Daily Life

Save
Print
License article

Greg Norman's health routine is like Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop for seniors

12 reading now

Greg Norman is the male version of Gwyneth 'Goop' Paltrow the world never knew existed, needed or wanted.

Until now.

After the discovery of his Instagram account, which documents everything from nude bathing and 10-hour hikes with his third wife, interior designer Kirsten Kutner, to his various business deals, The Shark is now back in the spotlight to share his wellbeing secrets.

In a new "guest editor" appearance for the latest edition of Australian Golf Digest, Norman has disclosed how he ruled the golfing world as No. 1 for 331 weeks during the '80s and '90s, and why now, at 62 years old, he is "ripped" and living his best life.

In a lengthy feature article in the magazine's "Get Fit Issue", The Shark shares his nine-part workout program that was devised by his former personal trainer of 20 years, Pete Draovitch.

When he's not brokering calls between international leaders like Donald Trump and Malcolm Turnbull, a normal day for the Shark starts with a 45-minute session on an elliptical trainer, "To get my heart rate up around 185-190," he said.

Advertisement

He works out five days a week, sometimes seven if he's "feeling a little lethagic".

Tennis, as well as surfing and free diving, is one of his favourite sports these days.

A game he tries to practice daily.

"When I go out onto the tennis court, I can stand on the baseline and return balls to two professional tennis players at the net. I'm addicted to the cardio workout it gives me and I can do it for two-and-a-half hours.

"At 62 years of age, I take great satisfaction when guys half my age say they are struggling to keep up with me."

It was during one of these two-on-one tennis matches that he tore some tendons in his lower leg earlier this year.

Not even a moon-boot stopped his routine. He took to performing leg raises while on crutches.

 

Just had to improvise.

A post shared by Greg Norman (@shark_gregnorman) on

He even uses back-to-back meetings as excuses to work out.

"Even when I'm sitting in my office I'm doing some type of mini-workout, whether that's working my hamstrings or firing my abdominal muscles. You can do leg raises sitting down…there's always something you can be doing to fire up your body and then let it relax," he said.

As well as fitness, and inspirational hashtags like "#attacklife", Norman is also a nutrition nut.

Since experiencing "violent headaches" on course while competing professionally he now drinks three litres of water a day and has not consumed soft-drink in almost 25-years.

"My body was reacting badly to the sugar content in soft drinks out on the golf course so from August 1993 I made the decision to never consume a soft drink again," he said.

"Back in those days a lot of tournaments were sponsored by soft drink companies and when I saw their products in Eskies on the tees, I naturally gravitated towards them as a refreshment."

While he admits to loving Donna Hay recipes and cooks something from one of her books every night, he avoids "white foods" the same way Paltrow refuses to eat octopus (because she says they are "too smart to be food").

"I don't eat white rice or white bread. I don't avoid them 100 per cent - every now and then you can't avoid them - but anything white, like potatoes, I keep to a bare minimum," he said.

At the top of his game, after rising for at 4am for a 7.30am tee off, he would do a gentle gym session before tucking into a breakfast of low-fat steak and eggs drizzled with honey.

"I couldn't afford to go through periods of peaks and troughs where my energy levels dropped. So I never ate anything with added sugar in it for breakfast," he said.

However his signature morning meal, like his swing, required practice and the occasional dose of charcoal.

"The steak and eggs thing was trial and error. I realised when it came to my intestinal health, what you put into it is what you get out of it. I used to get bad gas pains because I was putting the wrong foods in my body and you simply can't afford to do that out on the golf course," he said.