Q & A with The Bodybuilding Golf Pro - Michael Manavian

[halifax_golfer]

nice little poem!.

I also re-live my losses/bad play OVER and OVER in my head. I have the drive to improve, and want to be what I consider a winner in golf (that doesn't mean winning tourneys) I just want to keep improving, and learning... When I dont learn or improve right now, it's a loss for that round for me.

I lost to the course yesterday in a short 9 hole battle, It beat me mentally and physically. I started off; Par, Bogey, Bogey, Bogey, Par,... Then along came an "8" on a VERY narrow par5, then I failed to carry a water hazard off the tee the next hole (I usually have no Problem carrying this hazzard) DOUBLE BOGEY, followed by a bogey on the par3 17th.. On the 18th, I couldn't hit a drive for my life, I was 5 off the tee, when I finally put one in the fairway on what felt like should have been a good drive, it ended up being about 100yrds shorter then my other "well hit" drives. From there I shot a 7wood into the trees. Then I hit a terrible wedge shot at the green and 2putt for a 10. Score of 19 over on 9 holes. Worst round of the year!. Comming off shooting 5 over on 9 holes the day before, I was pretty annoyed. And very unhappy with myself.

Was I ever sour at my play, It felt like I reverted back to how I was doing at the end of last season. I was PISSED at myself for the rest of the night, and went to bed early as I was just no fun to be around after that.

I also hate loosing, but learning to win and continue winning (every good shot is a small victory) IS SOOO hard to do. Being consistant at golf is SOOOOO hard for me, it seems even when I'm playing really well, I'll get an 8 pop up that will keep me from getting a nice score.

Sorry this didn't have that much to do with your life lesson on "winning" but I thought I was due to share my personall ass kicking, as I've shared my good shots and rounds... Its only fair to show how much I can stink aswell.

As soon as I can get my wife to film my swing I will, problem is that my swing seems to be changing around faster then the weather, I'm never quite happy with it, sometimes my grip feels funny, sometimes I'm unsure of where to end my swing and my clubs position at the top, sometimes I'm unsure of the path it looks like my club is taking through the hitting area on my practice swings. I really need to fix these issues if I want to continue my improvement. Somedays I can drive the ball 300yrds, somedays only 240. I have no idea why or what I'm doing differently. It's making it very hard to learn.

I think it might be time for me to take a lesson; My duck hook is mostly gone, but I put 2 balls OB on the 18th tee with a big old slice which I havn't hit in years (for a while I didn't think my body was capable of producing a swing with a slice).

Sorry for the extremely long post, but it's morning and I'm just chillin drinkin a cup of coffee debating going golfing right now (its gona rain soon), Majorly anxious to go and battle it out with my swing, my head, and the golf course!!!... GOLF IS CRAZY!!! AHAHAHAHHH!!

I hope I can succeed with this golf dream of mine as I want to be a winner if we ever have a kid. I want to show him/her that success from nothing is completly possible... I have to be winning at the things that are important to me first though so I can lead by example and feel good about myself.


Manavs, YOU CAN DO IT BUDDY!!! TAKE IT TO EM AT THE NY STATE OPEN!!!!.. YOUR GONA DO IT!.

Fr. Chris.

 

[halifax_golfer]

Went out and shot another +5 on the same nine this-morning.

Was Even Par going into the 7th hole, but then went Triple, Bogey, Bogey for a +5. I think I got excited and off my game when I birdied the 6th (which I have yet to get better then a bogey on until today) to get back to even par...

I let my head out of the game, and got ahead of myself. Really gotta just focus on 1 shot at a time.

Golf is a crazy crazy game thats for sure.

Fr. Chris.

 

[halifax_golfer]

Hey again Manavs,

I dont quite know what to do, since golf season started I've lost 14lbs!!!.

I weighed 143 back when I started working out, and got my weight up to 155.... BUT, as you know I've been golfing a lot lately, and my weight is starting to take a beating. I'm down to 141 now and I'm not sure what I should be doing, or if its a big deal at all.

I've been trying to eat anytime I'm hungry, but I just cant eat enough to maintain my weight!!!. I know I'm still very strong compared to when I first started working out, but am I loosing everything I worked for?. Or is my body just burning fat like crazy?. I know I dont have much fat left to burn as I jumped on a body fat scale and it said 14% (is that OK?). My metabilisim is I guess very high from all the weights I was lifting.

I need some way to get my weight back up there without stopping golfing!. I already put a new hole in my belt, but soon my pants wont even fit properly. I dunno, maybe I shouldn't be worried about this too much, but I'm scared I will start to loose some distance if I continue loosing weight. What do you think?. What is the BEST weight gainer you know of?. Will I just put on fat now if I try weight gainers?.

