Golf Training Work Out

Improve your golf game with proper exercise. Workouts designed for golf should promote overall health and fitness, with an emphasis on the body parts used while golfing and the body areas most commonly injured while golfing. Golf is a unilateral sport, meaning the left and right sides of your body are stressed unequally. Golf training workouts should develop both sides evenly to create symmetry and prevent muscle imbalances that lead to injuries.

Gyrotonic

Fitness trainer and certified Gyrotonic instructor Jennifer Holmsen of Las Vegas, Nevada, uses Gyrotonic movements to teach golfers circular and rotating movements, improving their game and preventing injuries. Gyrotonic exercise complements the golf swing by increasing strength and flexibility in the pelvis, spine, rib cage, abdominals, hamstrings, lower legs, shoulders, wrists and forearms.The expansive motions move the body away from the skeleton, opening the joints, providing greater mobility to the tendons and ligaments, reducing muscular limitations and re-establishing proper movement patterns.

Kettlebells

Training with kettlebells enhances an athlete's strength, speed and flexibility. Kettlebell workouts use combination movements to strengthen and stabilize the entire body and increase range of motion in all three planes. Las Vegas-based kettlebell instructor Vanessa Bader says, "Kettlebells make use of whole-body movements and most of these movements utilize centrifugal force, which imitates the motion of swinging a golf club." Kettlebell exercises develop strength and endurance in the core muscles and the posterior chain of the body, as well as wrist and forearm strength, which is important in golf.

Cardio

Cardiovascular training for golfers is needed to develop endurance in the muscles and to build a strong heart and lungs. Physical biomechanics expert Paul Chek of San Diego says, "A full golf swing places such a load on the body that it is equivalent to a four-repetition-maximum lift in the gym. This means lifting a weight that you can only lift four times before you fatigue and cannot continue." This stresses the importance of cardio exercise to reduce fatigue in later golf rounds.

Yoga

Yoga relaxes muscle tension, increases joint range of motion, strengthens the core muscles and promotes relaxation. Yoga helps golfers control their breathing, control their body motions and improve mental focus. According to yoga instructor and Golf Magazine fitness panel member Katherine Roberts, "Yoga exercises address flexibility in the hands and wrists as well as the muscles of the spine. Practice yoga in order to increase range of motion in the torso and to reduce the risk of injury in the golf swing."

Weight Training

Lifting weights increases strength, power and endurance and helps prevent injuries. According to the website of professional golfer Greg Norman, "Progressive strength training enhances your muscles' contraction capacity, thereby increasing your movement force and improving your musculo-skeletal function. As you achieve higher levels of fitness, you will develop more force without forcing the action, which is essential for long and consistent drives." The strength gained through a consistent, well-planned weight-training routine can improve your golf game.