Get Em' Tiger, No Wait...

Tiger’s workout regiment produced by Keith Kleven is based on old ideas, but nothing of any scientific value. There’s two things we need to consider: Time efficiency and Skill development.

Outlined on Tiger Wood’s website, all there seems to be is unproductive training habits that although it may make you think he’s so good because of his fitness regiment, the 2-10 hours of golf practice a day is what is most likely keeping him afloat and excelling in his sport. Let’s run through what’s wrong and what we would fix in his program to keep him as good as he can possible be.

Looking at his cardio training: A 3 mile speed run or an endurance run of up to 7 miles, although soothing is not nearly as specific enough for the demands of his sport. Although most people would think, “There’s no cardio in golf,” we should examine it more from a local endurance stand point (hitting the tee numerous times throughout an 18hole course).

What does this mean in terms of cardio? Nothing really. The amount of time he spends in play is Hit the ball really, really hard; or hit it very precisely with long rest periods in between. A normal game of 18 holes, on a par 3 course, consists of about 3 hours if you take about 2 minutes per shot. What that means is you take a really long time before each shot, so that your body can create enough energy without needing that much oxygen.

To get what I’m trying to say, let’s first remember that two the lenses we want to evaluate everything from is Time and Skill. We want to keep the workout sessions as short as possible, so that most of his recovery is better spent working on his golf game.

If golf doesn’t need that much cardio to begin with, than why waste time in training trying to increase it – we aren’t training a marathoner…

Working Out, It Ain't Grrreeeaaaaat

Moving onto Strength Training: We notice that he is training for symmetry, but why? Golf is based on asymmetry (training specifically one side, as normally you use your dominant hand and dominant side of body to give you the power and precision you need, each and every time), that is why we need to make sure that our strength training program establishes asymmetry, but on the opposite side and motions of his sport practice.

Although lifting 25 to 50 reps sounds like a good idea, it’s actually very poor use of time. We are looking mainly for power production. 1-3 rep range with about 75-95% of your 1 rep max (most amount of weight you can lift once), is the most time efficient and will help increase driving range much more substantially, than simply “gutting it out.” What this means is that basically we are trying to lift A lot of weight, but in a small rep range, to make sure that we keep muscle size development as minimal as possible. We want to keep any muscle functional, and these low rep ranges helps do just that.

*Side note: This is the general consensus, make sure to read the end of the article to actually see if that is the right rep changes to train or not.

Tiger says, “If you keep your muscles guessing, it makes them work harder. Whatever I’m doing, I’m careful not to overstress my muscles. I push to the point of muscle failure, not pain.” The problem with first keeping muscles guessing is you actually delay what you are trying to produce – a better, quicker, more powerful body. The body needs time to adapt and needs to know what it’s trying to adapt too, by constantly seeking muscle confusion, you are going against basic strength training and physiological principles.

Do what you need to, nothing more, nothing less.

We must also remember that muscle failure is actually training your body to get better at muscle failure. Remember that we get better at what we practice, and training to muscle failure does just that.

Vanity: Thought he didn't train for the Muscles?

Finally, Flexibility Training: I would have to say out of everything Tiger is doing, this is the crappiest thing to do, period. Flexibility training should be reserves for gymnasts and dancers, and even then to what degree is still to be examined. The main point being is that Flexibility training doesn’t look for force leakages. A 5-10 min routine working on joint mobility focuses on finding what isn’t moving like it should, so we can develop a more efficient and powerful body.

Think about it this way, you can only make a junk engine so good before you need to clean it, oil it, and modify it. Flexibility and strength training assumes that your body is moving like it should. Fix the movement, and you automatically improve the game.

Summary: Look Tiger is a good player, period. I meant that literally for all the folks that may be thinking about something else…but his training program needs a revamping. What’s crappy is that we got some crappy trainers in high places who are offering sporting advice to pros doing really well, but it’s in spite of their training, rather than because of it. Hopefully you realize that the primary focus should always be am I really doing what I need to do to get good at what I REALLY want to be good at.

The best thing to do is to actually test what you do, day in and day out. Experience the gains that multitudes of people are getting without pain, while testing getting stronger, faster, better than everybody else. Who woulda thunk you could use your body, rather than some expensive Omegawave to tell you how you should run your own training? Get Better…without the expensive equipment!

Who Loves You? – Darryl Lardizabal

It’s one thing to be “talented,” to have never worked for something and be “good” at it. And it’s another to have such the hardest work ethic that you can’t help but succeed if you just will yourself to do it.

You think this came in a few seconds?

The one analogy I like is that you shouldn’t focus on building a wall, but focus on laying the best damn brick you perfectly can. It’s true that sometimes work ethic trumps natural talent, but even the hardest workers don’t just focus on working hard.

