Golf Fitness: how to warm up properly

Although weekend warriors share the same enthusiasm for the sport, most of them have no clue when it comes to getting a proper warm-up before they tee off. The Aspire Club give you their pro tips to avoid injury, strengthen the most important muscle groups and get the most out of your five iron.

Golf Fitness is a relatively new discipline and it's only recently that golf pros and amateurs alike have started to understand its benefits. The practice of golf involves specific muscles and therefore specific exercises should be used to strengthen them. The obliques, the hamstrings and the lower back should receive special attention.

This exercise is chiefly meant to give your quadriceps a run for their money. Start with your feet joined, hold your palms together with your arms straigh, then lunge forward and keep your back straight. The first few minutes will feel awkward because you'll probably lack stability but once you get the gist of it, it feels like a second nature.

Don't lean too heavily on your knee though, as putting unncessary strain on it is something you really want to avoid. So go low but not low enough for your leg to form a jack knife.

The secondary benefit of this movement is that your stabilizer leg will work too: the hamstrings exercises as well. A great way to help your swing reach new heights! Contrarily to what laymen believe, a powerful swing lies in having powerful hamstrings since most of the kinesis originates from the this muscle chain.

Perform 15 to 20 lunges per leg 3 times.

The bosu ball is a smart little piece of equipment because you can combine different exercises and still get all the flexibility benefits. In this case, take a 10-15lbs medicine ball, kneel on the Bosu with your back straight and your core tightened.

Throw the ball to you training partner (your caddy for instance...) with as much power as you can while still managing to avoid momentum. The exercice involves the quadriceps, the core and to a lesser extent, the triceps. The tricky part is receiving the ball without losing your balance. This is when stabilizer muscles are involved and this is when the core take the most punishment.

Very good for power and raw explosiveness, this exercice is a must for golf fitness.

Do 10-12 reps, 3 times

Swinging being a rotational movement, having strong obliques is vital. This exercise can be done with a club like a five iron if you need to start off gently. A medicine ball can be heavy for some people so you can use a club instead. In any case, the movement remains the same.

Keep your feet apart (shoulder width) hold the club/ball in front of you with your arms straight and then rotate from left to right. Start slow first so you get a feel of the movement. Once you get more comfortable with it you can add some explosiveness by truly swinging the ball from side to side.

This is a great exercise to to buff up your core, improve your stability and ultimately improve your swing.

Do 15 reps for each side twice.

This routine can be performed in less than 20 minutes and is a great primer before an 18 holes. Try to be consistent with it and do it 3 times per week. You'll be pleasantly surprised by how fast your game will improve.

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