Fitness and Fasting
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This week saw the end of a 6-week fitness programme I’ve been doing called BREAK42, a daily set of exercises which is the brainchild of @samgolfitness, a PT who focuses on training programmes for golf.
Welcome to 54 to Scratch, the weekly blog that provides a semi permanent record of all of my ups and downs as I try to become a better golfer.
As I’ve come to the end of the BREAK42 programme, I thought I would give my feedback on how I found the programme, as well as talking about other bits I’ve been doing to supplement my golf over the past 6 weeks.
So, I essentially started doing these 3 things about 6 weeks ago:
1. Used BREAK42 as a catalyst to create a better routine for exercise
2. Started Intermittent Fasting
3. Created an evening routine to ensure I prioritise specific behaviours over others.
BREAK42
Like most people, I have had an up and down life when it comes to fitness and exercise. When I played football, I would train once a week and play another 1 or two times a week, including the main game on the weekend.
I’d normally run sporadically alongside all that and that was all I really needed to keep fit and keep my weight low.
Once I gave up football, I’ve then struggled to gain any consistency despite trying numerous self designed programmes. I think part of the reason for this has probably been that the focus has been too much on cardio with little to no rest periods.
So when I was offered the chance to do this BREAK42 programme, I thought I would try it out and see if I could build some consistency.
The programme itself is pretty simple. You train 4 days out of 5 working days for 6 weeks. The setup consists of 2 main workouts that have a mixture of stretches and either resistance band or gym work depending on what you decide to do. There are then another 3 sets of stretching that focus on different core areas of your body.
The idea is to do one of the main workouts on the Monday, one of the stretches on the Tuesday, rest on the Wednesday, the other main workout on the Thursday and finish the week with the same set of stretches as the Tuesday (EG Hamstrings).
You then rinse and repeat, with a different set of stretches for week 2 and then the same again for 3 with the final set of stretches.
You then repeat the cycle for weeks 4-6.
@samgolffitness provides you with videos for every exercise and you get an app that allows for easy organisation and reminders for each days activities.
When using the app, you start your days exercises and it comes top with the list of activities with handy timers that you can start for each activity. The videos I mentioned are all accessible by clicking on the activity and are short and sweet and easy to follow.
I opted to do the resistance band training as I lack a gym membership and I have to say I really enjoyed it!
Whether it’s helped my fitness as a set of activities I don’t know. There is a HUGE focus on resting in between exercises which I wasn’t always able to do and didn’t often feel like I needed, but the overall programme really helped me to learn some new ways of increasing flexibility and strength.
I decided to do this in the mornings, which requires me getting up early, but over the last 6 weeks I’ve been able to get up on time and complete the training each day. I have a bad back and have felt that this has been a little tight over the past week, which suggests I have overdone things, but this could be because of the other loads I’ve out onto my body beyond just this programme.
I’ve started running again. I’ve decided to stick to 5k twice a week and have seen my times come down to what they were pre-covid/during my football days. I’ve also included some actual weights once a week, complete with sit-ups.
On top of all of that is the usual golf too. I’ll typically play/practice most days in some way shape or form and these exercises have not gotten in the way as typically I’ve been doing these things in the morning and lunchtime.
During the last 6 weeks, I have seen a handicap decrease, partially due to my lowest ever round. Although I wouldn’t give BREAK42 the entire credit, this programme has encouraged consistency in both fitness and also in getting me out of bed in the morning.
Intermittent Fasting
The week before starting BREAK42, I had a conversation with a couple of work colleagues while at a coffee shop in Covent Garden about how good one of them was finding Intermittent Fasting.
I’d heard about it before, mainly through Instagram advertising, but it was useful to hear from someone actually doing it. I was told about the ability to lose weight, but also some of the other benefits.
Knowing I was going to start the BREAK42 programme the following Monday, I thought I’d start intermittent fasting too, with the aim of becoming a little leaner. With the “advertised” benefits also being that you feel more alert, I figured it might help my golf game in multiple ways.
I decided on an 18:6 setup, breaking fasts at 12pm and starting any fast at 6pm.
I thought this would be tough. Before this I would have breakfast every morning, along with cups of tea, as well as consuming a lot of calories post 6pm in the shape of chocolate biscuits with tea again in the evenings.
However, I actually found it easy overall. I supplemented normal tea with drinking unsweetened Peppermint tea to curb the hunger and I’ve never drunk so much water!
As a result, the weight has been dropping off as you can see from the below graph:
My BMI has gone from bordering on overweight to being enough in the green to be comfortable.
Now that isn’t to say that I was that worried about my weight. I’ve never been that bothered about the way I look. But I have noticed a difference in my body since doing this. I’m no longer bloated every morning and interestingly I’m no longer taking Omeprazole that I was previously.
On the morning I got my best ever score, I was still fasting when I was playing my front 9 and have never felt so alert.
However, on the flip side I have also had some days where I clearly have pushed my calorie deficit too much, which has led to a lack of focus on the course (literally - standing over the ball and not being able to focus properly).
So it’s clear that this isn’t going to be for everyone and also isn’t sustainable for me.
As I mentioned before, I think I overloaded myself a little bit over the past few weeks, so I’m using this week to have a rest week, with no “extra curricular” activities outside of golf and walking the dog.
I’ve also decided that once I get to my target weight of 10 and a half stone, I’ll relax the fasting a little. I’ve also made the decision that I will only fast for 18:6 when I don’t have golf. On the days I play golf I will ensure that I re-fuel 3 hours before my round every time, irrespective of when it starts. During the round I’ll then ensure I stay fuelled, which I hadn’t been doing.
Overall, I would definitely recommend @samgolffitness and BREAK42 to anyone reading this, especially if you are in the same boat I was. I will be starting it again for another 6 weeks next week.
Hopefully, this has given you some insight into my training plan and given you some ideas or just killed some time at the very least…
Thanks once again for taking the time to read - it really is appreciated to have so many of you following this every week!
Gear Check
Driver - Callaway Rogue ST
Irons - Taylormade Stealth
Wedges - Taylormade Hi-Toe 52, 56, 60
Putter - Scotty Cameron Squareback
Shoes - Adidas Tour 360 22
Trolley - GYMAX 2 Wheel Golf Cart
Watch - Shotscope X5
