Golf season is in full swing!
Now is the most important time of the year to keep training if you want to play your best all summer long.
In this next cycle of Lift Heavy, Swing Fast (LHSF), we will focus on contrasting compound lifts. Over the past few months, we have been using contrast training by pairing heavy lifts with plyometrics or other forms of explosive exercises.
In this cycle, we will still pair a heavy lift with a speed focus, but this time without any jumping or med ball slams. Those who have been doing the program for a while have seen a ton of jumps and med ball slams. I believe that a good program will also make athletes resilient, which is why we are going to create power in a new way.
Instead of a jump or a slam following a lift, we will do the same lift back to back with a version of a drop set. (Veterans of the program will remember drop sets from our off-season cycle.) This time, the focus is speed, not muscle failure.
There will be multiple options listed in the swaps, but let’s break down the two I would like athletes to choose from:
1. Compound banded movement into a drop set without the band. Athletes will set up a band around the bar or dumbbell to train the central nervous system to be more explosive. For example, with the squat, it will help you be faster out of the bottom and create more force. Once the set is complete (3-5 reps), we immediately remove the bands and complete 2-3 reps explosively, almost jumping, but not.
2. If athletes don’t have the bands for the setup, the focus remains on being fast out of the bottom of the squat and completing a low rep count. Instead of removing bands, the weight will decrease, and the lighter weight will move fast. (20-30% lighter)
When using the bands around weights, there are a few safety precautions that must be observed:
- Inspect each band for any tears or rips. Even the smallest tear can snap a band. While it may make for a funny video as a viewer, it’s extremely unpleasant for the user.
- Ensure the anchor point is solid and can handle being pulled.
- Use a light weight or no weight at all as a warm-up with the band to feel out the exercise. It doesn’t take much weight to make a banded exercise very challenging depending on the band.
I am excited to share this new cycle with you all. Lift Heavy, Swing Fast will never be a cookie-cutter program, and we will always push the envelope on golf performance.
Trust the process and you will see gains like you have never seen, on and off the course.
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