What Is Golf Fitness (And What Isn't)

With the emergence of fitness and athleticism on the PGA Tour, it seems you can't go ten minutes without a commentator or reporter mentioning a young pro's strength, body, or conditioning. The Tour has embraced fitness and it is here to stay. It has had a profound effect on the game as evidenced by the recent contention in majors by guys that were supposed to be on the Champions Tour in golf carts. So what exactly are these guys doing anyway? Certainly they aren't lifting like Schwarzenegger in the 70's. Nor are they taking hot yoga classes in Palm Springs. In reality Tour Professionals, under the direction of organizations like the Titleist Performance Institute, are following very logical concepts in their workouts. But, as the quote goes, "common sense is not so common."

Being both a former golf professional and golf fitness coach, I get asked a lot about how to get in shape for the game. Living in South Florida, typically golfers are older and losing yardage in a hurry. Most are very successful well-educated people. However, through no fault of their own, they are often misinformed about fitness. Generally, the questions they have are along these lines:

Won't lifting heavy weights make me big and tight?

Trunk rotations and crunches are great for your "core" and help the golf swing, right?

If I practice swinging with a dumbbell or a weighted stick, won't I hit it farther?

Let's break these myths down one by one:

Golf, strange as it may seem to some, is an explosive movement, closer in relation to Olympic Weight Lifting than running or biking from a training perspective. Many coaches refer to it as a "one-second sport, " because the swing and the subsequent energy and movement systems needed to generate it all happen in about a second. The muscle fibers and energy systems ideally suited for power in the golf swing are all designed to move a lot of stuff very quickly. They have no endurance capability, nor do they need it (they recover adequately in the time it takes you to reach in your bag and grab a "breakfast ball"). They need to be stimulated in the proper manner.

Now before you go out and try a max power clean, I'm not suggesting you go heavy right away nor attempt an inappropriate exercise that you haven't mastered. What I'm saying is perhaps the 100 reps of pink dumbbell curls that your trainer told you was "golf-specific" may not be the best way to get 10 more yards. Muscle size, or "bulk" is largely a function of training volume and medium (8-12) reps. Lower reps will generally contribute a lot less undesirable size increase but higher levels of strength and power production.

Core training myths could be about thirty articles on their own, but I'll try to keep this pretty simple. In an efficient golf swing, the hips and upper back create the vast majority of rotation and "turn." Rotating the lumbar (lower back) on its own is a recipe for disaster. It's been said that as we get older, we lose mobility where we need it and gain it where we don't. This is a prime example. The sedentary lifestyle of the average weekend golfer is causing tightness in the hips and upper back(that's you, office guy). The body compensates for this by giving up some mobility in an area that should be stable (lower back), thus the cause of the massive consumption of Saturday morning Advil. So start doing a little more hip and upper back mobility work and work on stabilizing the lower back with exercises like planks.

The final myth is not specific to golf. Just because something looks like a golf swing (or any athletic movement, for that matter) does not make it a good idea in the gym. There have been many studies that have shown swinging overweight objects will actually lessen swing speed, as well as affect timing and motor control. Your mind-body connection is very intricate, especially the more you develop a skill. You probably can feel how a slight change in even your foot position feels suddenly awkward and unnatural. Your brain is like a computer. It has a golf swing program stored that's constantly updated and optimized. Now, by swinging that dumbbell, your brain becomes confused. Is that a golf swing? I thought this other program was a golf swing? Because you can't swing the dumbbell at nearly the same speed as a golf club, your body can actually slow down motor patterns and muscle firing speed to accommodate the new movement (A similar thing occurs when you have sprinters do a lot of jogging). So stop trying to replicate your swing in the gym. That's what the range is for. I've often reiterated that the most sport specific training you can do is playing the sport. Work on your physical limitations in the gym and develop some strength and power too. That will carry-over to your golf game far more and look a lot less ridiculous.

