The Loop
Does P90X help your golf? These guys think so
By Sam Weinman
By now you or someone you know has probably tried P90X, the at-home fitness video regimen that has sold upwards of 3.5 million copies since 2005. Celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher, Sheryl Crow and Pink have been notable P90X devotees, as has former Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan.
All have been drawn to the program by the promise of a complete total-body workout without leaving the house, and by the unfailingly cheerful guidance of its 56-year-old founder and host, Tony Horton. I've been an on-again, off-again P90X user for several years, and I've come to think of Horton as a very peppy, very fit uncle.
Whether P90X is a recipe for better golf is open for debate. The program does place an emphasis on golf-friendly concepts, such as core strength and range of motion. But there are also skeptics, including Golf Digest fitness editor Ron Kaspriske, who is leery of one-size-fits-all fitness programs, particularly when it might push the limits of people who aren't quite ready to be pushed. What I'll say is since taking up P90X, I've definitely felt fitter and stronger, yet I still fight the same flaws in my golf swing that I fought before.
Nonetheless, P90X has a sizable following, and by sheer math alone, it's fair to say a number of those people are golfers as well. Included in that group is Scott Morgan, the head pro at the Lakes at El Segundo (Calif.) and a certified P90X trainer. According to Morgan, it was the progress he made using P90X that enabled him to swing with "effortless power as opposed to powerless effort." This week he starred in a video with Horton in which he takes the P90X star through a quick first-tee warm-up, and even offers tips for Horton's raw but promising golf swing.
We say stick with it, Tony. You've got to put those muscles to use somewhere.