Top Golf Workouts: Do they make you sore?

Tyler again.  Dee is still having trouble posting because he has a windows computer.  But hey, lucky for you all, my Mac is unaffected so let’s press on.

Today I’m going to shed some light on what makes a good golf workout for me.  This post is in response a conversation I had with a client of mine about wanting to be sore the next day following a workout.

Do you have any idea how much trouble Arnold Schwarzenegger has caused me in my career?  Ok, it’s not just Arnold, the whole body building community that has brainwashed the average athlete into thinking that no pain no gain is the only way to train.  It’s not!  Here are, in no real apparent order, my thoughts on the effects of muscle soreness as it relates to golfers.

When I am referring to traditional weight lifting techniques, I am referring to 3 sets of 10-12 reps of 60-70% of your 1RM, performing each set, resting 30-45 seconds, then completing the second set of the same exercise all while fighting for those last couple reps. If your trainer has you doing any of the above and calling it golf fitness ask for your money back.

Traditional weight training techniques do not help golfers (with the rare exception of an ultra elite golfer needing a hypertrophy phase in a periodized plan but even then I would recommend only during one microcycle during the early offseason).   Why does the average golfer want to train differently?  Lets start with your purpose of working out.

Body builders are training for aesthetics while athletes are training for performance.   So if we have different goals then we should train differently, right?  Golfers need power, stability, flexibility, and balance in a much greater demand than they need strength.  I can hear the strength coaches cringing.  Yes at the elite level you will reach a power plateau until you add strength.  So lets say we do need strength.  Is that what 3 sets of 10 will get you? It’s not.  3 sets of 10 will make you bigger, slower, and sorer.  Talk about your lose-lose.

So most of our weighted golf exercises fall into categories and this is how the set reps adjust for each:
•    Power or maximum strength – we are looking at maximum of 5 reps leaving a couple good reps out there (not training to fatigue) and aiming for more sets 3 – 8 depending on phase of cycle.
•    Stability – we are looking at 10-15 reps usually around 30% or less of 1RM.  Tyler you just said you don’t train 10-15 reps didn’t you?  Look at the percentage, we are usually challenging the stabilizers and putting the weight in a range that won’t over tax the brain.  These are more for activation and coordination then they are for strength.

The other tip I can recommend when it comes to avoiding soreness is the circuit the exercises.  You want to be fresh when you come to the physically demanding exercises.  If you put in some fun “fluff” exercises you will avoid wasting your time will still not exhausting any particular muscle.  By fluff, I mean the stuff that doesn’t seem hard, muscularly, but is great for your golf game.  Single leg activities, stretching, and swing drills make great fluff in between your heavy sets.

I’ve attached a link to my good friend John Novosel Jr.s blog.  He is a competitive long drive guy.  Check him out in the gym by watching the videos from May 5th and May 6th. Golf Strong

He bench presses like a girl, but he hits the ball out near 400 yards.

Good luck golfers.  Keep your pain to the golf course, not after the gym.