The best recommendation I can give to improve your golf fitness and performance is to find a TPI Certified Professional and get a physical screen done to assess your limitations. Address these limitations with the recommended exercise progressions and add some power work like using medicine balls and you'll see vast improvements.

Brendan Hayden is a South Florida strength coach, trainer and business owner. He co-owns Coastal Performance, a 3800 SF hybrid fitness facility in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. The facility offers a wide-range of services from training groups of athletes and general fitness clients, to nutritional consultation and TPI golf fitness programs.

Are Bruce Lee Workouts More Extreme Than the P90X Workout?

Anybody who is looking for the next best workout or something new to add to their workout routine should really look into doing P90X or incorporate some of Bruce Lee's workouts. Both workouts will push your body to the max and will give you great results. Let's see which is more demanding.

Bruce Lee was one of the most dominant martial artists ever. His ability to do amazing moves in his movies is what brought him to fame. He was also able to win a bunch of competitions and even taught. His workout was so demanding that he worked out 5 days a week. He did not work out for hours upon hours but had intense one to two hour sessions that worked on a variety of muscles. Since his profession called on speed as one of his greatest assets he worked on using weights with all of his cardio workouts. He switched up his workout every day. His most famous workout involved working on the same muscle zones on monday, wednesday, and friday. The other muscles would be worked on tuesday, thursday, and saturday. Working out six days a week is pretty intense and he would only give himself one day off.

P90X has a variety of workouts that are spread out over a three month period. After the three month period you can still use these workouts to continue on for another ninety days. This workout has twelve different routines that go for about an hour. You use weights, pull up bars, and resistance bands. Each workout is one hour of non stop moving to whatever muscle group you are working on. P90X focuses on two or three different muscle groups at a time. What makes this great is that those muscles are usually complementing groups which feed off of each other. On your the days you are not resistance training you are doing yoga, kenpo, and plyometrics.

Bruce Lee's workout routines and P90X are very similar to each other. Both are made to develop your muscles and over all fitness levels. It really depends on what you want to get out of your workout and how much time you are willing to put into it. Just like anything you only get out of it what you put into it.

Find specific workoutjourney.com/P90X/P90X-DVD P90X workouts, bruceleeworkouts.net Bruce Lee workouts, and more P90X information.

3 Ways In Which You Can Optimize The Use Of Bodyweight Exercise

Bodyweight exercise is the best place to begin when starting a physical fitness training program, should be added to programs that otherwise neglect bodyweight exercise and should be diversified with resistance training for programs that use bodyweight exercise exclusively.

Some people love bodyweight exercise and some people hate it... similarly, some people think bodyweight exercise is valuable to a physical fitness training program, and others don't.

I believe that bodyweight exercise is not only the best method to start a physical fitness training program... but I believe that it should remain an active part of any well balance physical training program.

Let's look at bodyweight exercise from three different perspectives... from the beginner just getting started, from the experienced weight lifter that neglects bodyweight exercise and from the bodyweight exercise only crowd.

1. Bodyweight Exercise For Beginners

Most commercial gyms will prescribe an exercise regimen of strength training, usually in the form of machines, and cardiorespiratory endurance training, normally in the form of stationary "cardio" equipment.

This is a generalization of course... but these two types of training are the predominant forms of physical training in most gyms, regardless of how they are put together.

Notice... bodyweight exercise is missing.

Answer me this... should a beginner with no prior experience with physical training start by jumping right into resistance training with free weights or machines, or would they be better served by learning more about the movement of their bodies by using bodyweight exercise?

Physical training allows you to improve the body by supplying increased stimulus that is not normally found in your daily lifestyle.

For the beginner, bodyweight exercise is the logical place to start... because most beginners are actually going from a state of complete inactivity to a state of activity.

The beginner has not even scraped the surface of what their body can perform without resistance... and should therefore strive to make improvements using bodyweight exercise first.

Once the beginner has made sufficient gains and reached an improved state with bodyweight exercise... then they can add resistance.

