Source: Daily_Mail
Chewing the fat with Benni McCarthy: West Ham's chunky striker is on a mission to lose weight...
Benni McCarthy is shrinking and, for once, a tale of vanishing pounds at Upton Park will come as music to the ears of David Sullivan. [LNB]It was Sullivan who 'outed' McCarthy in May, revealing how the striker's body fat had soared to 24.2 per cent. [LNB]'Benni McCarthy is nearly as fat as me,' claimed West Ham's 61-year-old co-chairman, frustrated by a poor return on a £2.5million signing. [LNB]McCarthy had not arrived in great shape, due to lack of action at Blackburn, and then injured his knee on his debut. Things got worse when he failed to make the South Africa squad for the World Cup finals but the 32-year-old returned early for pre-season and is working hard to shift some of the bulk. [LNB] Worth his weight in goals?: McCarthyneeds to start delivering on West Ham's investment[LNB]'I eat well but it doesn't matter,' says McCarthy as he takes a break between sessions at West Ham's training ground. 'Me, I'm the type of person who, if I don't train hard, Ipick up weight. With my bone structure, body structure, if I don't train with intensity, I will get bigger. [LNB]'When you're injured, you can't train. For three weeks, I was told to stay off my feet, just come in for treatment. I couldn't go in the gym. If I was on my feet, my knee would just swell up.[LNB]'I started to get worried because I know I pick up weight quite easily. I was out for five weeks, just doing rehab on the knee. When I started training again, I could tell I was too heavy, two or three kilos too heavy, and I didn't train at the same intensity I normally would do. I didn't feel right.' [LNB]It wasn't the first time McCarthy had been admonished for piling on weight. Six months before Sullivan spoke out, Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce ordered him to slim down to win back his place in the team. [LNB]'I used to eat the wrong things at the wrong times,' admits McCarthy. 'Carbohydrates, you can't eat at night. You eat it during the day and burn it off when you train. If you eat it at night, you store it and get heavier. That was my problem.' [LNB]ROUND NUMBERS The Body Mass Index (BMI) of Benni McCarthy was measured in May, with his level of body fat recorded at 24.2 per cent. Here's how he shapes up:[LNB]Recommended body fat percentages: 5-12 Healthy male athlete20-25 Desirable for most middleagedmales (less than 20 is deemedunderweight for middle-aged males)27-30 Overweight30+ Obese [LNB]There is still work to do. McCarthy accepts that himself. His latest body-fat measurements have been around 16 per cent, high for a professional athlete, but the striker is starting to feel sharper again, thanks to his programme of work with physio Andy Rolls and fitness coach Eamon Swift. [LNB]He scored his first goal in West Ham colours during a pre-season friendly against Borussia Monchengladbach and is out to show new manager Avram Grant he has not lost the instinct which helped him become a European champion with Jose Mourinho's Porto in 2004.[LNB]'I feel much better,' says McCarthy. 'I'm training hard and sleeping a lot. People say, 'You can sleep when you're dead', but if you don't sleep enough you'll pay the price. I've set certain targets for myself. By the start of the season I want to be down at 12 or 13 per cent. That's normal for me. [LNB]'I was taught from early ages at Ajax that you play how you train. You try to give 100 per cent in training and you take the good into a game.[LNB]'You always get players who don't train well but rise to the occasion in a match. (Ricardo) Carvalho was the worst trainer ever at Porto but he'd be the best player in a match. He was fortunate to have a manager like Mourinho who understood him. If he had someone else in his career he would not be where he is today. [LNB]'I want to come back and work my socks off because this is the club that employed me. They thought I was the player to get them out of the mess they were in last season and I thought I could do it. [LNB]'Then, unfortunately, I got injured. I've never been injured in my career and I was devastated when they said six to eight weeks.' [LNB] Looking up: McCarthy, pictured at West Ham's Chadwell Heath training ground, wants to repay the club's investment[LNB]McCarthy returned to action before the end of the season but his poor physical condition was a problem. He accepts Sullivan's comments about his weight, saying: 'If you can't take the pressure, you shouldn't make football your profession.'[LNB]And he also understands why South Africa manager Carlos Alberto Parreira left him out. 'I wasn't angry,' says McCarthy, his country's all-time record scorer with 35 goals. [LNB]'In six months leading up to the World Cup, I never really played. I was surprised to be called into the 30-player squad. Then, when you get there, you think, 'Maybe, with the experience you've got, you might make the 23'. But it didn't happen like that. I wasn't devastated.'[LNB] The wide role: McCarth'ys weight led to criticism of him last season...[LNB]Flab fighter: He has been working hardto lose fat in pre-season...[LNB]Target man: The aim is to be as slim as he was in his early playing days[LNB] McCarthy may be shrinking but his personality is large. 'I don't need to prove anything to anyone but I do want to show people what I can do,' he says. 'Winners go home and they get the prom queens. You get nothing when you're a loser. Winners, you see their missus, top class. All the best-looking women want winners.'[LNB]Then it's back to the training pitch for the second part of another double session.[LNB] South Africa striker Benni McCarthy vows to make huge impact at West Ham next season Big Benni is back! West Ham striker McCarthy in early return to trainingDavid Sullivan EXCLUSIVE: West Ham will be the Arsenal of East LondonWEST HAM UNITED FC