I'm still working out 3x a week, but my sessions are down to about 40mins compared to being around 1.5hrs-2hrs 4x a week when it wasn't golf season.

Thanks.

Fr. Chris.

 

[Manavs]

Hey again Manavs,

I dont quite know what to do, since golf season started I've lost 14lbs!!!.

I weighed 143 back when I started working out, and got my weight up to 155.... BUT, as you know I've been golfing a lot lately, and my weight is starting to take a beating. I'm down to 141 now and I'm not sure what I should be doing, or if its a big deal at all.

I've been trying to eat anytime I'm hungry, but I just cant eat enough to maintain my weight!!!. I know I'm still very strong compared to when I first started working out, but am I loosing everything I worked for?. Or is my body just burning fat like crazy?. I know I dont have much fat left to burn as I jumped on a body fat scale and it said 14% (is that OK?). My metabilisim is I guess very high from all the weights I was lifting.

I need some way to get my weight back up there without stopping golfing!. I already put a new hole in my belt, but soon my pants wont even fit properly. I dunno, maybe I shouldn't be worried about this too much, but I'm scared I will start to loose some distance if I continue loosing weight. What do you think?. What is the BEST weight gainer you know of?. Will I just put on fat now if I try weight gainers?.

I'm still working out 3x a week, but my sessions are down to about 40mins compared to being around 1.5hrs-2hrs 4x a week when it wasn't golf season.

Thanks.

Fr. Chris.

Chris - BREATHE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

all will be fine. dont stop weight training, you should be thankful that your metabolism is this fast.

be sure your eating at least 300g of protein a day spread over 6 meals/day - 50g per. make 2-3 of those a 50 g whey protein isolate shake. this way you have plenty of amino acids in your system so your muscles will not be cannibalized.

secondly you need to make sure your taking in enough essential fatty acids as they are not made within the body. 3000mg/day of omega 3 (fish oil), and 1300mg/omega 6 (evening primrose oil), omega 9 evoo is not essential but 3 tablespoons go a great deal for your heart.

carbohydrate wise, 3 cups of white rice, 2 medium sweet potatoes and 1 cup of oatmeal daily spread over your meals 6 meals provides you with 6 intakes of carbs.

2 times a week say wed night and sat night, have a cheat meal instead of your last meal - all out whatever you want.

if your eating this everyday for a month and lose weight we can double your carb intake for next month.

remember keep breathing =)
keep me posted
Mikey

 

[halifax_golfer]

lol... Thanks dude. I'm not really panicing, sorry if I sounded dramatic. I think I need to start drinking more protein shakes again, I was drinking 2-3 shakes a day, but only have been drinking one a day on days I worked out. They just get expensive kinda quick is all, and last time I bought "strawberry" and I really didn't like the taste of it much, but it's almost gone now so I can switch back to choco flava.

Thanks for the positive help again, hopefully I can gain my weight back within a month or so. I've been having a cheat meal or two a week, as I just can't resist a Donair Oven Sub, or a nice pizza once and a while.

You da man!.


P.S. I shot 84 today, so I'm still improving rapidly at golf, thanks to your book and weight training. I really enjoy the laggy first move take away. As soon as I officially break my old habits and start getting the club to the right spot at the top of my swing (my clubface used to be really closed at the top, pronated wrist instead of supinated. I will be driving the ball a lot more consistant, but breaking habits is easier said then done. I WILL break 80 sometime soon.

Fr. Chris.

 

[halifax_golfer]

Hey again. Good news, I'm slowly gaining my weight back again. ... And I also got my wife to record a couple of golf swings for me last time we went. Let me know what you guys think; I've been told the take-away is a bit funny, but hey, it works ok for me (better then I've ever golfed, so its a hard habbit to want to change) But Please, let me know what you think of everything.

SwingAcademy.com
9ir Facing View.

SwingAcademy.com
7wood DTL

From
Chris.

 

[Manavs]

Hey again. Good news, I'm slowly gaining my weight back again. ... And I also got my wife to record a couple of golf swings for me last time we went. Let me know what you guys think; I've been told the take-away is a bit funny, but hey, it works ok for me (better then I've ever golfed, so its a hard habbit to want to change) But Please, let me know what you think of everything.

SwingAcademy.com
9ir Facing View.

SwingAcademy.com
7wood DTL

From
Chris.

Chris

Im really liking your action. Your downswing is awesome, your impact has fantastic structure to it. youve got great skills there!

A few things i would make note of - the front on view is a little misleading, where is the ball position there - front third, middle third, or back third of your stance?

secondly, your weight distribution looks a little heavy your left side at address as well as at the finish. if anything id set up a little more lower body on the right side and keep your upper body back on your left. feel heavy on your right heel basically throughout the swing.