2. Bodyweight Exercise For The Experienced Weight Lifter

Many people with a great deal of experience and expertise in physical training completely neglect bodyweight exercise... or believe it to be ineffective.

They notoriously use all types of resistance training methods... while neglecting bodyweight exercise all together.

I propose that the goal of any physical fitness training program is to improve performance that can be used to meet the challenges of sport, work and life with excellence.

Many of those challenges will be met by the effective control and movement of your own body... and not the movement of other objects through space.

And what is the best way to train the improvement of body movement and control of your own body... that's right, bodyweight exercise.

Here is an example...

Many people that have trouble doing a push up will focus on the bench press with hopes of improving their push up numbers... with limited results.

If you want to be able to do more push ups... do more push ups!

The point is this, the improvements you will see from physical training are specific... so if you want to see improvements in a bodyweight movement, use bodyweight exercise to do so.

3. Bodyweight Exercise For The Bodyweight Only Crowd

As you can already tell, I am a strong advocate of bodyweight exercise... but not exclusively.

There are various physical fitness training programs that use bodyweight exercise almost exclusively... like Yoga or Pilates.

While I have no problem with these forms of training... I believe they can take you only so far on the road to physical fitness excellence.

We must remember... Yoga exercises are performed in conjunction with meditation and Pilates was originally developed as a form of rehabilitation for war veterans.

The point is this... bodyweight exercise only programs will only take you so far, and then some form of resistance training must be applied to see further improvement.

In Conclusion...

Bodyweight exercise is an important part of any well balanced physical fitness training program.

If you are just getting started... bodyweight exercise is the perfect place to start.

If you have notoriously neglected bodyweight exercise in your training... add it to improve the physical abilities you have been neglecting.

If you only use bodyweight exercise... diversify your fitness training program by adding some form of resistance training.

In this way, each group can optimize the use of bodyweight exercise.

Do not underestimate the importance of bodyweight exercise... Use it effectively and in the right proportion to meet your goals, needs, abilities and limitations and meet the challenges of sport, work and life with excellence.

Coach Lomax invites you to explore bodyweight calisthenics on Bodyweight Calisthenics Exercise [bodyweight-calisthenics-exercise.com]. Learn how to use the "gym you were born with", and perform, feel and look better than ever before... without costly equipment or expensive gym memberships. We recommend workout-without-weights.com Workout Without Weights: Bodyweight Calisthenics Workout Progression System.

Yoga Philosophy for Beginners

Are you searching for much more from your Yoga class than just a workout? What deeper concepts should you learn in your Yoga practice? How can philosophy, taught by a Yoga teacher, change the quality of your life today?

There are so many Yoga philosophy concepts, but here are three that will help you shed many burdens in life. Yoga teachers vary on how much Yogic philosophy they will teach within a typical class. The cause of this may be the type of Yoga class, the perceived popularity, or the Yoga teacher's choice.

In my Restorative Yoga classes, I teach much more Yogic philosophy than I do in a Vinyasa Yoga class. The same can be said for the amount of meditation time within my North Providence Restorative Yoga classes.

If you are wondering why - here is the answer: My Vinyasa Yoga students are usually younger and could really care less about Yogic philosophy or any other philosophy. They just want to work hard, so we work on mind and body only.

Am I selling out? You can be the judge, but these Yoga students will change with time, and will eventually want to see more of what Yoga has to offer. They are not in a big rush to learn any other form of Yoga, beyond the physically challenging styles - which is fine, because I need to get my exercise, too.

The following are three basic Yogic philosophy principles that will change your life, for the best, today. Try them, and you will make your life happy, simple, and less stressful. Make the change today, or tomorrow morning, for your overall health.

Loving kindness toward yourself, and others, starts from the moment you wake up. Stop criticizing yourself and others. Take positive action and you will see big changes. This is very hard to do, but try not to make negative comments about those who do not live up to your standards. If you can help by being a good example, that's fine, but do not make it an issue, or a point of contention.

