Is Yoga And Pilates Actually Good For Golf? Part 2

Is Yoga And Pilates Actually Good For Golf? Part 2

This is going to be a short post. Maybe?

I have looked around and asked a few questions, it appears that the slow movements of Yoga or Pilates will have no problem strengthening the muscles to deal with the movement in a Golf swing or its explosive nature.

No doubt some would disagree, but as I have said the overall general consensus is that it will do more good than harm.

This is because the body will become strong and flexible enough to cope. The exercises have been developed to improve the bodies ability at various functions but mainly its overall health.

These are my findings, some may agree and some may not. One thing is sure though, if you have no Golf fitness then you are more susceptible to injury and will not play your best game.

The solution therefore is to improve your Golf fitness.

Cardiovascular exercise for Golf

Cardiovascular exercise for Golf

Make no bones about it Golf is a physical sport! There is a lot of walking involved and most of it is on uneven ground, up and down hill. There is also the explosive movement of the muscles during the Golf swing. How many times have you completed a round and known that you have worked?

All this movement puts stress on the whole of the body and the heart and lungs as well. If they do not work well then they will not feed enough Oxygen to the muscles and the muscles will not work properly either. This can lead to a decrease in performance on the round that you are playing. Not to mention other health risks that could happen as a result of the heart and lungs working too hard.

By having a set of lungs and a heart that work better than your opponents then you will consistently play better and more controlled shots then they do. You will also enjoy more energy and better health.

There are really no Golf specific exercises for the heart and lungs (cardiovascular system) But there are exercises that can be done to improve their performance and as a result your game and overall health.

Some could argue that a game of Golf is walking and therefore not a lot of stress is placed on the heart and lungs as say running would place. Whilst this is true, it must be remembered that for all the time that you are playing a round of Golf you are using muscles all the time and with more vigour than you would normally do. This requires fuel and Oxygen.

In order to get the best out of your game you need to be able to get Oxygen to your muscles efficiently and this means having a cardiovascular system that can cope. This means exercising it.

All Golf fitness plans should include cardiovascular exercises to get you fit for Golf. Unlike stretching and resistance exercises here we are concentrating our Golf fitness plan and Golf exercises on our basis to get Oxygen to our muscles.

The more common type of cardiovascular exercises that will improve your Golf fitness are:

1. Jogging. As a lighter, more gentle form of running. Running is good, but at the start is a lot to put the body through. Start slowly with a pace just above walking and build up over time with a faster pace. Time does not mean over one jogging session. Increase the pace to shorten the time once you have established a comfortable jogging speed. The idea is to always be putting small amounts of stress on the heart and lungs to make them work harder than you normally would. This can be done as said already by increasing the pace over the same distance or increasing the distance. I, personally like to increase the distance. Jogging on grass or other natural surfaces has also been argued to be better on the skeleton as it does not suffer the same through impact shock of the foot striking the floor.
2. Walking. A lower impact version of Jogging. This should be done as with jogging, in that you start slow and build up the pace or the distance. All walking of this nature should really be done faster than you would ordinarily walk at.
3. Swimming. Although supported by the water tends to be a good exercise in that we can not breath underwater so the breathing has to be controlled yet allow us to deliver enough Oxygen to perform the activity well. Also the water acts as a resistance to our muscles thereby increasing their need for Oxygen to work better.
4. Cycling. Very good form of cardiovascular exercise in that it does not put as much shock through the skeleton as running does.

To obtain the best results it is advisable to have a mixture of these exercises in your Golf fitness plan. Work out a proper and realistic Golf fitness plan with a professional instructor, and consult your doctor so the Golf fitness instructor is aware of any health issues that may prevent different exercises from being performed.

By including a cardiovascular exercise plan and exercises to strengthen your core muscles and increase your flexibility you will have the best Golf exercises for you. This will result in an improvement in your game, your overall health and your energy levels will increase as well.

Cardiovascular exercise for Golf

Golf Fitness Help: Readers Notice

 Golf Fitness Help:  Readers Notice

I have noticed that Golf Fitness help is looking a bit, well, messy!  This is due to me the author, publishing what I write about when I find it.
Unfortunately this can make it hard for the person searching for the information to find it.  What I have done is to create pages within the blog about a major topic, say Yoga for Golf, or nutrition for Golf.
These pages will not only detail what the subject is and help the reader understand more about it, they will also link back to articles and posts on the main blog page.
What this means is that if the reader is looking for specific information about Golf core strengthening exercises, they can go to the relevant page.  There they can learn an overview (in detail) about core strengthening exercises then use the links on that page to find specific blog posts about their query.

Golf Fitness Help:  Readers Notice

Golf Fitness Challenge Review – A Bare Knuckle, Fists Flying Review

Golf Fitness Challenge Review – A Bare Knuckle, Fists Flying Review

Golfers of all levels are waking up to the need to be fit to play Golf consistently at an increased level. This is probably why so many Golf fitness products are appearing all over the place, including the Internet.

You are probably no different in that you to, want to get fit and play better Golf. This poses the question of just who do you listen to?

