You are going to need to improve flexibility at the same time that you work to improve strength in order to have the best overall physical condition possible in order to play. This means that you want to work to build lean muscle, rather than bulky muscles. The primary differences is the amount of flexibility that the muscles provide. Bulky muscles tend to be stronger, yet at the same time they are not as flexible which will greatly restrict your ability to twist appropriately while you are swinging the ball. However, building lean muscle is not impossible, but will take a conscious effort.

The majority of people who are working to build muscle strength tend to build muscle mass automatically. This is typically because they are lifting large amounts of weights. Rather to build lean muscles you need to work to build repetitions of lower weight weights. This will allow you to improve your muscle strength, while allowing you to work towards building the lean and slender muscles that are better for your overall golf game. Resist the urge to lift weights that are heavier than 10 pounds because this will result in bulky muscles rather than lean muscles.

You should also work to keep your body as flexible as possible. This means you need to ensure that you are stretching both before and after playing golf to ensure that you are taking proper care of your body. If you do not stretch then you may find yourself very sore after a game and regretting playing. Just stretching for as little as 5 minutes before and after a round of golf will ensure that you are able to continuously play without any problems and without feeling as if you are spending more time stretching than playing golf.

As you are playing golf, it is very important to remember that you are often out in the very hot sun. For this reason, you need to always ensure that you take some water with you to ensure that you stay well hydrated during the game. If you become overheated or dehydrated, it will start to hinder your game as well as cause you problem in having the necessary endurance to play. Always drink plenty of water to ensure that you are able to continue playing. This is important no matter what type of exercise you are doing to ensure that you are as healthy as possible.

Your last major tip should be ensuring that you walk as much as possible. Golf may be a rather slow moving sport, but it does typically involve great amounts of walking. You need to be able to walk great distances without losing your breath, or experiencing back or leg pain. These problems can really reduce the amount of time that you can play and could potentially cause you to have to quit playing a game in the middle of a course. This is never something that is enjoyable so ensuring that you get plenty of walking exercise is essential. If you have problems with finding somewhere to walk then consider looking into a treadmill that will allow you to still get plenty of walking exercise even off the green.

A bit of careful planning and a tiny bit of carefully planned and executed exercise can go a very long way towards helping you improve your golf game dramatically. If you want to play golf as more than just messing around on a green, you will need to improve your physical fitness levels and you will be rather amazed at the benefits that it provides to your health as well as your overall golf swing.

Even when it is rather obvious that leading names in the game like the legendary Tiger Woods heavily rely on staying in good shape for the game by having personal trainers and by being involved in golf specific exercises.

By far the main reason why most still fear and avoid exercise for golfers is the belief that they will develop muscles. Actually lifting weights are a very effective way of toning the golf-specific muscles for the game, by strengthening them. Strength training using weights will never increase the size of your muscles.

Nobody would loathe building big muscles more than most lady golfers. Yet many of them have dramatically improved their games by increasing their strength through golf-specific weight training.

Actually you need to be in the gym several hours a day lifting very heavy weights to develop a weight-lifters&’ muscles. The weight-lifting exercise regime for golf involves lifting lighter weights many more times over a very short period of time compared to a weightlifter looking for muscles with heavier weights lifted fewer times at a time but for longer hours daily.

The fact that many lady golfers have been able to dramatically improve their game by getting involved in exercises for a golfers, but have not build heavy stiff muscles, should be encouragement enough for many amateurs to seriously consider exercise for a golfer programs.

Apart from weights, most of the exercises for a golfer involve stretch exercises designed to improve a golf swing. Some of these stretch exercises for a golfer can easily be done form the comfort of an office or home when you have a moment to spare.

Not every golfer has the same deficiency; and treating golfers this way is like &’one-stop&’ shopping. This will result in failure. No improvement for the golfer. This is a complete waste of time, money and physical effort.

The first step is for the golfer to partake in a golf fitness evaluation to determine the correct functional exercise for golf program.

This evaluation should cover strength, flexibility, stabilization and endurance. These are all key factors in performing at your best. These individual tests cannot be general fitness tests, but tests devised specifically for the golfer in mind.

Functional exercise for golf is dynamic, sequential and incorporates core strength and stabilization. Any functional exercise for golf that does not address this is not for golfers.

First off the golf posture is not common among many sports or athletic movements. Being &’bent-over&’ at the waist with your weight more at the balls of your feet incorporate balance and stabilization immediately.

And remember&’this is only at address!

To maintain your posture dynamically throughout the golf swing takes a &’unique&’ blend of all components mentioned above. That is why it is so important to incorporate functional exercise for golf in your routine.

Once you&’ve taken the above mentioned evaluation, you&’ll have a good idea of what your weaknesses (limitations) are and start designing a function exercise for golf program that will hit those areas.

This functional exercise for golf program should be done a minimum of twice, but preferably 3 times a weak to get results. Being consistent with your program will leave you a happy golfer on the course.