Never beat yourself up with criticism. If you have done wrong, make an effort to change and find solutions, but do not dwell on past mistakes. It will not be to your benefit to meditate on guilt.

Forgiveness is important for your survival and the quality of your own life. You have to let go and forgive others, for your own good. A grudge is a "prison sentence." Let it go and you become free to do more important things. If you do not let it go, your overall health will suffer, as a result.

Being content with what you have is also known as Santosha. This will stop you from driving yourself crazy - when you are constantly competing with everyone around you. If a friend just bought a new house, feel good for him or her. Do not worry about what you do not have. Be happy about what you do have.

This applies to the physical aspect of Yoga, as well. If you see another student easily perform difficult asanas, be happy for him or her, but be proud of your own accomplishments. For example: You may have improved balance, learned a Pranayama technique to reduce stress, be eating a better diet, or feel the many benefits of meditation.

Make these three Yogic concepts a part of your daily life, and you will enjoy life's many treasures.

© Copyright 2006 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. To receive a Free e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Yoga Is An Exercise In Patience

Most of the time when you workout the pace is much faster than in yoga. Cardio is all about moving quickly to get your heart rate up. Strength training is a little calmer than cardio but there's still a sense of perpetual movement. This is true when you work out on your own and even more so when working out to a video or take a class. So, it's no surprise that when you go to do yoga, you have the impulse to move at your usual workout pace.

However, yoga does not work that way. Even when you are moving in yoga the pace is still relatively slow. A lot of the time is actually spent not moving at all. Your muscles are working unexpectedly hard to hold each pose. Being impatient, wondering when it's going to end, and how much longer you have to stay still, does not help. In fact, it makes it much harder.

I knew intellectually that I was supposed to feel centered and calm doing yoga but, I never felt it. I was never able to actually do it. There was always an undercurrent of nervous energy and racing thoughts. The thing I finally realized the last time I did yoga was that I needed to be patient. Being patient in yoga means letting go the need to rush and get it done. It means understanding that what you're doing is going to take some time and you might as well relax and let it run it's course. It means not worrying about what you're going to do next and just paying attention to what you're doing in that moment.

Maybe that's easier said than done, but there are a few steps you can take to help you accomplish this. First of all make sure to set aside enough time for your workout. Before you begin the yoga session, take a few deep breaths. Focus on your breathing and imagine with each exhale that you're letting go of whatever thoughts are nagging at you. Set your intention to be relaxed, calm and present during your yoga session. Then, while you're doing yoga, be patient with yourself when your mind starts wandering and you find yourself stressing over everything you're not doing at the moment that needs to get done. Just gently push the thoughts aside and focus on breathing through each yoga pose. It will take some time to get good at this. So, don't worry if it seems difficult at first.

The practice of yoga has a lot of benefits and can be a good addition to your fitness program. Learning to exercise patience with the process of doing yoga and with yourself will make it a much more enjoyable experience and you will get a lot more out of it. Eventually, you might even find that instead of dreading your yoga workout, you actually start looking forward to it.

Laura Lawson is a certified personal trainer dedicated to helping people live better through fitness. Visit besteverfitness.com besteverfitness.com where you'll find the tools and information that will help you reach your fitness goals.

Great Ways To Exercise Outside of The Gym

Many people feel like if they don't make it to the gym than their whole exercise routine is shot. The truth is, you can miss the gym and still get a good workout elsewhere. Maybe we've been brainwashed into thinking the gym is the only place we will see results, but if you think about logically, those exercises can be done anywhere.

So if you are not a gym enthusiast, or if you are not going to be able to make it to the gym for a while, then try these other great ways to get your exercise in.

Take the stairs - Stairs works both your cardio and give you a built-in strength training bonus. The great thing about stairs is they are always there. They are in your house, work, and even at the mall. Try taking the stairs two at a time, or lunging your way up a flight of stairs, for a better lower body workout.