What one thing the hardest workers I’ve met do is focus on the right things and are so set on not only working hardest, but working perfectly…

“If people knew how hard I worked to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful.” -Michelangelo, 1475-1564, Painter, Sculptor and Architect

When you hear those that are most successful, you notice a certain obsession over the tiniest details. Sure they may not be the prettiest folks around, but they sure look at everything they can do to better what they must!

Would you consider yourself a hard worker? If you do, do you consider yourself not only working hard, but working towards perfection?

Food for Thought,

Darryl Lardizabal

1,1 (1:00.9), 3cleans/1press (n/a)

Volume/Cluster = 60kg (only BUPs), Density (/2) = 30

NDA Lateral Pushups (towards right hand) @ 159lbs – 10:33pm – 10:36pm (2:08.3) <PR!>

8 (51.4), 7 (n/a)

Volume/Cluster = 2385lbs, Density (/2) = 1192.5

Plyo (Right Leg Back) + DARS (Left knee towards Right) + Side Flow (Right to Left) <PR!>

Legs – Power Wheel @ 159lbs – 10:44pm – 10:48pm (2:00.9) <PR!>

3 (1:13.2), 3 (n/a) – Looking more for closed angle

Volume/Cluster = 954lbs, Density = 477

Left 20kg KB Snatches Everted Regular Stance – 10:53pm – 10:57pm (2:08.3) <PR!>

11 (44.6), 8 (46.2), 11

Volume/Cluster = 600kg, Density (/2) = 300

1 (37.6), 1 (35.7), 1 (31.2), 1 (31.2), 1 (23.7), 1 (30.3), 1 (n/a)

Volume/Cluster = 1113lbs, Density = 258.837

Narrow Tuck Planche Pushups @ 159lbs – 12:50am – 12:52 am (2:30.4)

1 (39.8), 1 (33.1), 1 (35.1), 1 (n/a)

Volume/Cluster = 636lbs, Density = 254.4 <PR! 3.26.2010>

44kg 2-Handed KB Swings w/ Right Rotation <PR!> – 1:01 am – 1:03am (2:49.5)

9 (59.6), 9 (n/a)

Volume/Cluster = 792kg, Density (/2.875) = 275.478

I noticed that if I align the Kettlebell handle from where a callus on your pinky side would be down to where you would make an “Okay” sign with your hand, the Bottoms Up Press becomes much easier. Granted I have small hands, but this actually gives me much bigger contact area with my hand than the heel of my hand described in Max Shank’s Bottoms Up Press tutorial.

Another easy way of trying it  is putting the heel of your hand on the Kettlebell and then simply lifting your hand until you notice that it ends up near the base of your fingers more than the heel of your palm. One side of the KB would be more near the base of the pinky and the other more near the webbing of the thumb.

Below are pictures of what I’m referring to. I’ll try to post a video of me explaining this in more detail when I get the chance, but again the main thing is that  I noticed a difference in simply the ease of movement. Let me know what you think…

Who Loves You?

Darryl

As far as I’m aware there’s not much in the body that doesn’t have some sort of rhythm that makes them tick. This rhythm or multiple rhythms that we have is similar to a pendulum swinging back and forth. Some people instinctively go faster, some go slower and it may also make us gravitate towards certain sports and activities. Although this won’t seem “cool” or “hi-tech” we’ll be exploring the value in adding this as a variable in your training.

Easy Does It...Slower, Slower

Think about it, if you hate very fast rhythms – you’d hate anything really explosive. These would be like marathon runners or anyone who likes distance events, tai chi practioners, etc. Push them past their slow speeds and you have people who become nerve wrecked and just hate it in general. On the other hand you have your constantly busy people – the

difference is like time and day, similar to the fast paced lifestyle of new york contrasted with the relaxed life style of hawaii.

Now what I’m saying is that you can train rhythm similar to how you can train strength. It follows an up and down scale like the rising peaks and valleys of strength training periodization wave cycles or simply the ebb and flow of water. So what’s the point?

The Point

If you freak out in slow activities – you’d hate writing, reading, sitting down and eating and basically enjoying the finer things in life. Besides that slow activities are naturally based on the relaxed state of things and may even help facilitate a relaxed state in your body. Slow activities my help facilitate parasympathetic nervous system activity – basically the relaxing side of our body that helps us rest and digest. For those constantly tense people – it actually loosens them up by easing the tension in tissues. Faster speeds would thus be the opposite, the fire to the water, and cause arousal states, which is otherwise known as “fight or flight modes.” The fight or flight mode is activated by the sympathetic nervous system and cause you to charge up. Problem is that constantly being towards the fight or flight side of things, wears down your body and especially causes cognitive and digestive decline. We’ll go into the special science stuff later, but if you we’re to get anything from this it’s that our body needs to be balanced as much as possible; but not by constantly trying to be in the middle, but by being in the extremes!

