Strength and Speed Training

Practice
#21

I’d say it’s a mixture of everything. My primary goal is just general fitness. So I do about three full-body strength workouts a week. I also do three HIIT bike workouts, but don’t think those will translate into CHS much. For a long time, I’ve neglected my leg strength, which I’m trying to fix. I’ll mix in a few Fit4Golf workouts in there as well.

And i’m following the SuperSpeed protocols.

I’d say I started this year in the low 100s, I had definitely lost some speed, so ending it closer to 110, and hopefully beyond that in 2021 should yield some nice results.

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#22

I’ve been working on few things this winter to give me some hope in the spring.

• I’ve started doing Top Speed Golf’s “20 minute distance fix” but it’s too soon to tell what changes I’m going to take to the course. My baseline is 90 mph. My max speed is 97-98 mph. My goal is to gain some efficiency, not just “Bryson” it. I can tell already that my body can’t sustain that max effort. At 65, I’m too old to be coming out of my shoes for every drive.
• I’ve restarted my physical conditioning to support the high swing speed workouts. For the last 20 years my back has hurt – more so after playing golf. I have a series of exercises prescribed to me by a physical therapist to increase thoracic spine flexibility, hip flexibility, and core strength in addition to my on/off again commitment to P90X (legs and back).
• I’ve recently heard Adam Schriber talk about lower abdomen and hip strength in order to avoid back pain. I was going to incorporate some of his specific strength builders as well.

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#23

All of this is great, and welcome to the community! I think training for speed is a great way to improve your game, but more importantly, most of the workouts you’re describing will help improve your overall health and quality of life. It’s never too late to get started, and it can be a fun challenge to motivate you to get moving and work out more. Keep us updated on your progress I’m doing some similar workouts myself.

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#24

I think Mike Carrol’s stuff is great. But for most folks who have never done a basic progressive overload strength training program–and most folks haven’t, though many think they have–that would give you the most bang for your buck in the shortish (6-9 weeks) term. I don’t want to get into a whole discourse here (unless you want me to) but power is the expression of strength with speed. Not just how much can you lift, but how fast. As a beginner–the fattest rabbit to chase is usually absolute strength–which is just how much can you lift–however that will also dramatically affect your power. Basic example–you can dead lift 135. But–you can’t clean it–which is an expression of power. You can work a lot on cleaning it, and maybe you eventually will. Or, you can work on increasing your dead lift. You can easily add 15 pounds to your dead lift for 6-9 weeks–I’ve done it, and I’m not a physical freak and did it when I was 50. When you can dead lift 300, cleaning 135 is easy. So your power increases dramatically is well. After 9 weeks, novice gains usually run out, and you have hit the numbers you are capable of unless you want to be a power lifter and chase strength over everything else. But you will be plenty strong enough for golf. If you have been a D1 athlete or already done a progressive overload program–then Mike Carrol’s is one of the best golf programs. But–if you haven’t–try Rippetoe’s starting strength, or 531, 5x5, or…I like starting strength the best. Getting really strong helps every athlete–I coach another sport, and it’s true across the board, and easily doable. Well, simply doable, it isn’t easy. And as Rippetoe himself says, “Strong people are harder to kill, and more useful in general.” Having said all that, I think speed mostly lies in technique. Otherwise all the pros would look like Koepka. Although you see what Bryson is doing. I’m curious to see how durable he will be at that size.

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#25

Starting strength is excellent!

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#26

I played 20 years between an index of 1-3, could never get it down to the holy 0.0. In 2018 I set a goal of making scratch. So taking a page out of the Tour pros, I assembled my team. @Fit_For_Golf & @ScottFawcettDECADE have been the two biggest contributors. In 2019 I made it to exactly 0.0, 2020 I got down to +.9. +3 is the goal now. They are great!

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#27

GREAT TO HEAR!!! Keep it up and anything is possible

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#28

In the gym for the first time since August to lift… it’s going poorly…

Recovering from a back injury, which seems to have healed… but my body is weak and areas are still tight from protecting my back…

Might be a golf season built around improvement and 2022 will be chasing distance…

We shall see. It’s only March.

#29

I’m 46 with a history of lower back problems and have recently started DDP Yoga. I’m a low 90’s swing speed guy and am hoping to gain some flexibility along with strengthening my back. I have the super speed sticks as well, but have never fully committed to the system yet.

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#30

Ha, diamond Dallas page was on a podcast I used to listen to… he’s got a very interesting story.

I need to get back into yoga.

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#31

I’m a little late to the party, but I also second (or third) Starting Strength for a beginner weight training program.

I did this program for several months before reaching the end of my linear progression (as a beginner). Then I tried to program myself and, when I wasn’t making the progress I wanted (I was dealing with an injury from sitting too much that prevented me from squatting), I hired a coach.

I worked with him (Chris Bridgeford, if you want to look him up) for about 8 months. In that time, I took my squat from 280-ish and in pain to 405 and pain free, my deadlift from 330 to 435, and my bench from around 190-ish to 245.

But coming back to Starting Strength - your linear progression will likely only last 3-6 months, so you’ll want a game plan for what you’ll do afterward.

