West Ham manager Nuno Espírito Santo has confirmed that the club has instructed Adama Traoré that he is not allowed to lift weights in the club’s gym anymore.
The decision was taken by West Ham because Traoré is already very muscular and the coach believes that additional heavy weight training could be unnecessary possibly even affecting his agility or conditioning on the pitch. He said Traoré’s build is incredible and mostly down to his genetics and existing physique, so the club wants him to focus on injury prevention and football specific training instead of traditional strength workout.
Nuno Espírito Santo said,
“His genetics has been like this for some time now and he should avoid the gym. I’ve told him to stay out of the gym. It’s one of the things that I think he needs to realise. It’s enough weight that he carries. He’ll do prevention work (in the gym), but he’s not in there lifting weights.”
He also confirmed that the restriction is not a punishment but a performance-based decision. Traoré will continue training with the squad, concentrating on injury prevention, mobility, and match sharpness. West Ham’s coaching staff believe tailoring his workload in this way will help maximise his impact on the pitch while protecting his long-term fitness.
The manager’s priority is maintaining the winger’s explosiveness, speed, and durability rather than increasing bulk. The move follows attention around Traoré’s gym sessions, which highlighted his impressive upper-body strength.