Scooters 12 month golf fitness journey!

[scooterhd2 701]

Well lads, I have selfishly created this thread as added accountability for myself, but I do hope there will be some beneficial insights for anyone looking to improve their golf game with strength training and fitness. 

About Me

I'm 36. I have put way too much weight on. I'm about as inflexible as it gets. But I have always been really good at sports, and have somehow got my handicap down from over 18 to 4.3 over the last 2 years when I really dedicated myself to golf. I'd practice 5 times a week at the local range during my lunch breaks, and the results were quite linear for some time but have since stalled out as expected. I feel like not only for my health, but to improve my golf game, I have to lay off the constant practice for a bit and really work on my body. I cant do a pushup, cant do a pullup. Im struggling to bench 135. Its painful to sit cross legged on the floor. I need some functional strength. I want to add speed and endurance. And so, the days of hitting the range everyday at lunch are over, as now I am going to be hitting the gym.   

In reality I started this July 5th, but didnt want to flame out and embarrass myself. But I do have a month of solid progress down 14 pounds. I'm going to update around the 1st and 15th of each month. 

SW: 314

CW: 299.6

 

The Work

I have no excuses as my work has a full gym. Weights, resistance bands, treadmills, stairs, bikes. It's a legit gym. I'm going to lift weights 5 times a week. Mostly focusing on compound exercises right now. Trying to work the total body and core. I've been replicating alot of golf movements as well with cables and resistance bands and also working on balance. Finish the workout for 10 - 15 minutes on the treadmill or bike.  

 

I picked up a fitbit to help track these workouts and any walking or running I might do at home. Also nice to see my steps which I am trying to get over 10k each day. Since I mostly sit at work, getting to 10k usually requires a walk in the morning or evening around the neighborhood. Here's today's lunch time workout. 

 

I've also picked up some knock speed sticks that I plan on training with at home. I have some recent club and ball speeds from a launch monitor that I hope to improve upon. I'm not expecting Bryson numbers, but its been a dream to have 160+ ball speed.  

 

The Diet

So far I've been intermittent fasting during the week. Skipping my breakfast and lunch and eating most of my calories in a 4 or 5 hour window at night. Dinner with the family and some late night snacking. Peanuts has been a recent favorite. When possible, I am trying to make healthier food choices and really limiting carbs. Definitely limiting drinks with calories. Its not a true keto diet, but just trying to cut out obvious sugars and breads and alcohol. This has been working very well for me especially since I'm not always sure what we are having that night for dinner. On the weekends, I try to keep to the no breakfast part, but will eat normally with the family for lunch and dinner. I'm sure I will modify things along the journey, but right now things are working so I am not going to change much. 

The Goals

I really want to add strength. I'd like to bench 3 sets of 10 at 145 no problem. I'd like to be able to do 10 pullups and 30 pushups. I'd like to increase my club head speed. I want to see 300 yard drives. And ultimately I feel like to do that I need to lose 50 pounds, and then make some more goal and lose another 50 to achieve those. 

GW: 200

 

My google results havent really peaked my interest in any specific workout program. If anyone has any thing they have followed, or especially any golf centric yoga videos or series,  I'd love to see it. 

Otherwise, weigh in is on the 15th.

 

 

[scooterhd2 701]

Down to 296.1. 

Been staying on top of my 10k steps a day. Making some immediate strength gains in the gym. Benching 3x8 at 125 now. I have really increased all of my compound lifts by 10% easy. Working on the assisted pull up machine and have been able to lighten the assistance from 160 to 145. Focusing alot of golf specific movements with weights and resistance bands as well. Very happy overall and motivated. 

I've also been working with the speed sticks. No measurements yet, but I know I am swinging faster. I can just feel it. Will get on a monitor as some point to confirm.

Dropped a belt size this past week. Dropped a watch size as well. 

[JerryB 918]

Keep up the great work! 