No one ever said it would be easy, but by incorporating a functional exercise for golf program will be well worth it.

The other reason why golf swing exercise is so important is in the fact that a golf swing by its&’ very nature is a very unnatural and awkward movement of the body and muscles. It therefore stands to reason that the body will usually resist the golf swing action and this is why it appears to be so difficult to master.

However when you use golf swing exercises to strengthen and condition the relevant muscles, the golf swing becomes less awkward to the body.

Let us now take a closer look at the movements involved in a golf swing so that we come up with the most effective golf swing exercise that will impact most dramatically on the quality of your game.

The golf swing is actually a turn back and turn through. Most of the movement is pure rotation. This means doing golf swing exercises like a seated twist holding a dumbbell straight out in front of you is a very effective exercise in strengthening and conditioning the muscles used in the golf swing.

Be careful not to use very heavy weights in this golf swing exercise. 3-5 pound dumb bells are ideal.

Remember that a golf club is not heavy; in fact it weights less than a pound.

Repeat this golf swing exercise as many times as you can within a 30-minute session without straining yourself. Do remember to warm up before you begin the session and also to warm down when you are through.

Warming up ensures that you do not start with your muscles cold. Stretches involving the muscles that you are going to use can also be extremely useful before you go into this golf swing exercise.

If you&’ve read any of my articles you&’ll know where I&’m coming from.

&’Your body dictates your golf swing!&’

&’A broken body will never achieve optimal golf performance&’.

&’You are only as good as your &’physical limitations&’ will allow you.&’

You heard it hear first. My quotes above are &’my quotes&’ that I have used for over 10 years with golfers of all ages, abilities and sexes.

I have seen it thousands of times throughout the past 10 years. Golfers getting so frustrated they want to quit the game.

They&’ve taken lessons. They&’ve practiced til their hands bled. And they own the latest/greatest equipment.

And&’

They are NOT playing any better!

Why?

Because their body is keeping them from what they think they can do. There is a gap between the mind and the body.

You can will a great game in your mind as much as you want, but if your body isn&’t capable&’it will NEVER happen!

Those are the cold hard facts.

The sooner you realize your body is the &’magic bullet&’, the sooner you can start your exercise training for golf and see real results.

These results will be long-lasting too!

No band-aid swing fixes that don&’t even last for 18 holes.

Your exercise training for golf program should focus on your personal, physical limitations to save time and money. Eliminate your limitations and watch your golf game soar!

I&’m here to MOTIVATE you&’not sugar-coat it!

It&’s time to regain those lost yards off the tee, and get back to shooting scores you did years ago!

Get started right now on your program of exercise for golf.

In fact the wrong golf exercise program can end up making a golfer&’s game deteriorate rather than improve.

It is therefore very useful to know what constitutes a complete golf exercise program

A complete golf exercise program will tend to have the following attributes;

A) Golf specific stretch exercises Stretch exercises are a very important part of any genuine golf workout program. Stretches help improve the golf swing and correct many common mistakes and weaknesses in this area. They sometime help alleviate or even eliminate nagging back problems in some golfers. Many stretch exercises can be done in the comfort of the office or home.

B) Golf specific strength training Strength training is also a key area in any good golf workout program. Strength training usually has a dramatic effect on the quality of the game of any golfer. Dumbbells are usually used and the program for building strength for golf is usually very different from a body building program because the idea here is not to build muscles.

C) Should be able to focus on certain common player weaknesses A good golf exercise program should also be able to focus on certain common weaknesses amongst most amateur golfers with the aim of helping to improve and deal with those weaknesses. This at times may involve the use of certain golf aid equipment. However it should be very clear what particular aspects of the game are being developed by what golfing aids.

A complete golf exercise program should help any golfer improve their game dramatically and feel much more confident every time they set foot on the course.

Still many golfers are yet to fully appreciate the potential of a golf fitness exercise program and many are not aware of the fact that they usually have a huge impact on a golfer&’s game.

A golf fitness exercise program will tend to concentrate on the muscles and parts of the body used when playing golf and especially during the golf swing. A useful golf fitness exercise program will be able to help any golf attain more flexibility as well as strength on the course. It is important to remember that most of the body is used for a golf swing.

Right from the feet to the knees, hamstring and hip, the lower part of the body is critical to the golf swing. Then there are the more obvious participants in the body like the arms and upper body and neck.

A golf fitness exercise program does a significant job of ensuring that most of these muscles are ready for the strain that golf usually exerts on them.

Usually a golf fitness exercise program combines dynamic strength and flexibility exercises, as well as stabilization and core strength. Most of these exercises can be done with simple handweights (dumbbells) and exercise tubing.

No gym required!

Too many golfers go to the gym, plop down on a machine and hope their game will get better. It usually doesn&’t. You&’ve always got to keep the golf swing mechanics in mind when doing a golf fitness exercise program.

