Member Review: Kai Fitness for Golf

[Bucky CC]

As we get close to spring here in Wisconsin I wanted to post about a new (for me) fitness program I tried out this winter:  Kai Fitness for Golf.  The DVD is from 2012, but I haven't seen many reviews online for it.  A lot of detailed program info is given on the website kaifitnessforgolf.com so I'll mainly focus on my own experiences.

 

 

A little background info on me.  As I approach 40 I've been trying to be more consistent in my fitness.  I've gone through quite a few exercise programs the last few years (P90X3, Hammer and Chisel, Daily Burn Live to Fail, etc) but get bored easily and am always on the lookout for something new.  This is the first time I've ever tried a golf specific workout program.

 

The program is broken out into 4 phases with each phase containing 3 workouts.  I have tried to do the Kai workouts on M-W-F with added cardio on Tuesdays and stretching/yoga on Thursdays.  The program only suggests breaking the workouts apart by a day for recovery so there are a lot of ways to set your own schedule.

 

Equipment needed is pretty minimal.  The items I've used the most during the program are pictured below.  I did invest in braided fitness bands since there are so many rotational exercises (and I didn't need an old one snapping off into my eye), but that's pretty much the only thing I didn't already have.

 

 

Phase 1:  Learn and Build – This program goes over the basic principles of a golf specific program and keeps things pretty simply.  Workouts are typically in the 40-50 minute range and are scheduled to last 9 weeks, but I felt ready to move on much more quickly than that.  They do show you progressive exercises if the basics are too easy.

 

Phase 2: Strength and Control – The 2^nd phase focuses more on heavier weights and full body exercises.  This reminded me a lot of the workouts I had previously done through Beachbody or Daily Burn programs.  Workouts here are again 40-50 minutes.  The toughest exercise for me was probably weighted squats on a balance board/discs.  Definetely not an exercise to do with heavy weights or my kids running around nearby.

 

Phase 3: Power and Distance – Workouts here are much shorter and generally top out at 30 minutes.  There are a lot more explosive plyometric type exercises.  I liked this phase, but often felt like 30 minutes was kind of short compared to the first two phases.  It seemed like there should be one or two more exercises added to each day here.

 

Phase 4: In-season and scoring – Unfortunately I haven't gotten to this DVD yet as Wisconsin winters last about 11 months.

 

There are also DVDs that cover swing fault exercises, pre-round warm-ups, and super fit workouts.  If there's any interest I can check them out and post some quick thoughts on each.

 

The other thing I wanted to mention before this gets too long is the customer service of Kai.  When I received my shipment from his website the DVD package was broken.

 

 

Although the DVD's all worked I sent an email to the generic website contact to let them know the package had been damaged in shipment.  To my surprise Kai himself called me up that week to apologize and ship out 8 brand new DVD's free of charge.  You have to love it when someone stands behind their product like that.

 

Overall I'm fairly happy with the program and would have no problem continuing the in-season DVD this summer or starting the program over next winter.  Kai seems like a quality trainer and the production value of the DVD's is above average.  He also keeps it fairly straight and doesn't tell 900 of the same jokes like Tony Horton does.  As a bonus he does have a slight accent, so it's hard not to think of the Swedish Chef at times.

 

Not Kai:    

 

I don't think the program will get you in the best shape of your life or increase your clubhead speed 20 mph, but for me it feels like I can avoid the winter cobwebs this year.  I was on a Trackman 4 simulator a few weeks ago and the numbers I was seeing were right in line with my July/August swing.

 

[tony@CIC]

Interesting.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

[Mr_Theoo]

Nice review, I've been wanting to create an off season workout plan for sometime now and with me finally getting my weight down i think next fall will be the time I finally get to it