Thirdly, your takeaway sequence is fantastic, i would just have you work on getting it flow a little smoother. it seems like your taking your hands back then snap the club, where it should be smoother, think of a child on a swing set trying to get some momentum rather than a cowboy roping a steer =)

All in all really good application!

your on your way! now keep eating your skinny as a rail!!

 

[halifax_golfer]

lol, I'm a skinny steer roping cowboy!. WOOT.

seriously though, thanks for the tips!... I'll work on a smoother take-away (easier said then done I think), and I'll try to keep my weight more on my forward foot throughout the swing (right foot) which shouldn't be a problem that is hard to fix.

I think the ball is in the back third of my stance in the face on view, and probably just forward of the middle in the DTL view.

Thanks for the positive feedback, I've been working really hard on making a decent swing that works for me... And I really think I'm getting close as my irons are really starting to fly higher and straighter, and I'm definitly hitting the ball better then I ever have... There is just always a few shorter shots per round that are screwing with my scores holding me from breaking 80.

People seem to be telling me that the "drag" takeaway is strange; My Dad says it looks like I'm powering up or something... But If I dont do that take-away and rush a little, I will almost always hit a hook. So I really like the functionality of that take-away aswell. However, I'll be the first to admit it's a little un-ordinary, but it works for me (most of the time).

I really wish I could put on some more weight, but everytime I go golfing I loose like 3-5lbs.... It's hard for me to even gain that back within a couple days. Hopefully this winter I will have time to workout like nuts again and put on a solid 15lbs so maybe you can actually tell that I like lifting weights. .

Again, thanks for the solid feedback... I'll probably have some more swings to put up sometime so I'll put a link to them in here.

Talk to ya later.
From, Chris.

 

[Manavs]

lol, I'm a skinny steer roping cowboy!. WOOT.

seriously though, thanks for the tips!... I'll work on a smoother take-away (easier said then done I think), and I'll try to keep my weight more on my forward foot throughout the swing (right foot) which shouldn't be a problem that is hard to fix.

I think the ball is in the back third of my stance in the face on view, and probably just forward of the middle in the DTL view.

Thanks for the positive feedback, I've been working really hard on making a decent swing that works for me... And I really think I'm getting close as my irons are really starting to fly higher and straighter, and I'm definitly hitting the ball better then I ever have... There is just always a few shorter shots per round that are screwing with my scores holding me from breaking 80.

People seem to be telling me that the "drag" takeaway is strange; My Dad says it looks like I'm powering up or something... But If I dont do that take-away and rush a little, I will almost always hit a hook. So I really like the functionality of that take-away aswell. However, I'll be the first to admit it's a little un-ordinary, but it works for me (most of the time).

I really wish I could put on some more weight, but everytime I go golfing I loose like 3-5lbs.... It's hard for me to even gain that back within a couple days. Hopefully this winter I will have time to workout like nuts again and put on a solid 15lbs so maybe you can actually tell that I like lifting weights. .

Again, thanks for the solid feedback... I'll probably have some more swings to put up sometime so I'll put a link to them in here.

Talk to ya later.
From, Chris.

Take a look at the first few feet of the takeaway - its more along the lines of what your looking to mimic.

YouTube - Bobby Jones Face On

Michael

 

[halifax_golfer]

OK wickid... I'm actually kind of relieved, I must have mis-understood a bit in your book and I see I was over exagerating that "Drag" move in the take-away.... I can definitly tone that down a little without a prob, I hope I keep hitting high quality shots. . Thanks for the vid, I really like those old school swing vids.

From.
Chris.

 

[Manavs]

gonna give this thread a lil bump with all the hoopla going on here =)

 

[Manavs]

I got a private message from one of the forum members here with some great questions I thought i'd post the answers here for everyone to see.

"I just watched that Milos video you posted in its entirety, finally. Makes a lot of sense. I have some questions regarding diet and Milos' video. Hopefully you can clarify and offer some advice:

1.) Regarding frequent small ingestions of protein (about 30g every 3 hours) what are the sources you use? I do not have a moderate disposable income to spend on expensive sources. We've talked about tunafish, but what else is readily available, easy to get, and a good source of protein/carbs?

Very basic foods that I use are:

Protein -
Tilapia
Tuna
Chicken Breast
London Broil
Ground Turkey

Carbs -
Oatmeal
Sweet Potato
White Rice
Creme of Rice

I shop at and highly recommend Restaurant Depot - you need proof of a business - which is easy enough to get at your local town hall for $25 if you dont have one.

I also picked up a freezer on craigslist for $50 to house all the bulk foods.
Here is what I buy those foods for.

