Need Gym Tips

[flotsamnjetsam]

Put yourself on the Boozie diet: McDonalds in the morning, Taco Bell at night. Smoke at least a pack of cigarettes per day and drink 4+ beers a night. You should be super buff in no time.

I thought that was the John Daly diet.

[joelamosobadiah]

WOW, looks like we have a lot of people here who work out.

[Tiki]

If you don't want to get jacked, do more repitions with less weight. Someone probably said that but that's all you need to do to get stronger and not jacked.

[sox 06]

I've been thinking, would it be a better idea to buy some dumbbells and just focus on using those? If I were to do that, what size dumbbells should I get (pound wise)?

[joelamosobadiah]

I've been thinking, would it be a better idea to buy some dumbbells and just focus on using those? If I were to do that, what size dumbbells should I get (pound wise)?

If you were to do that, you owuld definitely want to either get a whole set of dumbbells or get some where you could change the weight. One weight probably wouldn't do what you are needing.

[moonhead]

former golf pro here.

walking up to 36 carrying a bag can wear a man down in a day. my personal opinion is check out yoga for flexibility, do plenty of cardio for fatigue, light weights for strength. you don't see muscle bound golfers for a reason. length is gained through the coil/uncoiling. if there was a body part that you should pay particular attention to as far as getting stronger i would look at the wrists and forearms, but it's mainly flexibility and being able to repeat that same motion over and over. i think you could forget about the weights, just run and do yoga and you will see a vast improvement.

i hit the ball long and most of my length is gained through a quick hand action. there are other ways to go about it, i have a sergio type attack, but look at davis love. consistently one of the longest guys on tour, but his hand action is minimal. he has a long syrupy swing. you need to examine your golf swing and then determine from there what is right for your game as far as on what areas to focus.

good luck, cheers!

[onnestabe]

I would suggest doing three 45-60 minute workouts a week. 30 minutes should be devoted to lifting exercies, and 15 should be devoted to flexibility. (it's a good idea to stretch on days when you don't lift as well - just remember to get your muscles warmed up a bit beforehand)

You want to work every major muscle group with compound lifts using free weights to get the most out of your workout. (For instance, bench press doesn't just work your chest, it also hits your triceps, shoulders, forearms, etc). Stick to big movements (bench, rows, squats, deadlifts) and you will accomplish more in less time.

Also, golf is about balance and body control. The best way to hit the small muscles is to put your body out of balance during the exercises. Swiss balls are great for this. Instead of lying down on a bench to do bench press, lie down with your shoulders on a swiss ball so that your core is working the entire time to keep you from falling off. Also, I really like one-handed dumbbell bench press - because there isn't an equal amount of weight pushing down on the other side of your body, your core is working extra hard to keep you in balance.

For the legs, favor barbell squats over the leg press machine so that you have to use the small muscles in your lower legs to keep in balance. Also learn the bulgarian split squat (grab some dumbbells, put one foot on a bench behind you, and squat with just one leg) I guarantee you will feel a lot more than just your quads working on that one.

Find a good ab routine online - I like mine, and you can PM me if you want me to go into detail. But since you are looking for golf specific stuff, you obviously want to focus more on twisting motions than normal (don't neglect more traditional ab exercises like leg raises and crunches, just throw in an extra oblique exercise)

Oh yeah, low weight - high rep will help you burn a lot of calories during your workout, but it won't help you get stronger. Light weights don't engage enough muscle fibers to build muscle. Go with heavy weights if you want to get stronger.

And tempo is important. Golf is about control more than explosion, so you want to make sure to lower and raise the weights slowly, paying attention to form.

menshealth.com has a ton of workout routines with videos showing you how to do the exercises. I think I saw that they had some golf-specific routines as well.

Feel free to shoot me a PM if you have more questions.

[Omaha Red Sox]

If you're serious, get yourself a personal trainer at the gym too. This will force you to be more disciplined in your workouts and force you to go. I signed up for a gym once but never went.

[sox 06]

I think I am going to get a set of dumbbells and try to attack it that way. What pound range should I get? Thanks for all of the tips guys, I will defientily refer back to this when I'm working out

[sportsaddict]

I think I am going to get a set of dumbbells and try to attack it that way. What pound range should I get? Thanks for all of the tips guys, I will defientily refer back to this when I'm working out

I've never bought weights before or anything, I just use the gym, so I can't tell you exactly what to buy from any experiences. But I would make sure it gets up to at least 40-45 pounds, because even though you won't be using those right off the bat (assuming you aren't incredibly naturally strong or something), I think eventually you can build up to that. For what its worth, I use dumbbells for shoulder/military press, triceps (skull crushers), back (lawn mowers), and biceps (which I hate, biceps are all for show). I would suggest trying out some stuff in the gym in addition to using your dumbells, maybe get someone to show you how to do bench press or squats? Squats I would imagine would really help your swing, especially when it comes to power. But I've never played golf so I'm not really an expert.