Annika Sörenstam: No Machines, No Stretching, No Problem

Annika Sörenstam isn't even 40 years old, and she's already an indisputable golfing legend. She was inducted into the LPGA and World Golf Halls of fame in 2003 after winning 10 major championships, earning eight LPGA Player of the Year Awards, and becoming the first female to break 60 in an official LPGA tournament (her score was 59).

She's since stepped away from playing professionally to focus on a few other efforts. Her baby Ava, for one, as well as a number of professional efforts including a clothing line, a limited wine label and the ANNIKA Academy, which is where That's Fit caught up with Sörenstam and her trainer, Kai Fusser, earlier this year.

Sörenstam was promoting the fact that the ANNIKA Academy in Reunion, Fla., had just become the latest Callaway Performance Center, and while we were definitely keen on hearing about the technology behind fitting players with the proper clubs (it's like a video game, only better), we were more interested in learning about how Sörenstam stayed in such great shape on the tour and how she's adjusting now that she's no longer a pro golfer, but rather, a new mom.

"I always enjoyed lifting weights. I did the three sets and I always pushed myself," Sörenstam said. "I enjoyed some of the muscle groups, like the back and the chest, but had a hard time with the legs. But, the way I worked out, we had a schedule. I always had to do it; I couldn't skip it."

Fusser has been Sörenstam's personal trainer for more than six years, and his methods have certainly proven effective. But that doesn't mean they're what you would expect. Fusser doesn't like weight-lifting machines or stretching.

"We use a lot of dumbbells, a lot of the cable-cross machine -- with that, I can load your body up from different angles, and you have to figure out how to stay straight," he told That's Fit. "I don't like machines. With many of those exercises, say, the leg extension, you need to stay balanced, but the machine stays balanced for you. We want you to have to balance your whole body."

While his focus is on weight training, he doesn't skip cardio entirely. "We do a lot of interval training. Short interval training," Fusser said. "Basically, it's all done in four minutes. It's a lot of sprints, starting off with 30 seconds slow, 10 seconds fast. The fast is a full sprint -- it's a lot more effective than long cardio. In four minutes, we burn as many calories as you would in an hour of slow jogging." An added benefit, particularly for golfers: "It also teaches you how to produce a lot of energy in a short amount of time, like when you swing."

When asked how big a part stretching plays, Fusser smiled and said, "Very little. I don't recommend stretching, especially before playing or before working out." Why? "Stretching is meant to relax your muscles, take stress off your muscles, and it can only take stress off your muscles if they are very warm."

That being said, he doesn't want recommend hitting the course cold. "Before you go out to hit some balls, do a dynamic warm up," he said. "Do a little jump roping, do some jumping jacks. For our players, I recommend about a half-hour warm up before they play. It's a fairly vigorous warm up -- for most people, it would be a workout." And what about Annika? He smiled again. "With Annika, we did a full workout."

Sörenstam might not have to focus on her workouts because of a major tournament, but the new mother (Ava was about four months old when we talked to the former pro) still makes fitness a priority. "I still work out, but I don't push myself as much. My workouts are not as long, or as many times a week," she explained. "I just do a few times a week, and its OK. I just do what I have time for."

Interested to hear what another golfer has to say? Check out the three questions we asked LPGA golfer Anna Rawson.