2010 in my old pool
In 2009, I was still living in Pennsylvania, and I was only a year removed from stopping my official martial arts training to start teaching golf as a side hustle.
2009 and the few years that followed were pretty brutal for me financially, as my means of paying my bills as a commercial real estate appraiser took a big hit.
As a result, I had to give up my fitness equipment to rent out my home in Pennsylvania, and I found myself traveling back and forth between PA and Maryland.
Eventually, we settled here in Maryland, but I did not have space for my equipment for years.
Since I’ve always preferred to workout at home, and couldn’t justify the expense of joining a gym, my fitness suffered.
My workouts consisted mainly of some jogging and occasional stretches where I would do some P90X and Insanity workouts.
There was never any consistently, and over time, I slowly gained weight and grew soft.
Fat me in 2017
This pic to the left is me in 2017.
In early 2020, just before the pandemic, we bought this little house with a garage in Rockville. Shortly thereafter, I ordered my Olympic weight set and power rack.
I was lucky, because one the shutdowns hit, home gym equipment started flying out of the stores, and prices literally tripled.
I remember vividly putting the power rack together. Given my lack of mechanical skills, it took a few hours, probably an hour longer than the average person.
Once it was done, I put the barbell on the pins, put a couple 45 pound plates on the bar, slid my bench into place and figured I would bang out ten reps.
The total weight on the bar was 135 pounds. When I lifted regularly prior to 2010, this was my warm up weight.
On this day, I struggled to get four measly reps.
Needless to say, I was shocked.
I am pretty sure I could’ve ripped off 25 to 30 pushups on that day, but that obviously didn’t translate into much strength under the bar.
So, I went to work.
However, over the next couple of years I meandered aimlessly between two workout programs that I was familiar with back then.
One was a program displayed on a wall at the gym I went to in college.
Another was one I read in a popular book.
Over time, I gained some strength, but I was not getting anywhere near my old levels.
I finally discovered Starting Strength in early 2022, and I purchased a copy of The Barbell Prescription by Jonathon Sullivan and Andy Baker.
I made solid progress, but started to run into some trouble with my squat and bench press.
I subsequently traveled up to Baltimore to a Starting Strength affiliated gym (5×3 Gym) and got some coaching from the owner, Diego Socolinsky.
I finally learned how to perform the four main lifts properly, and went back to work.
Since then, my progress has been steady, with some interruptions due to a few different issues.
With that said, I can honestly say that, overall, I am stronger than I’ve ever been.
Here are my top numbers for a set of 5 reps…
Squat: 250 pounds
Deadlift: 325 pounds
Bench Press: 197.5 pounds
Overhead Press: 135 pounds
57th Birthday
On the right is me about a year ago on my 57th birthday. I was down to about 188 pounds at the time.
Admittedly, I packed on about a dozen pounds this past winter as I did zero cardio, and did not pay attention to diet. So, I am working on both strength and conditioning these days.
I still have the aches and pains that come with age and wear and tear, but I love the added strength.
I truly believe this has allowed me to keep my driver swing speed over 110 mph, without putting much time on the range.
Every now and then I go into the backyard with my Rapsodo launch monitor to see what kind of speed I can generate, and I still manage 111-112 mph.
I can argue that if I ever get back to working on my game regularly, 115 mph is doable. Throw in some actual speed training, and I might be able to squeeze out a few more mph.
The bottom line is that I believe legitimate strength training is critical for many golfers over 50 if you still want to play at a decent level and avoid the senior tees for as long as possible!
Just wanted to share my story, and hope this inspires you to get started as well.
Thanks for reading!
