Member Review : Fit for Golf

[Shindig]

Note:  some aspects of this review appeared as earlier discussion from me in the thread in this forum about Fit for Golf.  

When I signed up for Fit For Golf, I had some equipment at home, but not everything I would need.  I have a workout rack, a barbell, and weights.  I have adjustable dumbbells (they go up to 20 lbs) and resistance bands.  I have a medicine ball, but I discovered it is too bouncy, so I got another one that works better for slam and throw exercises.   I also bought an adjustable kettlebell.  You don’t have to spend money like this to be able to do FFG, and substitutions are available for exercises for which you lack equipment.  I believe you should be able to do many of these at a commercial gym, although when I went to one of those regularly, I was often annoyed at having to wait – one squat rack for such a large gym?  Long before I had heard of Fit For Golf, this led me to start planning a home gym.  

As you may have guessed, I am not new to exercise or strength training, but I am fairly weak at the latter.  This is largely because I would go periods of time without, and then would have to get back to where I was, only to also have another period of time without.  In early 2020, I was regularly going to the gym three days a week until I was unable to do so.  In mid 2021, I began setting up my home gym, but my gym routine continued to be to do lifts I enjoyed, when I had a chance, and hoping they would help my golf.  I also really didn’t know what to do when I was going to play golf soon, as earlier in my life I had times where I would work out the day before playing golf, played poorly, and associated the two.  

Enter Fit For Golf.  There are lots of workout types to choose from, with the two that caught my attention the most are the in-season and off-season series.  The in-season series has been updated since I began and both the earlier version and the newer version are quite nice.  Naturally, as someone who began using FFG at the start of summer, I have been doing the in-season workouts.  After the first one or two, I was a bit sore in some parts, but this was welcome news to me:  it meant I was using muscles that I clearly had been neglecting beforehand. I’m glad I didn’t do the first workout before a round, but I have since had successful workouts where I worked out the day before rounds that mattered to me and have done well on both.

The off-season workouts themselves are broken into four parts.   The first is warming up, preparing the muscles we’re going to be using in the other three parts.  The other three parts are supersets, where we alternate between two contrasting exercises;  one is to build strength, the other, I believe, is to use it explosively.  When I wrote this paragraph, I hadn’t looked carefully into the off-season workouts yet, as my plan was to switch to those in mid-October.  Surprisingly, I held to my plan, although now there are multiple off-season workouts available.  The decision about when to switch is probably easier for those of you in colder climates.  There are many series with multiple options, so you aren’t doing the same workout three times a week, but rather three different workouts once a week.  

Each workout has a list of exercises to do, including a warm-up circuit, and has video instruction.  The videos are particularly good:  he didn’t just plant a camera and record from one angle.  This is particularly important for exercises where you’d want a reference from multiple angles.  As someone who tried, many years ago, to learn the basic barbell lifts from a book, albeit a well-written one, this is fantastic – and is much better than many other videos I have looked for over the years.  There is also a mechanism in the app to track the work done.

At the time I wrote my review’s first draft, it had been, give or take, four weeks since my first workout.  For the first two weeks, I used substitutions and I did not have all the equipment I would need.  For example, one workout called for kettlebell swings, and I didn't have the equipment, so I swung a dumbbell.  I have since done many weeks’ worth of the three off-season workouts with the proper equipment, and I can say they feel great.

I hopefully don’t have to convince you on the benefits of general fitness off the golf course.  At my peak prior to starting FFG, having a driver average after a round north of 200 yards was a blessing, and I do not think I had one over 210.  A drive of 215 was a great result for me, maybe 220 if the temperature at the course had been triple digits for a few days going in.  I played a half dozen or so rounds in the month or so after starting to do Fit for Golf and had multiple drives over 200, all in double digit temperatures, over that period, including two that are in my ten longest of my sixteen years playing golf.  I cannot credit these entirely to FFG, but it was definitely a strong contributor. 

In the first of those rounds, on the final hole, I blasted a 254 yard drive right down the middle of the fairway.  I can't say for certain I wouldn't have hit the same thing without six prior workouts from Fit for Golf, but that was one of the ten longest drives of my life.   My push cart even tried to veer off into the trees where I usually hit on that hole, and then to the fairway where I used to hit when I hit it well... but no, my ball was 50 yards closer to the green than that spot :-).  And it was sitting pretty in the middle of the fairway, nothing but grass between me and the hole. Towards the end of the summer, after about seven weeks of FFG, I won my flight of my club’s championship.  There were many factors in my winning, but I believe one of them was that I was in much better shape and less exhausted coming into the end of the three-day event than I would have been otherwise. 

As for the cost:  it’s a bargain.  There’s a monthly rate of $14.99 if you prefer to go that route, or a year for $149.  There’s also a free podcast, which you do not need to subscribe to the app to get, mostly covering topics related to golf fitness with some good interviews in there too.  It’s a good listen, and I particularly encourage anyone on the fence about Fit for Golf to listen to this so you can see how well Mike is able to convey information.   The app is available at https://fitforgolf.blog/ and, as I write this, there is a discount code for 20% off a year’s subscription.

Since writing this initially (I have had drafts of this in various stages since July), I began the winter strength workouts.  I have now done one of each and they are also great.  They are appropriately more intense than the in-season workouts;  in my case, because I don’t anticipate playing as much in the next few weeks, I felt it was okay to do these.  For some of you, the weather will stop permitting you to play much in the coming months, and these workouts would be a wonderful choice for you in that situation, too.

In short, I very much recommend Fit for Golf.  

[boogielicious]

Excellent review @Shindig! I’m into the third week of off season phase 1. I’m really planning on being a gym rat this off season too. The structure of the workouts is efficient, which helps.

[JetFan1983]

Thanks for the review! I look forward to browsing their website for cool workout tips that I can add to my routine!

Also, congrats on winning your club championship flight! Awesome! 💪🏌️‍♂️⛳

[Shindig]

18 hours ago, boogielicious said:

Excellent review @Shindig! I’m into the third week of off season phase 1. I’m really planning on being a gym rat this off season too. The structure of the workouts is efficient, which helps.

Thank you!  The structure really does help.  I had instances in the past where I'd sit around and cool off between, say, sets of squats, but now that I have something else to do in that time, it helps me get back to them.  Now it's like "okay, gotta do that set so I can get to the next thing too."

13 hours ago, JetFan1983 said:

Thanks for the review! I look forward to browsing their website for cool workout tips that I can add to my routine!

Also, congrats on winning your club championship flight! Awesome! 💪🏌️‍♂️⛳

Thank you!  The site does have periodic free workout tips.