Why I started a Strength and Golf Blog

There are a few reasons I’ve decided to start this blog, the first being I feel I have enough experience in the fitness industry to make a notable contribution to it in the way of writing. I studied Athletic Training in college passed my boards to become an ATC (sports medicine for those unaware) and decided I wanted more. I studied for and passed the test to become a certified strength and conditioning specialist,  and have read extensively over the years since then on everything fitness related that I can find. I want to put my input out there whether anyone actually sees it or not. I have experience of testing strength programs not only on myself but on others as well. I have workout logs from programs that I’ve used on friends to increase their strength and overall fitness that objectively show incredible progress over weeks and months of consistent training, along with the countless hours of rehab I’ve done with student athletes at my current job.

I feel like I know enough to finally write about it and show what I can do to help others.

Second reason being my passion for golf. The intricacy’s of how the body has to move in order to make clean contact with the ball fascinates me. It’s so smooth yet powerful at the same time. Everything has to be done almost flawlessly, and in such a short amount of time it truly is amazing the level of control, and power required to be good at this sport. I want to examine how strength, mobility, and overall fitness tie into this sport, and how people can improve their level of fitness to improve their golf game and overall well being.  I’ve played several sports in my life, I absolutely love football and wish I could still play to this day, but since I no longer have that option golf has taken its place. I was taught at a young age of roughly 10 and never took it very seriously, playing occasionally over the years just for fun, until I graduated from college which is when I really started concentrating on it. I think I really enjoy it because it’s some what like strength training, I can work at it and objectively see my scores/number get better. Granted there are occasional bad days or weeks but just like in fitness if you are consistent in your approach to improving you will be able to look back on years and see your improvement.

Overall I hope to reach someone with this blog that will genuinely enjoy reading the content and hopefully learn something from it. If not then I guess I’ll have somewhere to go to look back on all of my thoughts.

Week 1 Day 2 and 3

Decided to combine the write up for days two and three because day three is essentially a recovery day. Day 2 started with a feet up bench press and then went to several sets of different variations of deadlift. What I’ve really liked about this program is how it’s set up to concentrate on the technique portions of the big 3 in the first four weeks, before trying for new 2-3 rep maxes in the second four weeks. It does this by focusing on different variations of the lift that force you to maintain the correct position in the lift. As an example the technique focused lift on day 2 was deadlift and this was accomplished by 5×3 paused deadlifts.  This is the first day that I have really modified something to be slightly more golf focused. I added an anti rotational core exercise to the day, and for this exercise I chose to do what I call halos on the glute ham raise machine. If you don’t know what those are I have a video of them on my instagram page @strength_and_golf.

Day 3 again was just meant to be a recovery day and meant to get you prepped and ready for the squat work that comes later in the week. I did the first three days of the weeks workout in a row and am currently taking my full rest day today which is Wednesday. So my workouts this week will be, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday with Wednesday, Saturday, and this coming Sunday being off. My workout days will change week to week as my work schedule is different literally every week, I will be sure to get my 5 days a week in every week though.

The golf focused exercise I added for today was an anti extension core exercise that I must have mis read during my workout because I did another anti rotation exercise for day 3 (whoops) in the way of a Palof Press.

So far I’m really enjoying this program (I know I’m only 3 days in), it’s something new to me in the way of training the big three movements way more frequently within the week. At minimum you train each movement twice a week and at most four times per week, I’m use to only training each movement once a week. This has been very welcomed so far and I feel will really help increase my numbers in these lifts.

New Powerlifting Program for Golf!

I’ve decided to write about the new strength training program I’ve started, and discuss what I have changed about it for the purpose of making it more golfcentric, and the reasons behind those changes. The program was created by a powerlifting gym in Texas called Brazos Valley Barbell.

The program was created for intermediate level lifters so if you’re looking to try it make sure you have at least a few years experience in the gym and preferably over 5 years. If you’re interested in it just google them you’ll find it. The google sheet they provide is very nice as it calculates everything for you, and they provide a video laying out how they have combined using RPE and percentage based training. If you don’t know much about either of those aspects of strength training I would suggest reading up on them before trying this out.

Today was the first day in the program which is overall an 8 week program focused on the 3 competition lifts, the squat, bench and deadlift. Week 1 day 1 (W1D1), was a squat and bench focused day. The main work of today was technique focused with working sets of tempo and paused squats along with a 3 count bench press. Day 1 will remain that way for the first three weeks before the deload. I like this method because it forces you to concentrate on some of the weaker parts of the movement and reinforces the fact that you need to maintain tightness throughout the lift. The day was finished off with some endurance movements by way of the leg press and triceps extensions. Today’s only modification came with some added low intensity steady state cardio. This is just some really light easy conditioning that kind of acts as a cool down.

