a top top player and Jarrod has that in abundance - hopefully he can show it on the highest stage."

Despite the club's relegation under Nuno Espírito Santo, Bowen was still able to record double-figures in both goals and assists, proving that he did at least everything within his power to try and save the Hammers from the drop.

He has continued to lead by example also, despite only being handed the captaincy ahead of the 2024/25 season, which initially began under Julen Lopetegui.

As such, it was no real surprise to see such intense transfer interest come his way from clubs still in the Premier League before he committed, at least his short-term future, to West Ham's rebuilding project under their Portuguese head coach.

Clearly, the idea for Bowen to improve his strength was a factor in his early success with Hull, which then paved the way for his move to the Irons.

After being handed a major breakthrough by Leonid Slutsky in the 2017/18 season, the attacker went on to score 52 goals and post a further 12 assists in just 117 Championship fixtures, whilst he was only 23 at the time of his move to the London Stadium, making it even more impressive.

Therefore, even though the second tier has got even more competitive since, Bowen will be aware, more than most of his teammates, about the rigours and physical demands of a regular 46-game season at the very least, especially when there is so much pressure on West Ham to be promoted.