Fitness

It is very important to warm up the body before exercising.

This aids the performer in preparing physiologically and psychologically for exercise, reducing the chance of joint and muscle injury.

Warm up exercises prepare the body for exercising by increasing the blood flow to the muscles allowing them to loosen up, which can raise the flow of oxygen to the muscle cells. Doing this gradually increases the body’s temperature.

This then increases the speed and force of muscular contractions, because nerve impulses travel faster at higher body temperatures, and muscles become less stiff or more pliable.

They also help to gradually increase the heart rate and ensure that the demand made on the circulatory and metabolic systems is gradual as well. In a safe and gradual way they allow blood to be diverted away from other parts of the body such as the digestive system to the muscles being exercised.

This initial part of your exercise session helps to improve neural function and coordination, protect major joints as it takes time to increase the supply of lubricating synovial fluid and to thicken the articular cartilages – the body’s shock absorbers. The warm up’s intensity should cause perspiration but not cause fatigue.

The type of warm up needs to be appropriate for the activity planned. It also needs to be appropriate to the age range and fitness level of the participants, usually lasting for 5-10 minutes in duration. So in warming up thoroughly, we are preparing the body and the mind for the more energetic demands to come.
The cooling down period of an exercise session is just as important as the warm up. The aim is to decrease the intensity of the aerobic session and to return the body to a state of rest. The cooling down has the effect of:

• preventing blood pooling, returning the blood back to the heart rather than allowing it to pool in the muscles that have been worked
• bringing the heart rate back down, gradually
• preventing fainting by ensuring that the brain continues to receive a sufficient supply of blood and oxygen
• reducing the blood lactic acid levels

Once you have completed the main component of your session you can then focus on the cooling down phase. Stretching the muscle groups you used in your workout will return them to their normal length, reduce the delayed onset of muscular soreness, aid recovery and assist your body in its repair process.

That’s especially important when you are playing a tournament with several 18 Holes rounds over consecutive days Don’t forget to include some deep breathing as this will help to oxygenate your system.

Balance, body awareness, stability, neuromuscular coordination, power, and endurance.

When a golfer is below average in any one of these skill sets, the resultant functional weakness becomes apparent in the golf swing. As a golfer, you need to work your body through multiple planes of movement while concentrating on creating the proper sequencing of muscle activation (using the correct muscles in the correct order during each exercise).

We are not saying that muscle strength does not matter, but if the individual muscles cannot communicate and work with each other, then that strength will be useless in your golf swing. For this reason, it is crucial to formulate your fitness routine with exercises that not only improve individual muscle strength but also improve the way muscles work together. This is what we mean by creating functional strength and not just raw strength.

To be truly golf strong, you need to have strength through the entire range of motion involved during your golf swing. A weakness at any joint through any section of the motion will create a breakdown in your golf swing.

The ability to stabilise is exactly what is needed in golf and therefore must be heavily incorporated into your exercise routine.You will then see that the strength you gain in your fitness training begins to have a much greater carryover to the golf course. For golf strength it is necessary to adapt an exercise program that expand on movements as also stability, mobility and balance.

There is also another key reason that strength is important: injury prevention. Injuries are prevalent throughout the sport and in fact are almost inevitable. You should increase your golf strength so you can prevent injuries as much as possible.

You may be wondering how strength and injuries relate. First of all, there are mainly two types of injuries that occur in golf: joint injuries and soft tissue (muscles, tendons, and ligaments) injuries. Although there are no heavy loads to carry or move in golf there are very high forces develop because of the speed of the swing. The muscles and joints not only help to create these forces but also must be able to generate opposite forces to slow down and ultimately stop the swing.

As muscle strength—both individual and functional—increases, so does your ability to withstand the forces within the golf swing. If you do not possess adequate strength in the muscles to create and slow down these forces, then injury is sure to occur.

Your soft tissues are your first layer of protection, but when the strength in these soft tissues cannot control the speed and rotation of the swing, the joints will begin to absorb the energy.

Although the joints are capable of withstanding some force, they cannot be asked to be the major contributor to acceleration and deceleration. This scenario will surely cause injury and make it impossible to create an efficient swing. Therefore, building up your strength not only helps with your golf swing but also helps ensure you can take as many golf swings as you like.