I started this program with the following 1 rep maxes

Weighing in at 165lbs and having messed around with bodyweight training for the last year I consider these numbers to be good, and fully expect them to increase over the next 8 weeks considerably, as I’ve never done a powerlifting specific program where each competition lift is done more than once a week. Having messed around with bodyweight training for the last year I learned a lot, and also progressed a lot in those skills (still chasing that straddle planche), but I found that what I truly love to do is pick heavy things up and put them back down.

I’m Back!

So it’s been over a year since I have written anything on here, I’ve since gotten the position as a collegiate level Athletic Trainer, and have completed my first semester in obtaining my Master of Science degree in Sport Management (with a 4.0 I might add). With that year gone by another year of training went by with it as well, and lets just say it was a little different from what I had been doing.

I had gotten tired of doing only barbell training and began to look into bodyweight (BW) training. Turns out there are a lot of ways to use one’s BW in order to get stronger, and the best part is that it incorporates a lot of flexibility (another thing I REALLY needed to learn, and work on). I took the entire year and dedicated it solely to learning and practicing BW skills and workouts, including the planche, front lever, back lever, handstand pistol squat, and many more. I’ve gotten all the way to a straddle planche (that I’m still working on perfecting) in terms of skill and learned how much more there is to training than just barbells and weights. I’ve taken my new skill set, and everything I’ve learned, and begun to incorporate it into Wendlers 5/3/1 program while also mixing in golf specific exercises (to keep the swing grooved).

The best things that came from taking a year to dedicate to BW training was how much it helped my golf game, how it helped the form in my main lifts, and reinforced how important it is to have a goal to work toward in the gym. Chasing just numbers on the bar is always fun, but there will always be plateaus that come up. When that occurs I can shift which goal I want to focus on to say amount of time I can hold a planche, or just perfecting the form. BW training also showed me how important straight arm strength is in golf and weight lifting. Having a straight lead arm in golf is important, having a strong straight lead arm in golf is even more important. Working straight arm strength puts a lot of emphasis on building connective tissue strength (your tendons). This adds a whole new dynamic to injury prevention and staying away from the dreaded golfers elbow. It also taught me how important full body tension is in lifting. It brought breathing and bracing to another level for me and has vastly improved my form in the four main lifts. You can’t even begin to perform several BW skills properly without full body tension.

I started this hybrid of programs back in December and I have finally tweaked it and worked with it enough to the point that I haven’t had to touch it in the past three weeks.  Dedicating an entire year to BW training took a toll on my strength that I had gained. My numbers for the bench, squat, deadlift, and press all dropped. It wasn’t a massive drop like I had expected, but they did fall a noticeable amount.

Using the main four lifts for weight training and supplementing each of them with BW/golf specific assistance exercises will be the cornerstone of my training from now on. With proper programming of these lifts, conditioning, and recovery I plan to be able to continue utilizing this hybrid indefinitely, while improving my golf game at the same time.

New update

So another month has passed since my last blog post, I do have excuses (new job, moved) but those aren’t viable excuses for not having 30 mins of time at night to write something new. Apologies to all my many readers out there.

In the mean time, my training partner and I have since moved on to a new program, one that is very different from what we were doing. We are currently in the 4th week of this program, and it’s doing exactly what it’s meant to do (burn some fat off while maintaining strength).

I have yet to post his progress though to show what he has achieved, and I think it’s only fair to give him credit for his consistency to my programming. I’ve been using him as a test subject to show his progress to others who will hopefully see what he’s done and want in on it.

So a quick summary. I put him on my programming back in February, and he has been incredibly consistent with it (Hardly EVER missing days, and when he does he makes them up). Below are the one rep max’s he started with on the left, on the right are where he’s currently at. THIS IS IN 6 MONTHS TIME!!!!

STARTING 1RM’S                       CURRENT 1RM’s

SQUAT-230                                 SQUAT– 300 

BENCH-170                                 BENCH-220 

DEADLIFT-265                            DEADLIFT-365

SEATED OVERHEAD PRESS-135       OHP-160

I’m not really sure that the numbers even need explaining, as they say the proof is in the numbers.

I couldn’t be more happy with how he’s progressed, and shown how if you follow what I have written down day in and day out you will be objectively stronger. Not only is he stronger but feels better in everyday activity and at work. There are so many benefits that strength training comes with it just blows my mind that people wouldn’t take 45 mins of their day to better themselves.

Most people work 8 hours a day to make money for their company while sabotaging their health it takes 45 minutes of your day to improve your mood, become stronger, take out a little frustration, and improve your overall health, all you have to do is pick some heavy shit up and put it back down THAT’S IT!

There are NO BS gimmicks to it. It’s simple tried and true barbell training that absolutely will make you stronger. All you need is discipline, consistency, and a little desire.

