Nick Randall
Golf Fit Pro
Published December 18, 2020
You’d have to be living under a rock to miss how Bryson Dechambeau has transformed his body and dramatically increased his driving distance over the past 9 months. Bryson has increased his weight by around 2 stone, much of it muscle gain, and increased his average driving distance from 302 yds last season to 323 yds this season. He recently averaged a whopping 340 yds and 350 yds respectively at the recent Charles Schwab Challenge and Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Bryson has extremely open and generous with information on his methods, which seem to be focused around the following:
Strength Training – whilst Bryson hasn’t revealed his complete training program, he has eluded to a 7 day per week regime of comprehensive strength training that is focused on strength and muscle gain through medium to high rep range, machine-based exercises.
Food intake – based on reports of his daily food intake, it’s anywhere from 3500 to 4500 calories per day with a 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein.
Speed Training – hour long sessions trying to generate as much speed as possible with no focus on technique at all, simply on swinging as hard as he can.
Bryson has taken much of the traditional logic around muscle gain and it’s potentially negative effects on golf and tipped it upside down completely. In using majority machine-based exercises, he’s even torn up the free weight, explosive training script that most Strength and Conditioning coaches adhere to. Proving again that he isn’t afraid to innovate, after showing the world that golf can be played with same length irons and a completely unique golf swing.
So, should you try to emulate Bryson? You can try, but in my opinion it’s only safe and wise to do so if you can tick off every item on this list of pre-requisites:
– 10 hours per week for gym training
– 5 hours per week for swing speed training
– 5 hours per week for recovery (massage, mobility, hydrotherapy etc)
– 10 hours per week for practice to help adapt to your evolving body shape
– Ability to prepare and eat 3500 – 4500 calories per day (based on 6ft male)
– Tolerance for fat gain (yep, you’re going to put on fat along with muscle)
– Great baseline mobility and stability
– No existing injuries or major past injuries
– At least 3 years of professionally guided strength training
– Ability to accept that this might not work for you and your game might suffer
If you’re falling short on the pre-requisites (let’s face it, only full time athletes have this much time), then my recommendation would be try a more measured approach over a longer period of time that will yield less spectacular results but will dramatically reduce your risk of injury and potential decline in golf game.
Co-authored By: Wisdom in Movement & Wisdom in Golf