Try this for a week.
Golf and being in peak physical condition have never exactly been synonymous. Considering that it's a sport of timing, technique and immense mental fortitude, having a ripped bod was never seen as being much of an advantage in the way it is for, say GAA players or footballers.
Then Tiger Woods came along. Not only did Woods single-handedly popularise golf in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he showcased the benefits of adding a serious amount of muscle mass to supplement his razor-sharp short game.
Woods has won 14 Major championships and was the top-ranked golfer for a total of 545 weeks during his heyday. However, Woods' prolonged stay at the sport's summit may not have been possible had it not been for his voracious appetite for physical training.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of this week's Genesis Open, where Woods will play alongside Rory McIlroy, the 42-year-old revealed his old daily fitness regime, which he stuck to religiously during the early 2000s. Here it is.
- Run four miles in the morning
- Lift weights at the gym
- Hit balls for 2-3 hours on the range
- Play a round of golf
- Work on short game
- Run another four miles
- Play basketball or tennis
While playing a round of golf isn't intense exercise, doing not one, but two four-mile runs would be enough to tire anyone out. Add to that an hour or so pumping iron in the gym and some basketball or tennis and you've got yourself a fairly insane daily training regime there. Daily being the operative word, of course. The fact that Woods was doing this every single day without fail proves that, at his peak, he really was something else.
He was as passionate about his abs as he was about his swing. Such dedication has given him arms like below.
https://twitter.com/PRodgersGolf/status/937018053455425542
Of course, he's not doing that now. His enthusiasm for keeping himself in tip-top shape has come at a price. Not only was he forced to have reconstructive knee surgery after winning the 2008 US Open, he has suffered with serious lower back problems over the last few years, which has contributed to a greatly curtailed playing schedule.
Thankfully, he's regained full fitness. He's back playing and, while he's not hitting the gym as frequently as he was in his pomp, that desire to win remains undimmed.