If anyone who reads this is interested in some online coaching/want to be a little stronger shoot me an email @ anderson.trainstrong@gmail.com, I’ll put together a personalized program for your goals and send you exactly what weights to use for each and every set and rep that are all percentages based off of what you can currently do for a 1-3 rep max. 1st week is absolutely free.

Training Log

It’s been a while since my last post and I would like to get back into the routine of posting. I’ve decided that I’m going to keep this one short and just update everyone (or anyone who cares) on where I’m currently at with my goals.

I’m currently chasing a 1000 pound total in the squat, bench, and deadlift as my long-term goal at a body weight no higher than 175lbs. To get this total I’m shooting for a 405lb deadlift (not an even 400 because I want the full 4 plates on each side, looks cooler), a 350lb  squat and a 250lb bench press. I’m currently sitting at (as of June 17 so a monthish ago) a 315lb squat, 245lb bench and 365lb deadlift. If I had to guess my numbers currently it would be 320-325/245/380. My bench doesn’t move up very quickly anymore and my deadlift has been flying up for a while and still feels really strong.

I’m on my 1st microcycle of the 2nd mesocycle of my current program (4th week for anyone that cares). I break down my microcycles by week, mesocycles by every 3 weeks, and macrocycles as every 10 weeks (yes there is a reason this isn’t a number divisible by 3).

So I won’t be testing my 1 rep max numbers again for another 6ish weeks (I’m on my 4th week, every macrocycle is 10 weeks, 6+4=10). By then I should be around 325/250/400 for squat/bench/dead (as a guess) which puts me at 975 (so close).

Training log for this week (only showing the main lifts and supplemental lifts) I do accessory lifts after the main 2 but don’t want to type them out.

• Monday-Squat/Bench day everything is after warm ups
• Squats          Bench (supplemental lift done after all working sets of squat).
• 205×5            5×5 (5 sets of 5) @ 160lbs
• 235×5
• 265×5
• 235×5
• 265×3
• 295×3 This one was a big one for me, the last rep had a small sticking point just out of the bottom but other than that felt smooth
• Tuesday- Over head Press/Deadlift day
• Press          Deadlift (supplemental lift done after all working sets of Press).
• 110×5          5×5 @ 240lbs
• 125×5
• 140×5
• 125×5
• 140×5
• 155×3

There is a reason for the undulating rep schemes and the numbers are percentage based, but I’m just using this to layout what my training looks like weekly (I’ll post the next two days of lifts for this week on Friday, Deadlift day and Bench day).

I train with one of my best friends and have had him following the same programs I’m on and has also had really good results. I’ll post the numbers he started with and where he is now in my next post! It really is impressive. 

So where does strength training come into the golf world?

Now as stated in the first blog post, and by way of the name of this blog, golf is going to be a portion of my posts. Golf is a sport that requires immense strength and explosiveness combined with sensitive coordination and an innate ability to time all of these elements correctly. For the golfers reading this who aren’t largely involved in the strength community lets first define this explosiveness. Power or “explosiveness” can be broken down into a formula of (Power=force x distance) furthermore force can be broken down to more easily understand strength, which in turn helps us identify power, (The sum of forces=Mass x acceleration). So in an effort to simplify all of this scientific jumble it basically means your power or explosiveness equals the amount of force you put into the golf club multiplied by the length of your downswing. The force is broken down into the mass of the club multiplied by the acceleration your body applies to it from the top of your backswing up until impact.

I know that this may seem confusing and people are thinking “why do I care about this?”or “why does it matter?” Well one thing I’ve picked up on in most classes or books is you have to be able to define what you’re trying to teach in order to have somewhere to go back and say “again this is what we are trying to prove or improve.” In this case it’s what we are trying to improve, we are trying to increase the power of the golf swing. We all know with more club head speed (acceleration) comes more distance the golf ball will travel, you need to be able to control that speed and the club face at impact but that’s what a golf teaching professional is for, i.e not me.

As we can see in the above scientific formula that strength lies within power. It’s the same in the real world application. INCREASING your strength will INCREASE your power. For the fitness people still reading this means the easiest way to increase your power clean/hang clean/snatch/clean and jerk is to increase your strength. Yes you can increase these movements be advancing in the technical proficiency of it, and yes that must be practiced as well because it is a skilled movement. But the best way to increase the amount of weight lifted in these movements is to increase strength. Most of you involved in Olympic lifting know this, or should know this.