When we talk about core exercise for golf the key term that needs to be thrown in there is rotational. You see&’the golf swing is a turn (or rotate) back and a turn (or rotate) through. So any core exercise for golf you do should incorporate rotational strength and flexibility.

One of the most difficult things for golfers to do is take a step back from their game and examine what they can do to improve performance. Strength training is a perfect example. What almost all golfers overlook is developing the strength and awareness fo the region of their body that can lead them to their best level no matter what the age or ability.

That area is the CORE!

This area starts roughly at your belly button and goes up to the bottom of your sternum. It is the engine of your body and awareness of your core affects golf the most. Think of it as the link in the chain that needs to be the strongest, not the weakest.

Greg Norman use to say when he wanted to hit it long he would get his belly button or belt buckle turning faster; which in other words is his or your core.

Two simple core exercises for golf that will quickly strengthen your core is ab crunches and back extensions. These would be your initial exercises since I mentioned early on in this article you need to work from a rotational standpoint to strengthen your core specific to golf.

Once you&’ve accomplished the above exercises, you can move on to a crunch with a twist and a back extension with a twist. This will hit your rotational strength right away.

You can then progress up to standing on your feet doing several different variations of rotational movements with a single dumbbell, standing upright and also in your golf posture.

When you approach your golf improvement program with a core exercise for golf, you will see your driving distance sky rocket past your playing partners!

To explain why doing back exercise for golf is important, a golfer needs to understand why.

The golf swing is one of the most (if not the most) stressful movements on the lower back. Picture this. You&’re in a static position at the start; then you try to rotate your upper body as far as you can go, while keeping the lower body as stable as you can.

This movement all by itself puts tremendous stress on the lower back. If you have a lower level of rotational flexibility, you are at HIGH RISK for low back injuries.

You many have one as we speak.

Now picture having the strength to &’uncoil&’ that backswing, maintaining your golf posture at between 80-100 mph. If you have not participated in a back exercise for golf, you will not be able to generate any power at impact, therefore your driving distance is inadequate.

Does this sound familiar?

It should. I see this all the time on the golf course. Especially with the senior golfers. They have physically declined over the years and have not done any back exercise for golf and can&’t generate and clubhead speed.

There is hope!

To remove the threat of low back injury and improve your ability to turn back and turn through with power, you just need to do a couple of simple back exercises for golf.

One example of a back exercise for golf that you should be doing several times a day is what I call the Lying Leg Crossover, which is incorporated in all my products.

Here&’s what you do:

Lie on your back with your legs extended.
Raise one leg and bend at the knee to 90 degrees and the hip to 90 degrees.
Cross that leg over extended leg, while opposite shoulder stays on ground.
Go until slight pull in butt and lower back.
Hold and repeat once more.
Switch legs and do opposite side.
This is a very simple back exercise for golf and no equipment is required.

Just do this back exercise for golf religiously and you&’ll see a HUGE improvement!

As a sport, golf is quite easy to learn, and as entertainment it manages to be quite entertaining to those who play. While watching golf may seem incredibly boring it is very different when you are actually on the green playing yourself. This can often be the missing key to actually getting up and doing some exercise. If you enjoy what you are doing, you will be thoroughly surprised at just how often you look for excuses to play. For these reasons, golf has recently emerged as a sport that provides numerous previously sedentary individuals with a good reason to get up and get started with some exercise.

For the most part golf is quite a good sport for allowing people to slowly get started with an exercise routine. Especially when you start with taking lessons first, this allows you to gradually build up your physical fitness levels until you reach a point where you are completely in shape and can move along onto mastering more advanced aspects of golf that requires greater physical ability. With golf being a great match for those regardless of physical fitness level it is something that you can start when you have been highly sedentary and still work towards a much better fitness level.

In contrast to many other sports you are required to be in a decent physical shape before you start playing, this can make it quite difficult to get into shape in order to be able to play. Golf has the benefit of making it much easier to get into shape since you can simply work into an exercise program by playing golf. This allows you to really focus your time and energy on the things and places that you want. You may be surprised to discover how little you need to play golf in order to work up the strength and adrenaline and play an entire 18 hole golf course.

Of course, in the beginning it is generally best to start playing shorter golf courses until you can improve your overall physical ability to allow you to be able to really handle the physical requirements for a full golf course. Not all courses allow golf carts, nor do they all provide golf carts. This makes it very much necessary to have the physical strength to actually walk the entire golf course before you attempt to play. You may discover that for your first few games you can only play a percentage of the holes. This may seem highly discouraging but by continuously playing, you will be able to improve your skill level as well as improve your strength t o a level that will allow you to play.

If you have any doubts about the benefits of exercise for your personal health, you should talk to your doctor. Most doctors will readily agree that exercise is necessary in order to improve your overall health. Simply living a sedentary lifestyle is not healthy and can provide you with numerous health problems. At the same time, trying to slide into a more active lifestyle will be quite helpful in allowing you to slowly improve your health and ensure that you are as physical fit as possible for the benefit of your health.