I'm a fairly keen gym goer and I've just about finished my weights program. I'm thinking about doing something very golf specific for my next program. I thought that lateral raises with dumbells would be good for my shoulders and some work on my obliques and wrist strength, but I wasn't too sure what else to include.
Has anyone else done anything like this?
What exercises would you recommend?
Anything that will strengthen your body as a whole is good. Its best to lift with a weight you can get 10-12 reps out of for 3-4 sets. This way you will keep and build strength but you wont build a lot of bulk which could hender your swing.
Thanks, I usually do 8-12 reps for 4 sets (the first a warmup set), but I was more wondering whether there were specific muscle groups worth targeting?
Don't forget your legs, Duff, the foundation of the swing. Squats with bar or dumbells is a good exercise for legs and back, actually. But just the thought of all those sets you do wears me out! How long does your routine take with a 2-minute rest between sets? And don't forget to work opposing muscle groups to prevent injury.
Takes about an hour. The first set is quick, with a low weight just to warm up, I go straight to my second set. But I'm thinking maybe just dropping to 3 sets total.
Sometimes in weight training less is more. For instance, I found that I made better gains in strength by cutting back the frequency of workouts from three days a week to two. Research has shown that gains from additional sets are actually minimal. Try just your warm-up set and then a serious set to complete fatigue at 8 to 12 reps for a while and see what results you have. It's probably a good idea to change up your routine from time to time anyway. Give it a couple of weeks and see if you notice any difference in progress: increased reps or increased strength. Make sure that you raise weight by only 2 1/2 lbs or less at a time to avoid injury.
Thanks, I will try the reduced reps. I have 1lb plates for my dumbells, so I only go up by that much at a time (even this is a reasonable jump when you are just lifting light weights like me - I do lift to fatigue though).
Any suggestions for exercises in addition to the squats?
I used to work out a lot, like for 2 hours a day 5 days a week and I really got pretty big, but that was when I had time to pay attention to my diet and eat like a weight lifter should...now that I'm concentrating on golf I get good lifts out of 30 minutes a day 3 days a week.
make SURE you do a lot of exercises for your TORSO. Your abs, lower back, and all those funky muscles around your midsection are very important for stability in your golf swing.
My suggestion is to do some research with a chiropractor, or a good personal trainer/therapist for torso strengthening exercises. Trust me on this one - I've had huge back problems in the past, and they're all gone, mostly due to these workouts and focus on my torso.
I agree with SamT. I've been having some muscle trouble in my back because of golf, so I am going to start working on strengthening my muscles in that area. You could even think about doing a lot of situps, because they strengthen back and ab muscles.
That leads me to an even deeper question: When Tiger first started taking golf seriously, i.e. in high school, I wonder if he had a heck of a lot of natural distance, or if he had to work out to build up his muscles in order to hit his 300+ yard drives.
He was already hitting his drives just a little shorter, and yes, he does work out. Quite a bit in fact. But nobody is exactly sure what he does. (Except his trainer, his caddie, etc. But we all know they won't tell!)
I'm not bothered about hitting a 300 yard drive, although 250 is a goal. (I'm at 200 at present). I'm sure it's probably possible to get those sorts of distances through coil rather than force (I've seen some small women hit the ball very far).
I workout anyway, so I just wanted to do something a little different from usual, and the main reason is to protect myself from injury.
Thanks for the all the suggestions, guys, lots of ideas for me to work on.