What’s the best way to increase your strength then? Which is what most golfers should be asking themselves right now. Well my most simple and what most, if not all, (well probably not all there are always two sides to an opinion) strength coaches will tell you is to start by linearly progressing in the BASIC COMPOUND BARBELL MOVEMENTS (that’s capitalized because they’re important fyi). The next logical question would be well what are those movements and this is the secret, very classified stuff here guys. THE SQUAT, DEADLIFT, BENCH PRESS, AND OVERHEAD PRESS. That’s it. That’s all. I could stop right here and tell 99.9% of general public golfers to start here. Don’t worry about all the other BS out there, the weight loss gimmicks/HIIT(you’ll come to find I hate that acronym)/circuit training/box jumps/everything else. Now circuit training and sprints (HIIT) have their place in fitness, but the point of this article was to define power or “explosiveness” and how to increase it, and the answer is through increasing your overall strength. At the very basis of power lies strength you NEED it, not just in golf but in life in everything you do no matter who you are.You increase strength by getting in the gym and doing 3 sets of 5 reps (we will get into sets and rep ranges another time) of each lift, then next time (here comes the linear progression part which is NECESSARY), increase the weight of the squat and deadlift by 5-10 pounds and each of the pressing movements by 5 pounds at most. Start with the bar for all I care.

Now some of you reading (if you’ve gotten to this point) will be screaming you can’t just do that you need correct form, some may even say you have to have x degrees of ankle dorsiflexion before you can deadlift (that’s BS). The form part is critical yes but there are THOUSANDS of videos out there on how to correctly execute these movements, if your reading this you can google them. My favorite teacher and someone who also has a FANTASTIC program for beginners that’s FREE is Mark Rippetoe, the author of starting strength. Google him watch his youtube videos on how to perform these movements. Read his articles he’s a very smart guy and you can learn a lot from him.

Even if you don’t golf, or play any sports at all, strength is something EVERYONE needs in their life, men and women. You owe it to yourself to put an hour of your day investing in your health and your body, ask anyone who’s older and came from being out of shape and got involved in strength training, each and every one of them will tell you they wish they had started sooner.

I saw a quote once I don’t remember who said it, but it said “we spend our whole lives wasting our health to gain money, and in our later years we use all our money to try to regain our health”

My current strength program

Now that I’ve written about and explained why I started this blog I guess the first thing is to try to explain my current program, my goals, and my training history.

Let’s first go through my training history and “training age.” I started lifting back in high school because it was required if you wanted to play football. I never took it too seriously in high school, even though we ran a good program, but as any beginner I had decent results over the years (I could have done 30 seconds of the shake weight and gotten results as could any beginner, thats why that kind of stuff sells). I instead chose to screw around with friends like any high school kid and not really pay attention to the importance of what I was doing.

Once I got to college things didn’t get too much better even though I was in a sports medicine field I was extremely inconsistent in the weight room going maybe once a week (you’ll find out that CONSISTENCY and DISCIPLINE are the two biggest factors in the strength and fitness world). That is until my last year of college I really picked up on lifting 3-4 times per week and 5 times a week in the summer of that year. I saw my best results yet, and began to realize that this is what I really like doing, having a background in anatomy by this time, I knew I could eventually do something in this field as far as training others. Thing was during that time I hopped from program to program of essentially all the same stuff 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps and I hit a plateau HARD. For the next few years I did the same thing over and over expecting different results (pretty sure that’s the definition of insanity… and looking back now I don’t know what led me to think I would get something different doing the same things).

For the last yearish (that should be a word) I have finally found and stuck to a program that legitimately WORKS, and it’s all thanks to a guy named Jim Wendler. His 5/3/1 program and all of it’s variants were the answer for me and showed me that training for strength is what I’ve really been looking for. Since then I have not only gotten stronger and gotten to watch my numbers on the 4 major lifts skyrocket I’ve found an even greater passion for learning about strength and fitness. I’ve learned more from his books, articles, and programs than I ever did in any strength class or book (including the one they make you use for the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist test).

So as of now I am currently running one of his many variants of the 5/3/1 program. I’m more than capable of creating my own program and have before but as with all the other programs I could never stick to it. I’ve even created programs for my friends and family and have seen them get great results (granted they’re based on the 5/3/1 principles). I needed something made by someone else for whatever reason. You can type in Jim Wendler 5/3/1 into google and find thousands of results that will explain the vanilla 5/3/1 program that he came out with years ago (09 I think?..). Since then he has expanded exponentially on it and improved it in the same regard. Everything in the program is percentage based around your training max or which is 85-90% of your true one rep max (depending on what program you’re running). Again if anyone is really interested in it I suggest you search for it and learn, once you understand and apply it you will see progress without a doubt.

My current goals with this program are to compete in a powerlifting meet later this year (it’ll be my first one and I’ll finally have an official number for my squat, bench, and deadlift). I know this isn’t a true powerlifting program, but I’m not looking to become a powerlifter, I just want an official total number. I’m going to stick with his formatting of program for the time being because it’s based on the LONG term. If I decide to do another meet at some point then I will try a specialized program like sheiko.

For anyone that wants numbers my current 1RM’s at 173lb are

Parallel Squat-325           Deadlift- 375           Bench Press- 245