Diets and Exercise Programs That Work!
 

I titled this thread “Diets and Exercise Programs That Work!” and I am not talking about Atkins, Zone, Hollywood or others. I am talking about your diet and what you eat and how you exercise to stay in shape.

If many will list their diet and exercise programs that work I believe it will help others and give everybody an idea what worked for you. I hope we can all do this without putting someone’s diet & exercise program down just because we might not agree with it.

Just like swing patterns, we must try different ones and find what works for us. I am a big believer in staying fit not only for a better golf game but for life. I did let myself slip and it was not easy getting back to where I wanted to be. I will not do it again. This change is for life!

Ok I will start this off:

I started my diet and exercise program when I weighed 247 on 9-24-08 and had 32% body fat. It will be 6 months in a few days and I now weigh 182 and have 14% body fat.

Here is what I did:

My daily diet for the first 4 months was ½ pound of Boars Head Deli Cajun turkey meat, 1/3 cup of Original Fiber One bran cereal dry (The No Sugar One), 1 gallon of alkaline water which I use some for making decaf coffee and decaf green tea. I also take a Pharmanex Lifepak Nano vitamin pack twice a day. For the sugar cravings I eat Memtos (Sugar Free) mixed berries candy when needed. As for the exercise program I trained with a X-iser 10 minutes a day and did old school weight lifting (dumb bells & bar bells) 3 times a week for 30 minutes a session.

Now my daily diet is ½ to 1 pound of Boars Head Deli Cajun turkey meat, 2 cups of Original Fiber One bran cereal dry (The No Sugar One), 1 cup of steamed broccoli, 5 bite size dried prunes. I drink 1 gallon of alkaline water which I use some for making decaf coffee and decaf green tea. I take a Pharmanex Lifepak Nano vitamin pack twice a day. For the sugar cravings I eat Memtos (Sugar Free) mixed berries candy when needed. As for the exercise program I train with a X-iser 10 minutes a day and do old school weight lifting (dumb bells & bar Bells) 3 times a week for 30 minutes a session.

Well that is how I did it.

Please post you “Diets and Exercise Programs That Work” and also let us know how much weight and body fat you lost. You’re before and after story.

To Better Golf,
John W Rohan-Weaver GSEM

My Mid-Life Crisis
 

John,

Good thread.

I'm turning 50 in a few months and over two years ago got serious about my fitness. I had ignored it for well over a decade and although I wasn't terribly out of shape, I was "skinny-fat", meaning I was carrying nearly 18% body fat without much muscle mass. At 5-9" my weight average was 175 and I was pretty weak overall.

I realized that from here on out, if I didn't do anything I was going to lose muscle mass each year and my hormonal system was going to produce less muscle building hormones as time went on. I won't go into all of the details of the of maintaining a healthy hormonal system, but it is extremely important for all men.

My weekly routine is one hour in the gym lifting weights four times a week, and I do some form of cardio/fat burning exercise 3 times a week for at least an hour. My weight lifting is heavy, intense, and includes many compound exercises. As a result I'm down to around 14% bodyfat and have gained 20 pounds. My 1RM bench press is currently 320, squats are 355, and deadlift is 380. I can do 25 bodyweight pullups and 10 tricep bar dips with a 65 lb dumbbell between my knees. My biggest issue right now is developing more core strength and flexibility to handle the higher weight loads, but I feel great and I'm building a base that will provide many benefits as I age.

I write this for two reasons; The first is that you are never too old to begin a fitness routine and see great results. The second is that anyone who tells you weight lifting is bad for your golf game is full of nonsense. They are using that myth as an excuse to avoid working out. My golfswing and game are better than ever.

I don't recommend my approach to everyone because I've made plenty of mistakes with it over the last couple of years including some minor injuries and bouts of overtraining, but if you want to maintain or even gain muscle mass as you age along with keeping your hormonal system at its peak, compound exercises are a must.

I don't worry about my diet other than trying to eat healthy food 5 times per day and consume about 1.5g of protein per lb of bodyweight. I take supplements and try to stay away from products made with flour and sugar (carbs) keeping good carbs down to about 1/4 of my daily intake. I welcome protein and healthy fats in my diet. I've increased my cardio recently to get below 10% body fat for the summer. Not looking to drop weight, just fat.

My motto - Just man-up and do it. I have to tell myself that once in a while because there are days when the gym is the last place I want to be, but I always feel great when the workout is finished.

13lbs per month
 

Thats a lot of weight in a very short period of time. Not an easy thing to accomplish, especially over the holidays.

Congratulations - you must feel a lot better.

Bagger, That is very impressive and you are correct it is never too late to start working out. I have disk degeneration in L4-L5 and have sciatic pain daily and have used that as an excuse for not working out for 5 years and just got fatter and fatter. Truth is I can work out no problem as long as I do not do core rotational exercises or swing golf club much. I thing I was more depressed about not being able to swing a golf club so I just quit all fitness activities. Well it did not take long to pile on the weight and then one day last September I got out of the shower and looked in the mirror and just could not believe how much weight I had put on. I have always been a little on the heavy side since 2003 but this was getting out of control and I just manned up like you said and got down to business.

