To build muscle and develop the optimum range of motion for golf, you should be doing three workouts per week, consisting of weight training, balance and bodyweight exercises.
Three times a week seems to work best for most golfers.
A full time job, family, stress… like most of us have in today’s society all chip away at your workout time. If you can do more, I recommend adding a short bodyweight only 20/10 conditioning workout to your workout mix.
Conditioning in the 20/10 method is superior to long steady state cardio, and delivers fantastic results in a relatively short time frame.
But if three is all you have time for, those will work out quite well. The main thing we look for is to create a stimulus that forces our body to adapt…
…to change, grow, and come back stronger… more flexible than our last workout.
In addition to the three strength and bodyweight sessions per week, I recommend two days of active rest. Active rest consists of actually going out and hitting balls, playing, and performing the stretching programs I have created for you.
The recovery days give us the break the body needs to replenish energy, repair muscle tissue, and perform stretching routines.
Training 1-2 Days Per Week
If you can only make it to the gym 2-3 times due to an insane work or social agenda, you can still get great results. It’s not the end of the world. Just know, it’s less than desired.
If two days is all you can do, I’d opt for two full body days like this in 30 Yards or More in 30 Days or Less.
Even just one day a week is better than nothing. Research suggests that one day a week can actually help maintain any strength gains until you can make it back in to the gym more frequently.
Obviously, three days is better than one or two if you’re looking to make a rapid transformation. This gives you more opportunities to send an anabolic signal to your muscles. Quite simply, you will grow more muscle during the week with more sessions.
Another advantage of training three days per week is that you will keep your belly from growing too big. Insulin sensitivity is improved and allow you to eat more carbs without gaining a lot of fat.
Working out more frequently also keeps your metabolism chugging along so you burn more fat throughout the day.
Can I Train Too Much?
Yes, but overtraining is really hard to do. If you are getting enough rest, eating reasonably well, and staying hydrated it is pretty hard to train too much.
Olympic lifters, gymnasts, MMA fighters, sprinters and most other athletes train every day. They can do this because of proper nutrition, rest, low stress, and hydration.
An example would be doing a task such as climbing stairs… let’s say 50 floors. You haven’t done this in 5 years and sure you will be sore the next day.
However, if you got in the habit of doing stairs on a regular basis, the soreness would subside and your performance would improve. The same thing happens with strength training.
I’m not telling you to go in to the gym and do calf raises every day of the week. However, Arnold used to train his calves every single day. He found they simply would not grow with a day rest between so he started to train them every day… and guess what?
Arnold’s calves grew.
I want you to push yourself hard during the workouts, then rest the next day with stretching, range of motion, and an activity such as nine holes of golf or the driving range.
Stay active during the week, even if you are only training three days. The rest of the week be active.
Your body was designed to move.
You can either use it, or lose it.
Christian Henning, NASM-CPT, gfs, CTT
Certified Turbulence Trainer
