Reading 84 4/24/07
SHAPE UP CELEBRITY FITNESS
Salad and strength training help this young golfer drive farther
LPGA Tour star Morgan Pressel of Boca Raton is on the cart path of a winner since changing her habits.
Jean Patteson
Sentinel Staff Writer
April 24, 2007
April has been a good month for Morgan Pressel, an 18-year-old golfer from Boca Raton.
She earned her first victory of the year at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on April 1, becoming the
youngest-ever winner of a major LPGA Tour event.
Two weeks later, she celebrated a rather unusual anniversary. "It was a year since I ate my very first salad ever," says Pressel.
About the same time that she started adding lettuce and tomatoes to her junk-food diet of pizza, fries and Coke, she embarked on her
first-ever fitness program. She had started packing on the pounds, she says, "and I also realized I needed to get stronger to hit the ball
farther."
She's not saying she won the Kraft Nabisco event because of salads and sit-ups -- but she's sure they didn't hurt. And now that she is
trimmer and stronger than she was a year ago, she is eager to encourage other young women to introduce more healthful habits into their
lifestyles.
An end to gymnastics
Pressel, who was born in Tampa and graduated last year from St. Andrew's School in Boca Raton, has been playing golf since she was 10.
She has always been athletic, she says.
"When I was young I was hyperflexible. I did gymnastics, even though my parents and grandparents were afraid I'd get hurt. But it
turned out to be one of the best things for me -- the reason I stayed so flexible."
By the time she reached the grand old age of 14, her amateur golf career was taking off, and she had to quit gymnastics. To maintain her
flexibility, "I started doing some light stretching, some basic exercises," she says.
About the same time, she lost her mother to cancer. She moved in with her grandparents, Shirley and Herb Krickstein, parents of former
top-10 tennis player Aaron Krickstein.
"My grandfather was always telling me I needed to hit the ball farther. My coach, Martin Hall, said I needed to start working out. I knew
work in the gym was very important, but I always hated it -- getting all sweaty and gross," she says.
But after finishing in a tie for second place in the U.S. Women's Open in 2005, and turning professional in January 2006, she took the
advice of her coach and grandfather. She hit the gym.
Her fitness program is most intense when she's home. It includes stretches, along with strength and cardio exercises using free weights,
exercise machines and medicine balls.
"I love to run, but it bothers my back sometimes, so I don't run too much," she says.
When she's on the road playing tournaments, she keeps her workouts light. "It's hard to play and be sore [from exercising] at the same
time," she says.
Making the effort to exercise when she's traveling is "very tough." "But we're usually staying in a hotel with a nice gym," she says, so she
doesn't really have an excuse not to make the effort.
Tips from a real pro
Positive results are the best motivator for sticking with an exercise program, says Pressel. "Once you see improvements, you want to
continue exercising."
She offers these tips for getting fit to teens and young women:
Vary your routine with strength, cardio and balance exercises so you don't get bored.
Try to work out for at least 20 minutes a day to really make a difference.
Use stretches to keep you flexible, and also make you feel good and relaxed.
Always remember to bring your iPod to the gym.
"I love my music," says Pressel. "Hip-hop, upbeat pop -- stuff that gets you going. I love going to the gym and blasting my earphones. It
makes the time go by faster. Every once in a while, you'll see me just dancing in the gym. But that's exercise too."
And don't forget the salads.