Inside Tiger Woods’ 4am starts, brutal gym and vegan snacks prep for PGA Championship

Tiger Woods still has a Spartan-like routine as he attempts to win the PGA Championship (Image: GETTY)

Tiger Woods is fast approaching 50-years-old and has nothing left in golf, or professional sport as a whole, to prove.

He’s been there – everywhere – and done the lot. A living legend of the sport who has transcended golf and inspires all kinds of athletes all over the planet to this very day.

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But it’s not enough. Woods is not finished. Not yet, anyway.

The 15-time major winner tees it up at Valhalla today for the first round of the PGA Championship, where he will go up against searing hotshots like World No.1 & 2 duo Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. Hungry young-guns like Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg will be chomping away in the field likewise, but Woods isn’t perturbed.

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The golf master believes he’s still got the power within himself and his waning body to get one more big victory over the line. Many fans and pundits alike throw serious doubt over this, but if Woods’ training regime suggests anything – it’s a mantra of fully fledged belief and determination.

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Woods never shies away from admitting he spends an extraordinary amount of time in the gym.

Since his early days on tour, a youthful Woods became famed for breaking the mold and making golf into a real sport for athletes. Gone were the days when portly gents would stroll out of a clubhouse bar, do a few stretches and take to the first tee with a freshly clipped cigar in hand.

Woods introduced a vigourous training programme for himself, which included long runs in the morning, arduous sessions on the gym weights and an afternoon spraying balls on the driving range. In the evening, he would often treat himself to a swim and another light gym session.

Those days are gone for Woods, but his gym routine remains as strict as ever. Since his car accident in early 2021, in which it was first feared he may lose part of his lower leg, Woods has been on a relentless rehab and fitness programme.

Once his body responded well to surgery, and his muscles began to rebuild from months of wastage due to recooperation, Woods took back to the gym to fine tune his body. It was an impressive transformation, with Woods reemerging in 2022 looking more ripped than ever before.

Woods still hits the gym on a daily basis and admits he still lifts weights for power (Image: Golf digest/Youtube)

Now, Woods’ routine comprises an array of stretches to keep his ravaged body as supple as possible. Stretching routines are combined with core strengthening with his personal trainer, before light cardio sessions often on the fitness bikes.

Woods then hits the weights, focusing on building and maintaining mass while also being dynamic enough to apply the physical gains to the motions of golf, equipping him with the necessary tools he will need to keep up to pace with the young guns on the course.

Woods uses endurance bikes and ropes to work on fast-twitch muscle fibres, to aid with his swing speed which remains in line with some of the sharpest on tour.

Speaking last year regarding his gym progress since the accident, Woods admitted: “The idea is to build the strength I need to crush a golf ball rather than develop big muscle volume.

“I lift sub-maximal weights at higher reps, sometimes 25 to 50, because I’m going for tone and endurance instead of bulk. Bodybuilders usually lift heavier weights in sets of six to 12 because they’re going for mass.

“Sometimes, I add plates to break up the routine and challenge myself, but I rarely lift a lot of weight.”