Thanks Leo. "Dual factor" meaning that you manage and plan around both 'fitness' and 'fatigue.' Versus "single factor" where you're only focused on the 'fitness' aspect and do not plan for overall lighter weeks where you drop weight across the board ('de-loading' in dual factor programs). If you're a beginning you really only need to worry about "single factor" because you'll see gains almost regardless of what you do.

As far as core work goes, all I really do are some assorted ab exercises. Like Leo mentioned, your core gets some very good stress from big compound exercises. You are forced to have core stability when you pulling 225 lbs. off the floor for a deadlift or squatting 250 lbs. This is why Leo has pretty much convinced me that wearing a lifting belt is more detrimental to progress rather than helpful because it lets you get away with having weaker abs (because it acts like strong abs by increasing inter-abdominal pressure and thus lower back support). It won't allow the same core development that lifting without a belt will.

Leo and I love this stuff so ask away with questions!

Working to failure and working your max are two different things. If I have to workout alone I can use an excercise as simple as pushups to get me to failure.

I very seldom attempt my single rep max because that's not really a goal of mine anymore. When I was 22, it was. Now I'm 37, and it's not. There are different ways to get to failure, like I think Matt pointed out. You can do heavy weight, few reps; lighter weight, more reps. Workouts vary as to the goal and should always include some regeneration time. I prefer short workouts so I do a lot of compound exercises as well.

EDIT: Wow. This Dual Factor Theory stuff sounds cool. I'm going to re-evaluate my workouts and see if this can help me out. I work at a school that specializes in treating obese teens and we have two personal trainers on staff. I'm going to see if they can put together a new routine for me. What I was doing sounds like it was a good pre-routine, routine. I started excercising again about 6 months ago and changed my diet as well. I've lost 35 pounds, four pant sizes and two belts. I carry my clubs for 18 and have no problem and the next day all feels good. Now maybe I can start going in a different direction. I left my original posts to show that I'm always open for learning and willing to admit that being Old Skool is sometimes foolish. Thanks, Matt.

I would first off suggest trying out a 'single factor' program. Take a good week off and then start it up. You should extract all the gains you can from this type of program before worrying about 'dual factor.' In single factor, the goal is basically to increase weight each week. Obviously at some point this isn't going to be possible but it will be for quite awhile. I have mine set up with a spreadsheet that tells me all the weights I should be using for a given week for each workout (after I input my maxes). Weeks 1-3 are lighter, I hit my given 'max' during week 4, then progress past it in the next several weeks.

Think about it: would you rather be adding weight to the bar each week or only every several weeks? Best case is every week. But for advanced lifters that won't be possible, so you have to include entire weeks where you 'de-load' your weights to allow for some dissapation of fatigue so you can keep progressing. But this is a good distance down the road for most people, myself included.

This really is great reading for people who are interested in this sort of thing. I'm a big fan of this school of thought because it not only makes good sense but so many people achieve good results. Shoot me a PM if you want some more reading material and sample programs. Be warned though that what I'm doing isn't exactly golf-specific but rather more of an overall strength-training program with 90% focus on major compound lifts and very little time spent doing 'beach' work. Naturally you can add flexibility training and whatnot to it but the original program was constructed for, shall we say, physical contact sports.

Another info packed post from Matt.
The whole idea of a well designed free weights program is that you develop transferable functional strength and power. Just because a squat or power clean doesn't resemble a golf stroke, it doesn't mean it won't add power to it. In fact, it's quite the contrary.

The reason why doing isolation work produce suboptimal results is the same reason why barbells work so well. The human body functions as a complete system -- it works that way and it likes to be trained that way. The 'Training Specificity' camp believes that you must acquire strength in a very similar way in which the strength will be used. However, it is the nervous system that controls the muscles, i.e. 'neuromuscular'. There is no such thing as neuromuscular specificity, and exercise programs must respect this principle the same way they respect the Law of Gravity.

Barbell and dumbell programs when properly performed are essentially the functional expression of human skeletal and muscular anatomy under a load. Balance between all the muscles used in the movement is inherent in the exercise because all the muscles involved contribute their anatomically determined share of the work. Free weights allow weight to be moved in exactly the way the body is designed to move it, since every aspect of the movement is determined by the body.

