[Vickie]

Hi hue, The long and short of it is as I have stated in many of the posts. (Read the fast twitch muscle post, and any other, and you'll see a great deal of redundancy) While you can 'train for golf', the training is not a lot different than any protocol that establishes superior alignment and a balance of strength and flexibility in the whole body. There are some muscles that are typically weak in even a healthy population because of some 'standard behaviors' in our lifestyles. These are the lats, the glutes and the hamstrings but try to isolate these muscles out to the exclusion of training the other muscles is a mistake that will create bigger problems later on.

Put together a sound program that attends to all of the major muscles. Pay attention to improving the function of your rotator cuff muscles and be sure you have perfect posture. The better alignment you can bring to your golf technique the more effectively you will perform your intended stroke whether it's on the fairway or on the putting green.

I have never found one workout formula or modality (weights, pilates, yoga, Arnold or otherwise) that is really perfect for every body. But if you are just starting you can afford to be more generic. You should take a really good look at your body (sans the clothes) and evaluate for yourself where you are weak and where you are strong and how straight you stand up. Then find a trainer (not a body builder) and start with the basics.

I promise you, and all of my people increase their drive within three weeks, if you perfect your posture (i.e. your alignment) which means the strength of your muslces is balanced, you will see your distance improve.

Yes make sure you stretch, increase your stamina with cardio/aerobics and make sure your nutrition supports you work and your play.

For the fun of it here are the first exercises I would generically suggest

Flat Bench Dumbbell Chest Press
Bent Over or seated Row
Leg Extension
Butterfly / Pec Deck
Lat Pulldown
Hamstring Curl
Shoulder Press (machine if possible)
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Bicep Curl
Tricep Press
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Do these every week
Abdominal Crunches after cardio
20-30 minutes of cardio 3-5 X per week (minimums)

These are just the basics and I didn't tell you anything about weight or posture because everyone is different. The order is designed to allow you to have a circuit of training. That means that you would go thru the exercises one after another and then repeat if possible. I would do the exercises above the line to completion before adding the exercises below the line. You could do them once (one set), twice (two sets) or thrice (three sets). Build slowly and please make sure you 'know' the proper form. We keep promising pictures and promise I'll get on this.

You have witnessed a beginning / circuit approach that should be performed with light to moderate weights and 8-15 repetitions. I am more advanced and train only one body part per workout but I do that because I am doing many more exercises with high weights and need more recovery.

If you just have to have a model then buy a Men's health magazine. They usually have articles about abdominal exercises and look at various body parts with emphasis on technique. I personally would recommend you buy a comprehensive book on exercises and build your own program based on your evaluation of your body. It's your body - you can trust yourself. I wouldn't buy some generic that some trainer designed for the world. You will do a better job with a little support on technique

I will be more specific if you tell me the results of your evaluation. Also Lynn and I are working on some exercises that are specific to impringing the form of the golfing machine that will help.

Let me know how it's going. Vickie