Golfing is more than a fun pastime. It’s more than jokes about caddies and golf carts, too. When you golf, you get to work your core, strengthen your legs, and improve your stamina. In a word, yes, golfing can help you to stay fit. There are several different ways golf provides effective exercise.
Before engaging in any wellness activities, you need to stretch and warm up. That’s particularly true for golf, which works muscles in your abdomen, arms, back, and legs. Walking is self-explanatory, but don’t forget that each time you swing your club, you’re exercising the muscles in your abdomen, as well as your biceps and triceps. Stretching before and after each round of golf will keep you limber and help your muscles remain supple. It’s good to stretch on the days you don’t play, as well.
Golf requires a lot of walking, and you know that walking can help you to stay fit. However, walking the golf course offers more benefits than strolling around the park or your neighborhood. Playing golf also allows you to strength train.
While all that walking is healthy by itself, dealing with the hills and valleys on the golf course is even more so. Climbing a hill or getting out of the sand trap provides an excellent workout for your hamstrings, quadriceps, and the rest of your lower body. Even the act of carrying your golf bag helps strengthen your upper body. It’s helpful to choose shoes designed for both golfing and other forms of exercise to provide stability and support.
Choosing to carry your golf clubs offers more than a strength training workout. It gives you a way to strengthen your bone health, as well. Golf clubs, even in the bag, are heavy. Carrying them around is essentially a way to lift weights. More importantly, doing so can strengthen your skeleton and increase your bone strength.
It takes endurance and stamina to play golf, particularly if you walk the course rather than using a cart. There’s generally a substantial distance between each hole, and most golfers employ a brisk pace to get there. Whether you speed walk or enjoy a leisurely pace, however, you get to enjoy bouts of moderate physical exercise while moving from one hole to the next or following your ball, followed by short periods of rest. The act of building your stamina this way can significantly decrease your risk of cancer, high blood pressure, and heart attack, among other diseases and illnesses.
When you have good balance, it is easier to perform other exercises. Golfing improves your balance exponentially by working your core muscles. The sport allows you to work out your abdominal muscles, your backside, and your lower back, all of which build better balance while helping to prevent back pain and muscle strain.
Golfing can improve your health and keep you fit. It’s more enjoyable than hitting the gym for many golfers, because you can go at your own pace, all while doing something you enjoy. How has golfing improved your life?
Tess DiNapoli is an artist, freelance writer, and content strategist. She has a passion for yoga and often writes about health and wellness, but also enjoys covering the fashion industry and world of fitness.