Next Time we’ll go into the little details about how the nervous system interacts with the rest of the body and how being unbalanced towards any one side of the rhythm coin actually slow down increases in your performance!

References:

1. Maryam Saleh, Jacob Reimer, Richard Penn, Catherine L. Ojakangas, Nicholas G. Hatsopoulos. Fast and Slow Oscillations in Human Primary Motor Cortex Predict Oncoming Behaviorally Relevant Cues. Neuron, 2010; 65 (4): 461-471 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2010.02.001

2. BMC Neuroscience (2009, March 18). Guitarists’ Brains Swing Together. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 28, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/03/090316201501.htm

3. McGovern Institute for Brain Research (2009, June 2). Long-distance Brain Waves Focus Attention. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 28, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/05/090528142829.htm

16 BUP B-Stance Everted (Out) – <PR! Novel>

11:00pm – 11:15pm (13:56.1) Left: 1 (1:02.6), 1 (1:04.0), 1 (1:09.1), 1 (1:04.3), 1  (1:03.8), 1 (1:02.0), 1 (1:04.1), 1 (1:01.1), 1 (0:58.0), 1 (52.3) Bailed Rep at top, 1 (n/a)

Volume/Cluster = 176lbs, Density (/14) = 12.57

11:16pm – 11:28pm (10:25.8) Right: 2 (1:32.9), 2 (1:05.1), 2 (2:00.6), 2 (1:00.3), 2 (44.9), 1 (Bailed at top) + 2 (1:04.0), 2 (n/a)

Volume/Cluster = 240lbs, Density (/10.5) = 22.86

10lb CB Swipes B-Stance Everted 11:31pm – 11:42pm (11:01.4)

L: 12 (1:27.0), L: 14 (1:12.3), R: 15 (1:02.5), R: 15 (1:06.4), L:  16 (1:06.0), R 15 (n/a)

L: Volume/Set = 120lbs <PR! 3.9.2010>, Volume/Cluster = 420lbs, Density (/6) = 70

R: Volume/Set = 150lbs, Volume/Cluster = 450lbs, Density (/5) = 90 [Entire chain, Novel PR! right sided work]

Volume/Cluster = 870lbs, Density(/11) = 79.09

Wide Pullups @ 158lbs – 11:45pm – 11:47pm <Novel PR!>

5 (1:08.7), 4 (n/a) Elbow Twinge in Left Elbow

Volume/Cluster = 1422lbs, Density = 711lbs

“When you focus on what’s wrong, you get more of what’s wrong. Conversely, when you focus on what’s right, you get more of what’s right.” – Gina Mollicone-Long, Author of the newly released book Think Or Sink

“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.” – George Sheehan, 1918-1993, Physician and Author

Training Log:

1-Arm Jumping Pull to Chin Up – 8:31pm – 8:36pm (4:49.2)

6 (0:52.5), 6 (1:10.4), 6 (1:19.1), 2 (n/a)

Volume/Cluster = 3160 <PR! 3.30.2010>, Density = 648.21 <PR! 3.30.2010>

“More than anything else, I believe it’s our decisions, not the conditions of our lives, that determine our destiny.”

-Anthony Robbins

“It is important to acknowledge a mistake instantly, correct it, and learn from it. That literally turns a failure into a success. Success is on the far side of failure.”

-T.J. Watson,1874-1956, Founder if IBM

The Journey

To constantly refine myself is a journey that only I can undergo. To take away and shed my impurities, is a constant challenge that only I can do if I so will it. To view life as a double-edged sword ready to protect and take away within two brushes of an air stroke is often a hard one to grasp, while still trying to value the finer things in life – seeking the better.

Some may think it easy, yet it is in our nature that many choose to suppress their innovation. To seek balance, rather than extremes. To tolerate, rather than to idealize. And to thrive, rather than to strive. It is within this framework that I must not bound myself to and constantly choose to find the better, turning blocks as I go.

Training Log:

Kneeling Ab Roller (Power Wheel) w/ Left Lateral Flexion – 11:03pm – 11:07pm <PR!>

10 (46.9 rest), 10 (46.2 rest), 10 (n/a)

Intermediate Ghatering – 11:15pm – 11:17pm <PR! Notice also a difference in ab flexion ability with straight legs>

5 (46.2), 5 (n/a)

Finishing Notes:

I must better refine my goals PER day. Although I’m setting PRs, too better understand my goals after testing will hopefully help me clear a better path.