How Bryson Dechambeau gained 45lbs and 45 yards in 9 months
Well that’s it…
In the space of 4 days the golf-world has gone crazy for muscle.
In the annals of history the Charles Schwab Challenge will be known for 2 reasons
- The Return of Golf Post-Covid
- The “Bryson Effect” Taking Full Swing (excuse the awful pun)
American Bryson Dechambeau, standing 6 foot 1 and 240lbs, decked out in Flat Cap and Puma’s swatting at his Bridgestone ball with 126mph of clubhead speed and 189mph ballspeed.
In just 9 months Bryson has gone from a moderate length hitter (Avg 296 yards in 2019) to averaging 345 yards at last weeks event.
The big question, and the one that commentators/reporters have been murdering to death with their limited knowledge of exercise science is…
How has he done it?
The main focus for most has been the noticeable change in his size, going from a svelte 195lbs last year to the 240lbs behemoth stepping onto the tee this year.
Of course this has led to many wrongly assuming that he has “gained 45lbs of muscle in the last 9 months”.
He hasn’t.
SO HOW MUCH MUSCLE HAS HE ACTUALLY GAINED?
It’s safe to say that Bryson could probably have been classed as a novice to proper weight-training when he took to it halfway through last year.
Based off the limited research available it appears that a beginner can gain somewhere between 1.5-2lbs of LEAN muscle mass per month.
Equating that to Bryson it means that he will have added roughly anywhere from 12–18lbs of hard-earned tissue to his frame over the past 9 months.
Alongside this he’s probably holding around 5–10lbs of excess weight in the form of retained water, carbs stored in the muscle and increased food volume from his previous diet stored in his stomach/bowels.
This means that anywhere between 17-28lbs of his weight gain is pure unadulterated fat-mass. Which to be fair is pretty damn noticeable comparing his midrift from then till now.
He certainly didn’t need to gain as much weight as he has, you could make a good argument that he may have actually added even more speed had his weight gain been a little slower and thus improving his muscle:fat ratio.
However what he has spoken about is “feeling more stable” and therefore being able to swing harder under control. This is essentially due to the increased anchoring effect of carrying an extra 3 stone on his frame.
WHAT HAS HE BEEN DOING?
Based off various instagram videos and articles it’s clear to see that he’s been mainly working with a full-body program that emphasises:
- Isolating Muscle Groups (Most of his exercise selection has been movements that take place across 1 joint rather than big multi-joint movements like Deadlifts, Squats and Bench Press)
- Unilateral Exercises (Performing exercises one side at a time)
- Abdominal Work (Both Flexion and Extension and Rotational focuses)
Alongside this he’s also been eating in a HUUUUGE Calorie Surplus, in his words around probably anywhere between 800–1000 calories more per day than he needs to maintain weight based off of his rate of weight gain.
The most interesting thing about all of this is that right now his training is actually pretty general, and not hugely different from your average golfer who likes recreational bodybuilding on the side.
So whilst if you’re new to training pretty much ANYTHING will work brilliantly well short term, you will eventually tap out those newbie gains and start seeing diminishing returns from this kind of program.
Once this happens you’ll need to target your training a little more around the following…
PHYSICAL QUALITIES THAT ACTUALLY MATTER FOR DISTANCE
Before I delve into this I need to explain the difference between ‘Technical’ and ‘Physical’ qualities.
There are plenty of Tour-Pro’s throughout history that didn’t possess many of the bodily attributes that I’ll be talking about but had such incredible technique that they could bust the ball out there a long way regardless.
Previously when it came to training for golf, golfers were taught to be too specific, in that much of their training revolved around swinging or moving with weight in a way that tried to exactly recreate the golf-swing.
It also involved A LOT of namby pampy stretching, soft-tissue and lightly banded work that didn’t create anywhere near enough stress to promote any physical changes.
Luckily sports-science has moved on from there and now there are a few great coaches in the golf realm who are focusing on the structural qualities of a powerful golf swing and not the skill-based ones!
So what are they?
- Aerobic Capacity
Basically you need to be “golf-fit” so that you don’t unduly fatigue at the start of the back 9 and can no longer swing with your potential speed.
Note: That half-way hut beer and burger probably doesn’t count as appropriate fuelling for that drive down the 10th.
- Mobility/Flexibility in your Hips, Thoracic-Spine, Shoulders and Wrists
Step in John Daly…