Fast Facts:
- Name: Jermaine Jenas
- Age: 26
- Occupation: Professional Footballer
- Location: London
- Weight: 80kg
- Height: 5ft 11
- Sport: Football
Jermaine Jenas - Q&A
You're often mentioned in the newspapers and on TV as being one of the fittest box to box midfielders in the Premier League, covering around 13km per game according to Prozone stats. Do You have the latest Prozone stats?
The club give us the prozone stats pretty regularly but to be honest I usually just put them in my locker and forget about them. I prefer to focus on my performance rather than the stats.
How important has good nutrition become to professional footballers? Do you get given strict diets at Tottenham and can you tell us what you eat on a typical training or match day?
Nutrition is very important – anything that can give you an advantage is. The club make sure we have good advice but its our responsibility as professionals to eat well. On a typical match day I will usually have pasta and chicken about 2 hours before KO but it can vary depending on the KO time.
You're obviously a naturally gifted athlete with a very good 'engine', but what training methods do you use to increase the type of endurance and stamina needed to play football?
For endurance and stamina training the club use interval training. You can really feel the benefit on the pitch but its not much fun at the time!
Do you also perform regular strength training with weights/machines – what would be a typical gym session for you and how often?
We do use weights to work on our upper body strength usually 2-3 times a week depending on the time of year. The club supervise this but I do some of it in my gym at home.
Which Maximuscle products do you regularly use and why – what's your favourite?
I use Promax pretty regularly but Recovermax is my favorite. Obviously, we have quite a packed schedule so it is important to recover quickly after each training session or match.
Many footballers are now performing at the elite level until their late 30's or even early 40's like Maldini. Although you're at your peak, do you think sports nutrition products and good nutrition will prolong your career when you pass 30?
We now know so much more now about the benefits of nutrition and proper injury prevention than even 5 years ago. It will definatley help to extend the careers of this generation of pros.
Tottenham have made a great start to the season – how far can the squad go this season?
We have great strength and depth in our squad so I believe we will be at the right end of the table at the end of the season. We also don’t have the distraction of European competition which helps.
Can you break in to the World Cup squad for South Africa 2010?
I hope so – it's definitely a goal of mine this season. Every footballer dreams of representing their country at the World Cup.
What would we find you doing on a typical day off or in your spare time?
I watch a lot of films in my spare time and I also like to spend time with my daughter – she is 2 and a real handful.