Protein -
Tilapia - $2.40-3.50/lb - 10lb min
Tuna - 10 for $10
Chicken Breast $0.99-1.50/lb - 40lb min
London Broil - $1.40-1.88/lb
Ground Turkey - $1.99 costco/sam's club


Carbs -
Oatmeal - walmart
Sweet Potato - $8 for 40lbs at restdepot
White Rice - $.50/lb
Creme of Rice - $3/box
Pasta - $.80/lb

Also i buy whey protein isolate powders for $6-8/lb in 5lb tubs or higher
and use Waxy Maize starch as my carb for my shakes - $20 for a 6lb tub.

and ALRI's branch chain amino acids called Chain'd out for the anti-catabolic and anti-cortisol effects.



2.) Relating to question 1, what brand of protein isolate do you use? Can you provide a visual link? What do you mix it with? What does it cost, and how many ingestions does that cost accomodate? From there I can calculate a per-use cost.

I have all my recommendations on my website for different WPI powders and at a good price -

Here is one of the most cost effective one - Dymatize Elite

its $37 for 5lbs - $7.40/lb and you get 36 - 2 scoop servings yielding 46g of protein. So if your having 2 shakes a day thats 18 days.



3.) Pre-workout, what should I be eating, and WHEN should I be eating it? I don't have a gym membership, so most of the things I do are with freeweights and my exercise bike. Thusly, it tends to be more reps with less weight (pushups, curls, etc.). Should I focus on protein before, or after, or both? And how long before/after?

Eat no closer than an hour before you train. Based on the Milos video you would know that you need proteins and carbs - how about egg whites and oatmeal?

i take a shake with waxy maize before, drink chain'd out during, and have another shake with waxy maize immediately after. then i eat real foods the rest of the day

4.) What simple, non-machine workouts produce the best results?


this is a very general question. My best suggestion is to read Atomic Golf for specific exercises. (at least till i get my next book out)

machines are just tools like dumbells, they dont contract anything for you. you must contract the muscles in order to move the weights not move the weight to contract the muscle.

there are 6 basic muscle groups, and all need to be worked.
legs - quads, hams, calves, glutes
back - lower, middle, lats
shoulders - side, front, rear
chest - upper, lower
arms - bicep, triceps
abdominals - from the top, from the bottom


5.) What sort of weekly schedule should I be looking to keep? More specifically, how often should I work the same muscle groups?

for beginners i like total body workouts - 2-3 times a week for the

then splitting up the body into two days followed by a rest day

advanced you can go more often with less rest days.

it all depends on how much you can recover. if your not recovering you'll need more rest days.


6.) Exercise bikes and running activies, I assume, do not build much muscle but rather burn a lot of energy and increase metabolism over time. Should I prepare for these differently? What can I do to make the most of these exercise periods?

first thing on an empty stomach or before your last meal at night are ideal times. Followed by immediately after training

7.) Should I begin/end a more focused muscle workout with a period on the exercise bike?

Have at it!"

not necessary. your not using the same fuel source so it doesnt matter

This is what i originally envisioned this thread to be like, thanks for the questions and i hope it has given you some insight on how to find the answer for yourself. most trainers be it golf or weight training, keep everything a secret and have you pay for it.

I find information should be free - and yet the application of it is what people pay me for. i've been studying golf all my life, people dont pay me for the info, its the application of the info and my experience with it customize specifically to the person is what people hire me for.

Which is why most of my clients are well versed in golf or bodybuilding themselves, but know that i have an eye to really custom fit the info to their specific need. Its why Tiger has Hank - its another set of eyes.

Best
Michael

 

[buykrux]

i have a few Q's for you
last summer i was 210lbs, 6 foot 1
not as blocky as i am now being 223lbs
since then i have had a significant increase in strength and weights
this summer i found my flexibilty was almost none existant
i went from getting perfectly parallel to just at 3/4
ball still travels the same distance, same ball flight and my handicap dropped
i am currently bulking for the winter, using a very intense negative weight lifting routine

the question is
1) is there any way i can keep and increase my flexibility or is it going to be a matter of leaning down and loosing the swell?
id just like to get parallel at the top once again, but id had to go on a cut or sacrifice size for golf

2) how much cardio is too much cardio? weights 5 days a week, weekends off and after each session there is a 30min walking at 3.5 and each minute raising the incline 1* until reaching 15 then back down to 0
is there going to be negative effects to this?

 

[74 thing]

Michael,

What is your regimine for using Chained Out on your workout and non workout days?

Also, can you post the link to the Milos vids-I have not been able to locate all of them and am interested in listening to them.

Finally, do you take any minerals or vitamins or creatine?

Thanks

 

[buykrux]

Michael,

What is your regimine for using Chained Out on your workout and non workout days?

Also, can you post the link to the Milos vids-I have not been able to locate all of them and am interested in listening to them.

Finally, do you take any minerals or vitamins or creatine?

Thanks

from what i have been told by my trainer is that protein, bcaa, creatine, and base vitamins are all a must
he even reccomended a preworkout supplement like noxplode or shotgun for those late night workouts