Parts of Jarrod Bowen's pre-season couldn't have been more different. Some was spent on a Greek Island and some in a Herefordshire potato field.
The former Hereford United player is now with West Ham but his father, Sam, appears to have a say in his summer fitness programme.
"I call it my old man's boot camp," Bowen told the Daily Mail.
"Usually we have two weeks at it hard before my club pre-season and it's very old school.
"The worst one is a wheelbarrow full of muck that I have to push up a hill, empty it and carry back. I have to do that again and again for an hour. Dragging tractor tyres is another one — though we didn't do that one this year.
"This summer it was mainly running in my uncle Stu's potato fields. The ground is so heavy it's like running on sand and means that when you finally get back to grass it feels like a breeze.'Dad is a real country boy and has loads of ideas. I could say "no" I guess but he says that nobody else will be doing it and he has a point. It's just an hour a day, isn't it? Get out there and get it done.'
Later in the article Bowen recalls his time with Hereford after he had been rejected at Cardiff.
"Every footballer needs a slice of luck and mine came when Hereford started that team up again (it had been disbanded when Bowen was first there), I went back."
And, he admitted, he still watches his first goal for Hereford against Alfreton which came after manager Peter Beadle gave him his club debut at senior level.
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"I always watch it because I can pause the video at a certain point and there are eight of my friends who are all on top of me as I celebrate in the crowd.
"We used to go to all the games as 13-year-olds. It was a pound to get in and we used to go in the end where I scored my first goal.
"I had a shot a few minutes before that went for a corner and looked up and saw all my mates in the crowd laughing at me.
"I
thought if I scored there was only one direction I was running in. That
was my dream, to score for my hometown club, and I managed to do that.
That was good enough for me."