Developing and sticking to a golf workout program is key to maintaining proper physical fitness. At the GPC, golf fitness is key and plays an important role in our holistic approach to golf training as one of our 5 Elements of Success.
For men looking for the best golf workouts and golf strength training, it’s important to understand the benefits of maintaining golf fitness and pinpointing the areas of the body that need to be strengthened and conditioned for peak performance.
We’re breaking down the best golf strength exercises, plus the areas of the body you not only need to strengthen but also stretch and develop mobility. These are all areas that play an important role during the game of golf that any golf workout should aim to hit:
- Core
- Back
- Legs
- Chest
- Arms
All of the trainers at GPC know the best golfer workouts to hit these areas of the body. To make the most out of a golf workout, partner with a trainer so you know you’re doing each move correctly and develop the right golf workout program for you.
Benefits of Golf Workouts
Workouts for golf have several important benefits that allow you to play at your best and keep you from injuring yourself. If you’re looking for extra power in your swing, stamina for multiple rounds and the ability to walk the course at ease, you need to strengthen and condition key parts of your body. Improving your total body strength with golfer workouts will help increase your overall power as you play.
Another important reason to do workouts for golf is improving your range of motion, which is essential in golf. Being able to move your arms, shoulders, hips and back to their fullest extent will absolutely help you with things like your golf swing and more.
Finally, maintaining your fitness will keep you from injuring yourself. There’s nothing worse than getting injured early on in a game or early on in the golf season and having to sit out and let your body rest or do physical therapy before you can compete again. Maintaining a golf workout program is critical to keep your body in peak performance and ready to perform at your best all season long.
5 Focus Areas for a Men’s Golf Workout
In golf fitness, it’s not enough just to work out your arms or your legs to prepare for golf. You might be surprised at all of the different areas of your body that work together to complete key moves on the golf course, so it’s important to strengthen your entire body. We’ve identified the most important areas of your body to address with golf strength training.
Golf Core Workout
At first you may wonder what your core has to go with golf fitness, but core strength is essential to proper stability. Your core is so much larger than your abs – it’s essentially your entire torso from your shoulders to your hips.
It’s the center for many important movements, and strengthening every part of your core from your abs to your obliques and even lower back can pay dividends in your drive and body rotation.
Just like the best golf strength exercises target all the different parts of your body, the best golf core workout will target all the different parts of your core. Therefore, in addition to typical ab exercises like crunches, plank and mountain climbers, it’s important to add things like side planks and rotating mountain climbers to hit your obliques. Exercises should even aim to specifically hit your upper and lower abs.
Working with a trainer is key to better understanding the different muscle groups of your core and help you create a golf core workout that targets each area and helps you do so safely so you don’t overwork yourself or injure your body.
Golf Back Workout
Technically, your back is part of your core, so it’s important to strengthen your back muscles. From your lower back where you’ll swivel your hips in a golf swing to your upper back where your shoulder blades help play a role in your drive, having a strong back gives you power.
Some of the body weight exercises you can do for your back include supermans and swimmers. But doing these incorrectly can lead to injury, so it’s best practice to have a trainer by your side to ensure you do them correctly. They can also offer some weighted exercises to help your upper back and shoulder blade areas in particular.
Golf Leg Workout
You never want to skip leg day, and that includes golf workouts. Strong legs give you power in your swing and help your stamina as you play all day on the course. The trick is making sure you work out all key parts of your leg, including calves, quads, hamstrings and your glutes. Hamstring flexibility and strength is particularly important in golf.
There are several body weight exercises you can do for legs, like squats, but you’re going to see the best results by using weights once you have the form down. If you want to do really heavy lifting, having a trainer by your side to spot you and ensure you have proper form, particularly with deadlifts and weighted squats, will keep you from injuring yourself.
Golf Chest Workout
Having a strong chest is key to developing a better golf swing. One of the best ways to do this is through various pushing and pulling exercises. Not only will these develop chest strength, but they will improve your posture and stability.
For a body weight workout, pushups are reliable for chest strength. If you want to add weights, try bench presses and chest flies. A trainer can really help you narrow in on the exact areas you want to strengthen.
Golf Arms Workout
Finally, proper arm strength will help your power, form and stability on the golf course. This includes your biceps, triceps and shoulders. There are many different exercises targeting each of these muscle groups that you can do with hand weights, dumbbells or cable machines at the gym.
Your trainer can help you put together a golf workout program that offers the right mix of exercises for arms, from bicep curls to tricep extensions and shoulder raises. They can also ensure you’re doing the right amount of reps to see results without overexerting your muscles.
The trainers and coaches at GPC are experts in golf fitness and are ready to help you put together a program of workouts for golf that will help you get the results you’re looking for and give you improvements on the golf course.
