[Vickie]

While tongzilla has some knowledge of the program he is presenting I have to say that the ballistic (explosive) training method and the concept of maxing out your weight so you can only do 6-8 reps is a recipe for disaster for the 'average' guy on the street. These workouts are effective and safe for a very narrow and well trained population. It's not about age so much as a well honed knowledge of training skill, recovery and nutrition. Can you imagine trying to recover from a workout like this? I can tell you it's brutal because I trained like that in my 20's before the fitness industry was as scientific as it has become. (At this time I weighed 120 and performed a free bar squat at 200 lbs)

I really don't want to get into a he said she said here but a more holistic approach will allow for safe and effective training for most golfers. Yes you have to mix up your workouts, yes you should keep the time to anhour or under and yes you have to keep challenging yourself. But in now way would I support lifting more weight everytime you go into the gym. Unless, that is , you're getting into bodybuilding as your sport.

There are four ways to increase intensity in the gym. Increased weight, quantity of exercises performed in one workout, amount of recovery between exercises, and increasing repetitions with a sound quantity of weight. Mixing these protocols up within one workout and from workout to workout keeps you muscles adapting positively.

Joint health is too important to compromise with an all or nothing routine unless you are competing in the sport of lifting and you think it's worth it.
There are ways to use heavy lifting safely but I wouldn't think an open forum and maybe not a fitness referral for golf should proport such an extreme approach without individual coaching and supervision.

Also the comment about the swiss / therapy ball indicate that tongzilla hasn't grasped the concept of core training. I personally do some pretty intense abdominal work and use the swiss ball in the formula. Core training is about balance of strength in the muscles that stabilize the spine and strengthening your postural endurance . Core training isn't about building a six pack even though you will if you are lean enough to see it. Also note that core training includes muscles in the neck and the legs.

As the next post suggested, there are many ways to devise a workout for the same objective and everybody should approach it individually. The good news is that you do not have to max out in the gym everytime you go. Training can be a much more controlled and stimulating experience that moves you forward toward your objective and leaves you plenty of time and improved performance and energy for golfl.

Vickie