It’s October and soon many of us will, after playing with a few layers on, have to call it a year. This year may be especially difficult for winter golf given travel restrictions etc. I would like to hear from golfers about their inexpensive but effective training routines that will help their game in 2021. Let’s think outside traditional gyms with equipment and focus on 30 - 60 min routines that the average golfer could use to stay fit and limber and do from their home as we wait for spring golf.
If wanting to stay fit and limber and being outside or at a gym proves difficult nothing can beat yoga. There are plenty of programs on YouTube to do. If you want to make it a challenge get a floor space heater and crank it up in your direction to make yourself sweat. Doing cardio can be tricky if you are limited to indoors but skipping rope in 90 second intervals (60 seconds skipping 30 second break) for 20-30 minutes is a good way to keep your cardiovascular system working.
My somewhat inexpensive fitness routines will include: pushups, pullups, strength training w/ barbells, @Fit_For_Golf workouts, @SuperSpeedGolf workouts
My somewhat expensive fitness routine will be continuing my Peloton riding (I love the bike and use a lot of their strength training workouts)
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Quick note Peloton. If the bike price range is a bit high, remember you can use the Peloton app (30 day free trial) without having the Peloton bike. When everything was on pretty severe lockdown, I got a bike for a good price and then just used the Peloton rides on my tablet. Their instructors and rides are really high quality, so I would definitely recommend it.
I think that’s the main value of Peloton in general. I do love competing against myself with metrics, but the instructors and music are awesome and definitely motivate me to work out more/harder
For about 3 years I wanted the bike and kept putting off the purchase because it felt like a crazy amount of money. But over a year later it’s the best investment I’ve ever made. That being said, I know a few friends who bought it, and it’s collecting dust 
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I’ve noticed a lot of used Peleton bikes on eBay and Craigslist.
These are great suggestions. I will check out fit for golf. I’ve been checking for a Peloton but nothing in my area for resale yet!
I do know a fellow golfer who did yoga 3 times a week over the last winter and his swing/game was completely different this year.
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Yoga is an absolute must. Most “golf fitness” programs will have it built in, but if it’s not there, be sure to add it yourself.
We recently got the Schwinn I4 (I think that’s what it is), but you can pair it to the Peloton app and it’s seamless. For $1200 less than the base Peloton it’s almost identical from what friends of ours who have the Peloton have told us.
Really good option and I actually enjoy it. And I’m very cardio adverse. I’d much rather mash heavy weight fast.
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I have an exercise space in my basement with an elliptical, weight bench and a fair amount of dumbells, kettlebells, etc. Added a larger TV recently. I may dust off a program like P90X3 again as I always enjoyed that one, but lately I prefer simple workouts with 3-5 sets of 4 exercises.
I own a CrossFit gym and have been in strength and conditioning coaching for a over a decade. I say that only to build some credibility before giving advice/suggestions.
You could approach your off season fitness in a variety of ways so I recommend going at it like you would your golf game. Figure out what needs the most improvement and start there. Break it up into buckets like Flexibility, Strength, Power, General Conditioning, Recovery, Nutrition, and Lifestyle Habits. Obviously addressing all of these is ideal but most ppl have time constraints and other limiters.
Some ppl think they need to “get stronger” to hit the ball further when it could be something else. Like lack of flexibility or inability to use the strength they have in an explosive manner.
An older book that I really like was written by Paul Chek, and it looks at golf fitness from a lot of these approaches and gives a plan on how to measure them and improve them.
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CrossFitter here, too!
I couldn’t agree more. Most of the physical limitations I see in people’s swings are due to lack of mobility and body awareness. It’s not strength. You don’t have to be big and strong to hit a golf ball a long way.
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I’m as bad as anyone with stretching and staying limber so my winter will be trying to practice what I preach 
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I hear you. Sometimes I’m Gumby. Sometimes I’m made of stone.
I am a runner for the most part. When the snow flies it is harder to run obviously. I do man up though sometimes, put a scarf over my face and grind it out. But for indoor cardio I love the Insanity workouts. They are not for beginners and they will whip your butt. Fitness Blender on Youtube is free and they have a ton of material from HIIT workouts to strength and stretching.
I would love to hear more input on stretching. I have a routine that I do most nights, it isn’t really much but better than nothing. I always hear about yoga, what else is there out there that you guys use? @CeeWhiz sounds like the physical trainer of the group!
Wow, they don’t give that book away eh? Used on Amazon is still $40. You think it is worth the price?
If you’re looking for something to help with mobility over the winter, check out either gowod or romwod. Both are great and will limber you right up.
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Awesome! I appreciate it
It’s not cheap but mostly meant for the fitness professional so it’s worth it as a reference to keep going back to.
Second to what @Bigdadenergy said. I’ve used both RW and GW and both can be helpful.
Maybe I’ll put together a post distilling the flexibility information from that book down to share with you guys and gals. Would anyone read it?
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