Unfortunately, most people don't know how to do barbell training correctly. And most people who claim to know how don't :( .

I've pretty much been doing the single factor stuff for some time. My stance on the "golf specific" stuff is that it is not for me. I'd rather focus on my overall health and physique than worry about what's supposed to be good specifically for golf. Free weights are great because they force you to focus on balance, which takes strength. I think people forget that sometimes. I'll probably stay with the single factor program I've been doing just because I think it fits my goals better. That may change in time.

Like I mentioned you should stay with single factor as long as you can. You should add weight every week (or just about) for as long a period as you can. But everyone will reach their limit with that type of training and that's when you start playing around with the dual factor stuff. I'm currently on my second cycle through a very good single factor program (after a couple years of doing a 3-day split routine - with good gains for a while and then having them stall - looking back I see my mistakes and have learned from them) and I like the results I'm getting. My weights are still increasing and my exercise form has benefitted greatly, especially with squats since I'm doing them three times per week on my current program.

I foresee finishing this cycle through (another 5-6 weeks) then stepping back and evaluating where I am. From there I may try a third cycle through or maybe a different powerlifting-type program. And by 'cycle', I mean an 8 week schedule. I determine my 5 rep maxes and using a spreadsheet I have that will show me all the weights I need to use for every set of every exercise for all eight weeks. Once I started feeling worn out on my first cycle, I took a week off and reset my weights (inputed my new 5 rep maxes taking into account gains I've made over the past two months) and basically started over again. Now I've just finished week two of this second cycle and am still going strong.

Overall
 

Overall fitness is obviously important... just for one's general health. In most cases it probably does help with golf also.

There may, however, be SOME exercises and activities that could be detrimental to GOLFERS.

Some of the one's I've heard are bad for golf...

Swimming
Pushups
Weight lifting that greatly increases pec and shoulder girth
Forward lunges... lateral are OK
Bowling
Some yoga poses... may cause too much flexibility resulting in instability

What do you think?

So are these exercises bad for golf?
Swimming. I don't think so!
Pushups. I don't think so! (How many pushups do you need to do to get pecs half the size of Arnold's? Answer: you can't by doing pushups)
Weight lifting. I don't think so! (Try telling the world number one player. Oh, and number two. And number three...)
Bowling. I don't think so! Do you bowl 24/7? Probably not. If the ball is too heavy, then use a lighter one or get stronger.
Yoga and too much flexibility. I don't think so!

Obviously I'm assuming you're doing the above with proper technique.

Bad
 

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You may be right. If so... many of the old timers were/are wrong!!

For years, many if not most tour players, would not go near a swimming pool.

The push up thing I think has been around for a long time... you are probably correct on this, but they probably should not be done to the extreme.

I agree, if one stays reasonably flexible... WEIGHT LIFTING should be OK. I heard from Hank Haney that Tiger benches about 200lbs.-- for repetition

The bowling thing I heard from the head of the KMX Lab. Someone asked him what would probably be the worst sport for golf. He said probably "bowling". I guess, because it involves an unstable lead foot(sliding), and it is on a different plane than golf. Forward rather than lateral motion.

Yoga... I heard from this same fellow. Certain poses he says are detrimental to golf. If a person is fairly rigid, and needs some more flexibility... probably OK. He said something like, "golf is a stability sport."

He says that many people are working out now, and this will probably help their health, but may not necessarily help their golf... may even be somewhat harmful in some cases when the wrong things are emphasized.

It is a ridiculous idea to suggest that the more flexible you are the less ability you have to be stable. Stability is about how you balance forces and shouldn't be mixed up with your range of motion. Let’s say we have an experienced Yoga practitioner who's very flexible. However, his golf stroke is unstable. Does that mean he should stop doing yoga, and become less flexible, which would increase his stability? Of course not! His lack of balance is not because he's "over-flexible". It's because he has a poor sense of balance and force.

And his argument against bowling is the most idiotic thing I've ever heard. It's based on the logic -- "activity y does not require sliding/lateral (or whatever) motion but activity x does require it. Therefore activity x is detrimental to activity y". So is walking detrimental to golf? Does that mean dancing is detrimental to golf? Complete baloney.

Sorry if I sound over emotional...gotta let some steam out :D