I still and always will have some back problems but now I move and feel better than ever. The picture I posted in the thread was taken on my 51st birthday Jan 2009. I look and feel many years younger. My wife tells me I am going through a change of life and I say no, I am making a lifetime change. I won’t even mention my bench of squat weight as it is not much but I know the importance of those exercises and do them in my work out. Thanks for your post as I am sure it will inspire others to get back in the gym.

To Better Golf,
John W Rohan-Weaver GSEM

Gray Hair Disease
 

Ask any Orthopaedic Doctor or DC and they will tell you everybody our age has disk issues. Its called the gray hair disease.

As you strengthen your core, specifically your transverse abdominis, your L1 through L5 vertebra will get the support they need for weight bearing and even twisting exercises.

I workout with a Cardiologist who is stronger than I am, but he has 2 herniated disks. He turned me on to a very good Sports Medicine Doctor who encourages weight training even with disk issues. If you get a chance to work with a good Physical Therapist and/or DC and they understand the benefits of weight training, you might be able to regain most of your mobility without pain. Here's hoping anyway - best of luck.

Bfl
 

Well done, fellas! I have had good success following the principles found in "Body for Life" Two things in particular have made a very real difference. Water and sleep! I am a self-avowed night owl. Hitting the hay at a civil hour cut my caloric intake by 3000-3500 per week (approximately a pound!) In addition to that I "suddenly" had the energy to contend with 4 kids, time consuming vocation etc. There was a time that I thought I may be suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome...but it turned out to be a CSD (common sense deficiency) My point was to recommend BFL, but also to say that small changes make a big difference!

great thread and well done John.

I'd like to believe that in 6 months I will post on my own body transformation but I'm beginning to doubt that it will ever happen.

There is no questioning the effort I put in. Where I fail time after time is in my diet. I love my food and will generally go anywhere from a couple of days to a week avoiding those foods that are fattening before caving in and gorging.

John could you expand a little on what you ate each day for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Ideally you should post your food diary.

Balance is everything
 

Some great success shared on this thread! I loved Okie's reminder about the value of water (for lubrication of the joints) and sleep where the positive results of your exercise are actually manifest ( in REM you produce HGH, human growth hormone that builds and repairs body tissue). Please allow me to remind you that the core of the body includes the muscles that cross the hips and shoulders which is to say it includes the neck and thigh muscles and the pecs and back muslces. I have worked with many lumbar victims, it is how I was introduced to the golf world, and I can tell you that it does not have to be something you live with at the expense of your athletics. Yes the transvese and obliques and rectus abdominis (not to mention the serratus) are key and usually considered the core muscles. In fact they are the primary stabalizers for the front of the hip. But you must have a positive relationship to the back of the hip and that primary stabilizer is the latissimus dorsi.

There is an inherant relationship between the first cervical vertebrae (your head sits on it) and your sacrum. Once your head (the weight of a bowling ball) looses proper alignment to the hips you are carrying an exponential amount of weight that puts great strain on your lumbar vertebrae as the spine between adjusts out of sequence. Our goal is to return and maintain the natural 'S' curve in our spine that was established in the original blueprint, individual to every body. As I have said before, most of the aches and pains we equate with aging are nothing more than a deterioration or misapplication of our structure (skeleton) that we ALLOW to happen over time. It is akin to improper settling of a house, all is well until or unless the the foundation aquires an imbalance of stress and then the problems ensue.

Good job creating a balance in your body composition and now just focus on creating the most excellent alignment of your skeletal system by creating a balance of muscle tension. Don't forget that flexibility and strength are opposite sides of the same coin and to cash in functional currency they both must be present in your offering. I hope I am stating the obvious when I assume you aren't squatting with a bar on your back.

So glad to see nutrition approached from a natural, holistic, approach.

Good job guys!

Vik

Talking Back
 

Not so obvious for most of us, Vik. That's why you've taught me to use the 'Smith Machine' with the bar located on the front of the shoulders, right?

:salut:

Geometry Again
 

Yes Lynn,

Positioning of the bar, whether you are using a Smith Machine or a Free Bar, is dependent upon your alignment of the shoulder girdle. Since the magnificent loading posture of the golf form assertion creates an anterior rotation, I find that there exists a loss of flexibility in the shoulder family that creates havoc if you force the relationship in a compound movement as profound as a squat. [Take a breath.] As always, this is individual to every 'body'. While I have no shoulder symptoms (even though you would be amazed at my X-rays since I was born with some level of scoliosis) I determine my weight distribution (position of the resistance, i.e. weight) according to the activities of the seasonal activity.

It can be as easy or as complicated as you desire, based on your commitment to your objective. Ahh Shucks, I do go on . . .

Vik