Set the Bar One Below Par

As you start reading this you might be thinking, oh, no, another article about how strength training will improve my golf. Well you would only be half right. In this article we will explore how strength training will improve your golf and your life.

Strength training or resistance training involves using barbells, dumbbells, machines and body weight exercises to produce an adaptation to a load to which the body is not accustomed This is done in a fashion of progressive increase. This means as the muscles get stronger, we increase the repetitions (reps), the weight or both.

Does the golfer need specific exercises? Yes and no. A full body weight lifting routine will cover the muscles involved in a golf swing. Proper strength training trains upper body, lower body, front, back, left side, right side, and core strength. We will usually discover soon where the weak and out of balance muscles are. But what about flexibility? The workout for the golfer and non golfer should be full range of motion for all of the exercises and include stretching. Just as we will find the weak muscles, we will also find the tight muscles and tendons. This is where our working out will prevent injury. Our muscles act as shock absorbers. The stronger body can withstand more of the one sided motion that golf requires. Muscles that are used often have more capillaries. That means greater blood flow. This is why the person who works out will heal faster than his sedentary counterpart.

Another benefit for the golfer will be more control and more velocity of the swing due to the leg, hip, spine rotators and shoulder strength.

Now where does this all fit into your life? Some of the side benefits of your strength training will be:

• Greater bone density as the bones must get stronger to meet the demands you are putting on them.
• Higher blood sugar tolerance.
• Increase in your basal metabolic rate.
• A more favorable cholesterol/HDL ratio.
• Lower blood pressure in people with hypertension.

There are at least 15 more side benefits that I can present, but I hope I’ve made the point that a proper strength training program is for you. It’s never too late to start, so don’t say, I’m too old; this is not for me. But where do you start? It would be a good idea to get qualified help. The human body doesn’t come with instructions. Find an experienced, certified personal trainer. Start now to take care of the body in which you live because when you get older you will still need a place to live.