And take it from me, it’s going to be tough to continue strength training on an intermediate program if you’re pressed for time - if you struggle to make time for golf and practice as is. My sessions were 2-3 hours long (4x per week), plus driving, showering, eating, recovering, etc.

So, definitely do Starting Strength. By the time you’re done, you’ll be stronger than most people. But as soon as you start the program, start thinking about the next phase and what you might want that to look like.

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#32

Not sure if there is a flea market / for sale thread so this seems like a good spot for what I’ve got. I’ve got an extra set of speed sticks if anyone is interested. Pretty sure they go for $200 so I’ll sell them for $150 plus shipping.

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#33

I think DDP Yoga is really good. That and P90X3 are my favorite exercise programs although I haven’t tried a ton. It was 8 years ago or so I had frozen shoulder and PT got my mobility back, but I had lost all the strength in my left arm. 3 more months of PT and i was still a weakling. I finally started doing DDP and P90X3 at the beginner level and the strength came back.

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#34

Great advice here. The corollary to what you are speaking of here is that once you run your “novice” gains, unless you want to be a power lifter, you’ve gained more than enough strength for any sport–and particularly golf. After that–no need to chase strength, you can work on power, flexibility (don’t confuse strength and power) endurance, whatever. BUT–until you have that base line strength, a lot of other stuff is unnecessary, unproductive, dangerous, or all three. Strength is low hanging fruit–it’s simple and works. Note-I said simple, not easy.

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#35

What is a good timeframe for building baseline strength? I’ve just started with a trainer. It’s been a looooonnnnggg time since I’ve done any real lifting. Used to be on 300 lb squats and 225 lb bench, but probably half that these days. I just want to manage my expectations (either up or down) on how quickly I can get back to some “baseline strength” as you refer to it.

#36

Agreed. In fact, I apologize, because I think I said what you said earlier, just in a different way.

But yeah, strength is low-hanging fruit, for sure. Plus, you should be generating power when you squat, deadlift, etc.

For example, I think I could’ve added 20-40 pounds (random guess) to my deadlift had I learned how to press off the floor (like you’re trying to jump) when initiating the pull. If I would’ve learned to generate that power instead of just pull off the floor, I could’ve lifted more.

In other words, I agree - there is a lot of carryover from gaining strength to generating power.

Also, strength training - if you do enough work (and you need to) and moderate your rest times - will improve your work capacity too. So, if you get winded walking the golf course, even with a push cart, you should notice some improvement in your general fitness/cardio doing a weight training program.

And then once you’re done with your linear progression - I agree with you again - you’ve probably tapped most of your low hanging fruit (otherwise you’d still be doing your 3x per week linear progression) and should move onto something sport (golf) specific. I think Mark Rippetoe mentions this (sport specific training) in his book (Starting Strength)…

For me, I’m no longer doing powerlifting training because my goal was never to be a powerlifter. I got into weight training to improve my general fitness. And now with golf, there’s no way I have time to do both.

But I don’t need to squat 600 lbs or deadlift 700 lbs to play golf or live a high quality of life, either.

I still do some resistance training (bands, parallel bars (that just came in today), calisthenics, rings, sandbags, etc.) and will likely incorporate some dumbbells/weights in the future. But I also mix it up with other training to improve my general fitness and golf game.

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#37

I don’t think there is a specific answer… comes down to how your body reacts to training, how hard you train and what you do for recovery…

Personally, having just finished my first gym routine in over 6 months, I’m guessing it will be a full year before I’m where I want to be, strength wise.

I don’t have insane lifting goals, I just want to improve my fitness… but I’m also calorie conscious as I’m fat and want to lose weight… if I were just looking to add mass, I could probably shave 3 months off… if I were 25, I could probably do it in 6.

Best thing you can do is focus on the habit of going to the gym and doing what you can do. Starting strength is an excellent starting point if you’ve never done a weight lifting program.

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#38

Muscle memory is a thing - so you might get stronger, faster than someone who has never lifted weights before.

On a general program like Starting Strength, assuming you eat well (or you’re fat), manage your stress, and recover well, I’d say 3-6 months - enough time to run out a linear progression.

But there are a lot of variables involved and I’m in no way an expert, doctor, coach, etc. So, YMMV. But that’s been my experience and that of others I’ve been around in the gym.

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#39

I think 3-6 months is fair if you are fully committed to the starting strength routine… but it also means that you’ll be sore more often and will likely hurt your weekly golf game (at least in the first few months)…

When I last trained heavy (16 years ago) I’d take the week off from lifting when I had a golf event.

Real world considerations can slow you down considerably… I don’t think I’ll be anywhere close to where I want to be physically this season, so I’m setting my goals for next year and focusing on building good routines without tanking my golf this year.

I’m also taking things slow as I’m not 100% confident my back has healed. It feels like it has, but I’m still dealing with some lingering issues… my left hip is still super tight and it was limiting my reps today… I’m 39 so I’m trying to be gentle with my body.

At the end of the day, getting into the gym and moving weights is great for your long term health… that’s the first thing I’m focused on. Adding strength (and club head speed) are secondary concerns right now.

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#40

Helpful thoughts all around. My trainer keeps talking about building a foundation, so I assume that’s where we are right now :slight_smile: I’ve been feeling really good since I started the program. Trimmer, more energy, and already starting to see some swing speed improvement.

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