Strength Training for Golf

By Tanja Grad

As a golfer, fitness training should be an essential part of your life. Not only does physical activity improve your overall health, it improves your golf game!

The inconvenience of getting to a gym may prevent many golfers from partaking in regular strength training. Fortunately, an effective strength program can be done in the comfort and convenience of your own home. By using your own body weight, a few hand held weights (weighted milk containers or soup cans work well) and some creativity, you can create a golf-strengthening program to do at home.

Every strength workout should begin with a warm up. Depending on your fitness level, five to ten minutes of walking or climbing stairs may be adequate to increase blood flow to the muscles.

The strength workout should consist of 8-10 exercises that target the entire body. Exercises such as walking lunges, step-ups and wall sits are excellent for strengthening the lower body. For an extra challenge, do the lunges while wearing a weighted backpack or carrying weights. A strong lower body helps to keep you stable and strong during your swing! Push-ups, dumbbell bicep curls and rowing all increase upper body strength. Back extensions and abdominal crunches work to increase core strength, the foundation of your golf swing. Start with 2 sets of 10 of each exercise. You can accelerate your program by increasing the number of sets or repetitions, or increasing the difficulty of the exercise.

Each strength session should end with 10 minutes of stretching to improve flexibility. Stretching helps to keep muscles supple and limber, and promotes fluidity in your swing. Trunk rotations are an excellent stretch for the trunk and lower body. Other muscles that should be stretched include the hamstrings, muscles surrounding the hips, pectorals, and back muscles. Each stretch should be held for 20 to 30 seconds.

If you need extra help getting started on an exercise program, whether it is at home or at a gym, contact a fitness professional at your local gym. There are many personal training options at fitness facilities, such as the Golf Fitness program offered at Oceanside Physiotherapy & Work Conditioning Centre.

Exercise	Target muscles	Sets	Reps	Weight

Lunges	Quadriceps, glutes, calves	2	10	Body weight

Push ups	Pectorals, triceps, deltoids	2	10	Body weight

Abdominal crunches	Abdominals	2	10	Body weight

Step ups	Quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings	2	10	Backpack

Bicep curls	Biceps	2	10	Soup cans

Back extensions	Back, glutes, hamstrings	2	10	Body weight

Bent over rows	Lats, trapezius, deltoids, biceps	2	10	Soup cans

Abdominal crunches to the side	Abdominal obliques	2	10	Body weight

The Brent Morrison Golf Academy is located at Pheasant Glen Golf Resort, 1025 Qualicum Road, Qualicum Beach, B.C. V9K 1M5. (250) 752-8786. For more information on instruction programs for adults and juniors, contact the Academy office.

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