It is no secret that the days of the pot-bellied, chain-smoking professional golfer are over. Today's world-class golfers prioritize health and physical fitness, like all professional athletes. A well structured golf workout that combines strength, flexibility and cardiovascular training can improve your performance on the course and contribute to a healthy lifestyle.
Strength
Golfers are not usually large and bulky like bodybuilders or NFL linebackers, but strength training can help your golf game. According to the Canadian Chiropractic Association, resistance training can reduce your risk for injury on the golf course and also increase your swing speed. Golfers may develop back issues over the course of many years of many golf swings, but resistance training that strengthens the back and core may help prevent these injuries. If you maintain your flexibility while increasing strength in your core, legs and upper body, you can also improve your swing speed which leads to extra distance.
Flexibility
Flexibility is important in golf both in the short term and long term. Flexibility allows you to make a full turn away from the ball, which creates the torque in your swing necessary for maximum distance. Flexibility is also instrumental as the years go by and you try to play your best over a long career of professional or amateur golf. Flexibility workouts like yoga programs can improve your flexibility and overall range of motion. According to MayoClinic.com, yoga carries additional health benefits such as stress reduction and weight loss.
Cardiovascular
Although golf is not a sport of running, sprinting or bursts of intense physical activity, cardiovascular fitness is an integral part of your game. Golf legend Gary Player, who is nicknamed "Mr. Fitness," believed that he got a leg up on his competition from his early morning jogs of several miles before tournament play. Cardiovascular fitness can help you walk up steep hills on the course without losing your breath and developing physical fatigue. Cardiovascular fitness can also help you fight mental fatigue which can develop over a four- or five-hour round. Workouts to improve cardiovascular fitness include running or jogging, distance swimming, hiking or cycling.
Professional Workout
The clearest example of a golfer who has emphasized physical fitness is Tiger Woods. Woods claims that his fitness training is an integral part of his success. When he's not playing in a tournament he trains for up to 10 hours a day. His routine consists of a 3-mile speed run or a 7-mile endurance run for cardiovascular strength. Woods then utilizes weights to develop muscular strength in his upper and lower body. He emphasizes that exercises with lighter weights and 25 to 50 repetitions help him avoid bulkiness and develop muscles with the flexibility for golf. Woods also stretches for 40 minutes before his workouts to maintain flexibility.
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