I dropped from 267 to 195 a couple years back.  I was a big fan of the Stronglifts 5x5 program when I started lifting.  If you truly start from square one you'll see consistent gains for several months, which is both satisfying and motivating.  The guy who wrote the program and many fans of the system can be real sticklers regarding following the rules to a T, but if you pick something that you enjoy, it's much easier to stick with it.  Good luck on your journey!

[scooterhd2 701]

46 minutes ago, JerryB said:

Keep up the great work! 

I dropped from 267 to 195 a couple years back.  I was a big fan of the Stronglifts 5x5 program when I started lifting.  If you truly start from square one you'll see consistent gains for several months, which is both satisfying and motivating.  The guy who wrote the program and many fans of the system can be real sticklers regarding following the rules to a T, but if you pick something that you enjoy, it's much easier to stick with it.  Good luck on your journey!

Nice. I will read up on that. On first glance it looks similar to what I have been doing in the gym. Going heavy AF with less reps. Trying to get as much newbie gains as possible because eating at a deficit for a year is going to make it difficult to hold onto, much less build muscle mass later on. 

[juspoole 3,276]

Great job man.  Just keep at it.  The first month or two can always be difficult since you may have a couple plateau's and not always see the results on the scale.  

I've been doing well with cardio myself, but need to add some strength training to the mix as well.  Keep at it buddy.

[scooterhd2 701]

Down to 292.1 this morning. Was at 290 last Friday, but the weekend did me in. That's okay. Still making progress. Still lifting 5x a week and noticing more muscle on my body. I've got loads more muscular endurance where at first I could hardly lift for more than 30 minutes, but thats feeling like a warm up now. Continuing speed training and making golf related moves with resistance bands. Nearly down another belt size. 

 

Some fitbit tracking from the latest email. Hitting those step goals and putting the miles on. 

[scooterhd2 701]

SW: 314

CW: 285.5

Down almost 30 pounds. Feels really weird not to have hit a golf ball in the last month. I work full time, have 3 kids with the youngest at 3 months, so the schedule is busy. And I've been putting alot of energy into working out. I recently picked up an Oculus set, which has been pretty great for sneaking in work outs on the weekends or at night. The boxing game in particular is super taxing.

I've got some big golf events couple up, so in October I am going to look to bring golf back into the equation. I've got a big work golf tournament in November and I am making a trip to play Pebble, Spyglass, and Pasatiempo in December. So starting next month, I'll aim to lift weight M/W/F and hit the driving range on T/Th. Hopefully my speed training and muscle gains wont mess up my game too much. I feel like some of the training I have been doing with weights or resistance bands to mimick the golf swing have really helped my understanding of the position of the body during the swing. You can't really make an OTT swing motion on a pulley with 45 pounds on it. 

[jtgavigan 122]

Awesome job! I have been following Jeff from Athlean-X. I bought one of his programs, mostly for other exercises. His ab app is great. 5 to 8 minutes and you are done. I do that several times a week, along with pilates. I do strength training 3 to 4 times a week at home.  Keep it up!

[scooterhd2 701]

I was going to post this on the 2nd instead of the first because I had a round of golf scheduled on Sunday and wanted to include that in the post, but then life happened.

 

SW: 314

CW: 

 

Big drop coming for the next weight in on the 15th.

So Sunday was the first round of golf I have played since the beginning of July and I wasnt sure what to expect. Got off to a rough start on a local course that I am very familiar with and usually score well on. Shot a 43 on the front. 7 bogeys and 2 pars. Didnt make any massive mistakes but a couple of three putts, a bad drive here or there. Pulled the wrong club a few times as I am not locked in on distances. And really had to adapt as my stock fade was doing nothing by drawing over and over again. But I really recovered on the back 9, started playing the draw, and shot 36 (par 35), for a 79 on a par 71 course. Quite happy with that.

I will say, I hit 2 300+ yard drives, which is a definite rarity for me. Wasnt hitting irons crisp enough to really know, but I just feel more speed in the swing. Hear more of a woosh with the driver. Cant wait to confirm on a monitor.