Marina Alex is in her eleventh season playing on the LPGA Tour. She has two career tour wins and numerous top ten finishes. Life for an LPGA golfer is busy, challenging, and exhausting on the road. However, many tour players, like Alex, work just as hard on the weeks they are home, with the ultimate goal of being a tour champion again. Her practice schedule, workout routine, and nutrition take precedent in her weeks at home. Alex recently shared a day in her life with me from her home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. You can view her video here:

Alex says, “the day starts with the most important meal of the day – breakfast.” She typically has avocado toast with goat cheese and salmon to make sure she gets some protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats to fuel morning workouts. She also starts the day with a glass of Live it Up Super Greens, a powdered greens mixture that she always takes on the road to tournaments. “It gives me a good dose of fruits and vegetables and helps me get the vitamins and nutrients I need to keep my immune system strong when I am traveling across different time zones,” she said.

After breakfast, she has a 90-minute practice session with her golf instructor for the past three years, Claude Harmon. Since the courses were closed due to wet weather that day, they worked on different technical aspects of her game indoors. Harmon worked her through a number of drills and monitored her body position and impact speed with computer software and video. Alex brings the improvements she made during the indoor drill work out on the course with her.

She then heads to the gym for an hour-long workout with her trainer, Kolby Wayne, with whom she has been training for seven years. She works on whole body strengthening, balance, and exercises targeted to her golf game. “After a lesson and a great workout, the biggest thing for me is recovery,” Alex said. When she is home in Florida, she has access to an infrared sauna and a cold plunge tub. She spends 3-4 minutes in the cold plunge tub and 20 minutes in the sauna. She remarked, “this is awesome for me to feel refreshed and to get back to work the next day.” The nutritional aspects of her recovery include a protein shake after her workout, lots of water for hydration (she’ll also use electrolytes when she is playing outside in the sun and hot weather), and a lunch bowl with black rice, salmon or chicken, and kale, spinach or other vegetables.

“In my off weeks, I am trying to be as healthy as I can, so I pair a nice protein with a good carb and a veggie for dinner,” said Alex. She cooked a baby Cornish hen in an air fryer and added sweet potatoes and some steamed asparagus. Some other foods she prepares often include salmon, steak, chicken broccoli, mushrooms, and quinoa. During tournament weeks, Alex usually likes to stay in an Airbnb so she can cook some of her own meals. Dinner on the road is the biggest nutrition challenge she faces. At the end of the day when she is tired and doesn’t have the energy to cook, it takes discipline to maintain the healthy eating pattern she knows is best for her game.

Over the years on tour, Alex has learned what works for her nutritionally, what foods help her feel and play her best on the course (sweet potatoes, bell peppers, protein shakes, and nuts), how many gym workouts she can handle in addition to practice and tournament rounds (two per week), and how to recover without the luxury of a cold plunge tub and sauna (massage, stretching, and Normatec compression sleeves). She usually unwinds from the day by watching a show on a streaming service. Watching a show helps her “switch off her mind” and be able to get a good sleep so she is rested to take on the next day of practice, workouts, and rounds on the course.

Note: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to be medical advice. Please contact a licensed physician or other qualified health provider for direct advice, diagnosis, and treatment regarding all medical conditions.