Heavy Lifter
 

There is a common misconception that weight lifting and golf do not make for a good marriage. We have a couple of proof points that might change your perception.

Today, our own mrodock won the Wisconsin State Open Powerlifting meet in his 198lb weight class. Note - These are done "equipped" meaning he is wearing a squat suit and bench shirt which adds 20-75lbs to the totals-

His lifts today:

Squat
275kg (606 pounds)

Bench
130kg (286 pounds)

Deadlift
247.5kg (545 pounds)

Food for thought folks.

I've also been doing a powerlifting program for the past couple of years and have brought my non-equipped lifts up to:

Squat 325
Bench 330
Deadlift 325

I weigh 190 and I'm 5'9. Oh, and I'm over 50.

mrodock was thinking of going pro with his golf game and has excellent swing dynamics. His new love is powerlifting so he's not posting here as often, but still keeps up a good game. I no longer practice and get out to the course once every couple of months. (Start up company to blame). Bring home a bad score in the low 80's.

mrodock and I are both swingers. He's been refining his Stack and Tilt over the years. I just go with Lynn's teaching.

The moral is - Don't be afraid of the gym if you are worried about it effecting your game and...

Congratulations Matt...aka mrodock!

Bagger, the misconception is people trying to use the power acquired from resistance training to golf.90% of the time the person will try and hit the ball(tension) instead of monitoring the hands.weights do not mean further drives and i can prove this with my knowledge from track.

carl lewis,the best athlete ever didn't touch weights till the late 90's but used plyrometrics for explosivness.which is more important-flexibilty/power?

Congratulations Matt! :salut: :salut: :salut:

I fully agree that explosive power and flexibility is the right approach for a golf fitness program. There are a lot of ways to acquire both and a weights will get you there, but its not the ideal way. If you've ever looked at a power lifting program, you will see a lot of flexibility, mobility and explosive conditioning built in.

My point is most golfers shy away from ANY fitness program thinking it creates tension and inflexibility. In reality, if done properly it does the opposite.

Great stuff guys. That takes a lot of hard work I imagine, very impressive.

Im 51 and need to get back into shape, starting to show the after effects of retiring from hockey and squash. Currently doing a sort of combination of Tim Heron and John Daly type stuff away from the course but need to make a change.

Congrats to both of you.

Bagger,i agree totally once the persons understand why they are using resistance to aid them but when you don't know the link you will try and bust the ball.i know you understand the link and thats great.many prople think that resistance training should transfer that sense of "power" and "bulling" to their main sport-well it will happen once you do the natural move but with relaxation.

as a resistance programme for golf i would look at the entire system as a whole but train the parts separetly ie-upper body and lower body on separate days.also target all areas but treat the problem area with great attention-back and knees which seem to plague golfers.with the training you are doing you are targeting these areas through deadlifts/squats/hyperextensions/deadlifts etc. ******take note-DO NOT DO SPORTS SPECIFIC EXERCISES FOR GOLF instead train the body as a whole.golf isa whole body motion and DO NOT train the left side only.

Ripped
 

Bagger

I recently got Mark Rippetoe's dvd Starting Strength..it's a great companion to his book. The dvd provides an excellent visual to his instructions on the 5 basic barbell exercises.

Thats a good one. Highly recommended.

I'm using Jim Wendlers 5/3/1 program.
mrodock uses a Sheiko template.

Bagger,

Has increased chest/arm development hampered your upper body range of motion golfwise, particularly as it relates to the arms moving across the chest? I gain muscle easily, and have been worried about this ever since I made the decision to get back into lifting.

Range of Motion
 

Hasn't set me back one bit. The only thing that sets me back is delayed onset muscle syndrome (DOMS) which is the normal muscle pain you feel a day or two after a good workout. As long as I stay warm and stretch well before and during play, I'm fine.

If you are like me and tend to get a little bulky through upper body, just take a little extra hip turn to keep everything on plane. Upper body muscle is usually very relaxed and nimble during a golf swing anyway.

I'm more flexible now than when I was in my 30's/40's.