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| Saturday, May 26
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Extreme training is only thing saving career, Oberholser finds |
othing else, after all, worked. Nothing. Not the fitness trailer. Not the last bunch of trainers or their regimens. Not the ones before that, either.
So Arron Oberhoser puts himself through the wringer. He pushes himself past what he ever thought his body could handle. And then he straps an electronic stimulator on his legs to make it tougher.
The type of training no one save an NFL player like Indianapolis defensive end Dwight Freeney would inflict on himself.
And, know what? It's working. Oberholser hasn't had a back problem since he started this program -- Accelerated Recovery Performance, ARP for short. Also known as Ultra Fit. Something his fiancée suggested. She does it, too.
"She's probably one of the strongest people I know,'' he said.
Oberholser may not be far behind. The man who played 31 holes Friday at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and walked off smiling. He tossed out a little second-round 66 to settle in one shot behind rain-delayed second-round leader Tim Clark, then settled down to talk about the routine that's saved his career.
He back problems first came up when he was playing on the Nationwide Tour in 2002, and they persisted through the start of the year when he had to withdraw from the Mercedes-Benz Championship after one round. That's when he changed strategies.
"I was fed up after this last bout when I hurt it again,'' he said. "So I said enough is enough. I'm going to take care of this.''
So he sought out the ARP guys to strengthen his leg and back muscles.
"I think the people I was working with before were afraid to give me certain things because they didn't know what kind of load I could handle,'' Oberholser said. "These guys don't care. They say do this, you'll be fine.''
So Oberholser does the most basic -- as he says -- of exercises. Five-minute wall squats, Russian lunges, Russian lunge holds. And with the electrical stimulator, 15 reps feels like doing 150 reps.
And, once a month, he goes for a full body evaluation. That's when he exercises eight hours -- with a 45-minute lunch break -- one day and four hours the next. Twelve hours over a period of 24 hours where, he said, they balance his body.
"When you have tried everything and nothing is working and you still keep getting injured this is what you go to,'' he said. "Because no one would want to inflict this kind of pain on themselves. Unless you really want it. Unless you really want to play golf.''
The 32-year-old calls it managing his back, something he'll have to do for the rest of his life. Which is why you don't see him playing more than 25 events a year.
In 2006, it paid off as he won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and shot 60 in the second round of the EDS Byron Nelson, missing a 15-foot putt at the final hole that would have put him in ultra-elite company with a 59.Labels: career training, high school |
posted by ^%&^
@ 7:41 PM
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