Want a great start to a stair routine? Take the stairs up normally, and then come back down. Then walk up the stairs sideways, and then come back down. Walk up the stairs with the other side, and then run back down. Lunge your way up the stairs next, and then run back down. Take the stairs up two at a time, and then come back down. Add whatever you like to this routine and you will feel the burn after just a few minutes of doing this.

Fitness Video Games - Video games aren't just for kids anymore. No matter what your age or fitness level there is a game that can help you burn it up. Most fitness games are made by trainers who know what you need to do to get a good workout, and they can increase the intensity every time you pop in the game. I prefer aerobics mixed with strength training. You can use free weights while following along with the trainer on the game. It's fun and get the same workout you would get at the gym. Maybe even better because you are free to dance in between sets!

Watch TV and workout - When the new line up of TV shows comes out it may be hard to get your butt off the couch and out to exercise. So keep watching your shows, but make the most of it by exercising as well. You can buy a step up bench and some free weights, and do an hour of steps ups during two comedies. You will hardly know you are working out, and you will get the benefit of exercise while staying in touch with what happened on your favorite show.

Move your workout outside - Whether you go hiking, walking, jogging, swimming, or canoeing, you can get a great workout outside and get a boost of happiness at the same time. Being in nature is calming and allows you to live in the moment. For strength training you can head to the park and use the equipment there to do push-ups, pull-ups, planks, and anything else you can think up. Lunge down one block then run down the next. If you are into yoga, there is no better place to do it then beside a river or lake. Outside workouts are fun and you will naturally want to get moving when you get outside.

Kari's website alternativehealthideas.com Alternative Health Ideas is focused on preventative measures for avoiding diseases, and natural alternativehealthideas.com home remedies for common ailments.

Yoga Therapy - Healing Through Alignment

Isn't it funny how the body talks to us? When something isn't quite right parts of you communicate to the control center (a.k.a The Brain) saying, "Hey, this hurts. Would you do something about it please?"

Without knowing how or why things work the way they do, the reason for the pain can be quite the mystery. Yet more often than not, there are simple ways to move out of discomfort, no matter how long you've been aching.

Anusara® yoga is been the fastest growing school of yoga in the world, and one of the main reasons for this is its therapeutic and super effective approach to healing. Using a system called the Universal Principles of Alignment™, anyone can learn how to bring their body into an optimal place to find freedom from pain.

The great part about this biomechanically precise method is the way it is taught, which is in a light-hearted manner. Anusara yoga approaches everything from a positive light and broad perspective, which often means these yoga therapists will see something others have missed.

When you use the alignment of Anusara yoga and the therapeutic exercises that are recommended for your individual needs, you are empowered to heal yourself. Say you have neck discomfort. Well, the root cause is most likely the way your shoulders are misaligned. An Anusara yoga instructor can help you learn how to hold yourself in a way that alleviates the imbalance that makes your neck hurt, and can give you postures and stretches that will strengthen the weak muscles, lengthen the tight ones, and bring you into optimal alignment so that you move out of pain entirely.

Take osteo-arthritis, for example. This build up of minerals in the joints can be greatly relieved and even cleared by increasing circulation to the areas affected. By aligning the body optimally, blood, lymph, breath, and other vital systems flow easily.

Though the concept is simple, optimal alignment brings optimal health, it is important to learn from a qualified yoga therapist. Anusara yoga instructors are highly trained teachers, and learn to discern the subtleties of alignment. To find a skilled, Anusara yoga instructor near you go to Anusara.com Anusara.com and visit the teacher directory.

Katrina Ariel Koric

YogaWithKatrina.com YogaWithKatrina.com

Katrina Ariel Koric is an Anusara-inspired yoga teacher and free spirit traveling the world living her yoga. She shares her adventures, experience, wisdom, and inspirations through online yoga offerings. You'll enjoy the easy way Katrina helps you integrate yoga and philosophy into your life when you subscribe to her FREE Daily Doses of Delight at yogawithkatrina.com/yoga-therapy YogaWithKatrina.com.