Now that our golf season is pretty much over (in the Northeast at least), what can I do to keep myself in golf shape? I’m glad you asked. I’ve gathered some info from a couple trainers on a few exercises to keep fit in the cold winter months. Ironically, most golfers I know are in shape…that being of the “round” sort but hey, round is a shape.

If you breakdown the mechanics of the whole golf experience, you have many different movements affecting almost the entire body – such as the swing. This involves rotating of the upper body, use of the arms and shifting balance between the legs. For the most part, the better fit and trim you are, the more fluid and easier the swing is to perform. Insert John Daley joke here.

PLEASE NOTE: Do not, I repeat do not attempt the following exercises without consulting your physician. There…it’s officially posted for any moron that said we told them to do this.

Here’s a few routines to keep us strong and flexible and work those golf muscles:

Push-ups (and these aren’t your normal gym class push-ups buddy so pay attention):

Begin in a regular push-up position. As you push your body up, rotate your upper body and bring your right hand up behind you stretching to reach the ceiling so that your hands are in a vertical line. Simultaneously, bring your right knee as close to your chest as possible. Return to the push up position. Do a push up and repeat with your left hand. Try doing 3-4 sets till failure within 2 minutes

If this is too difficult, leave out the knee part and work up to it. If you are ambitious, use dumbbells.

Lunges:

Cross your arms to form an “X” across your chest as you stand with feet shoulder length apart. Step forward as you would with a normal lunge. As you lower your body, twist your torso to the right, straighten out and then return to a full upright position. Repeat with the other leg. As you get stronger and your balance develops, hold a weight across your chest to make it more challenging.

Do as many as you can in 1 minute intervals with a 15 second break in between for 5 minutes. Or do what you can and work up to a goal.

Cardio:

When it came to this area, I was told to “get my fat ass on a tread mill for good a 35-45 minutes or so.” If you don’t own a tread mill then get to steppin’ outside. What’s that, you can’t bear the cold winter weather? Suck it up, Sally! Dress in layers. They really stressed a good cardio workout at least 3-4 times a week. Make it a goal to be able to walk/jog 2-3 miles comfortably…more jog than walk though.

If you really can’t get outside and you don’t have a treadmill, be resourceful, use the stairs in your house and do a few sets up and down those. A good 20 minute romp on the staircase goes a long way.

Good luck!

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!! Stay healthy.