To answer that question there are three things to take into account first. These are:

1. Is the fitness plan actually achievable? That is not as far fetched as it might sound. Some programs are complicated or need more time than you have to give to complete. If this is the case then you will very unlikely see any benefit from it and worse, you may even give up.
2. You also need to know that the course is written by someone with great authority on the subject! The more experience they have had the better, as they can draw on this knowledge to help you. In short a highly recognised and sort after Golf fitness instructor is best, as they will deliver better benefits to you.
3. Thirdly and I suppose most of us think this is the most important one of all: Will I see the results I want and have my game and fitness improve? Will these results be measurable?

If you have ever learnt anything about 'how to be successful' from books, recordings, or videos then you will know that for whatever it is you want to be good at there are some basic things that are always the same. These are: Have a goal, Have plan to achieve your goal, and set a deadline by which to achieve your goal.

All the reasons above are why I really do know that Golf Fitness Challenge is as good as it gets. It is the work of not one but two experts in their fields. The first is a sought after Golf fitness instructor, Susan Hill (published author in Resort Living, Golf Illustrated and others, and has worked with Golfing associations and Golf professionals around the world). Craig Ballantyne is the author of Turbulence Training, a Men’s Health magazine training expert, and a member of the Training Advisory Board for Oxygen magazine.

By working together and applying the basic principles of success they have devised Golf Fitness Challenge. A 6 week Golf fitness plan that in very specific detail will lead you to a fitter, stronger body and the game you have always wanted.

They have actually 'road tested' Golf Fitness Challenge with a study on 20 Golfers. It was done with both ladies and gentlemen over 6 weeks ages from 18 to 65 and handicaps from +3 to 31.

What do you think happened?

By being given a deadline and specific things to do,all these Golfers made some fantastic discoveries and a good deal of improvement in both game and fitness. All in time for the main Golf season!

This is what some of them had to say:

I really got a lot more flexible. My shoulder turn improved about 30-40% at least. My hip rotation really improved also. I learned that my glutes, hip flexors, and hamstrings had a whole lot more to do with golf than I had ever imagined.

I had never viewed stretching as a way to make my body feel better and or feel more alive. I had always viewed stretching as something to warm up with. The wholeness of stretching improved my wellness feeling immensely. I just feel better now - bottom line.

Michael, Handicap 9.2, Age 62

I found my core strength improved. This was evident in my increased ability to stay stable in my lower body during the backswing and the initial transition move. I have been striking the ball more crisply.

I have experienced greater flexibility in my hip pelvis region. I am hitting the ball higher than I have in quite some time.

Thank you for including me in your program.

Stephen, Handicap 21, Age 59

If you, as a Golfer are looking to finally and absolutely attain measurable results in your Golf game, then take my advice and put yourself in the hands of Susan and Craig with Golf Fitness Challenge.

Golf Fitness Challenge Review – A Bare Knuckle, Fists Flying Review

Is Yoga And Pilates Actually Good For Golf? Part 1

I put part 1 as I have been doing as I have been doing a little looking into it.  Appears that the Golf swing, as we know, is an explosive movement.  The exercise movements in Yoga and Pilates may not encourage this explosive movement as they condition the body with slow movements.

That is what I am going to try and get to the bottom of and find out.  Does the slow movement of Yoga and Pilates help the fast explosive movement of the Golf swing.

See you in a couple of days with an update.

"Pilates Will It Really Help My Golf?"

"Pilates, Will It Really Help My Golf?"

Everywhere I go, I hear Pilates, Pilates!  Not being familiar with it I looked into it.  Here is what I found.

Pilates was named after the person that came up with the concept a Joesph Pilates in the early 20th Century.

It is a system of developing strength particularly in the 'core muscles' and in developing mental concentration as well.

Since its original conception the discipline has branched into two main areas: Classical and contemporary.  It is not the design of this post to go over all the differences of the two, but they do still both conform to the
six principles which are: concentration, control, center, flow, precision and breathing.

In short, yes I believe it would assist in Golf fitness as it would in any fitness plan.  Although not discussed here but in a similar post I do not see it being any more beneficial than Yoga.  In fact there are system out there that actually combine the two similar and parallel systems.

The whole principle of Pilates and how it is a good fitness program has been demonstrated by its popularity today.  For more advice on Pilates please go here

"Pilates, Will It Really Help My Golf?"

Yoga Vs Pilates

Yoga Vs Pilates

I have been asked a lot of questions about 'Pilates' and is it good for Golf fitness.  IN truth I did not know so I went and looked into it.  Below is what I found out:

Yoga is an ancient form of keeping the body, mind and spirit healthy.  In its purist form it works on all three of these areas.  Pilates works on body and mind.  It leaves the spirit out.

Yoga works all muscles and joints, Pilates concentrates on primarily developing your 'core muscles'.


Yoga puts flexibility before strength, Pilates puts strength before flexibility.  Although both at this point may seem very different, they actually are still very similar as both say you need to be strong to be flexible and flexible to be strong.  This is simply where the exercise systems place their emphasis.

In my opinion the choice between which to use is purely a personal one.  As for me, well I prefer to exercise the whole of my body equally and not concentrate on one specific area.  Therefore I would choose Yoga.  Other would however have a preference for Pilates, for their own reasons.

So that you may get a better understanding of Yoga Vs Pilates please review this site.