Why Golfers Should Lift Weights

For decades, some golfers have clung to the myth that you will ruin your golf game if you lift weights. However, as any competitive athlete knows well, strength training—in the right fashion—is an essential component of athletic success. The same is true for the sport of golf.

To improve your golf game, you need explosive power, core strength and control, flexibility, mobility, and speed, all of which you gain through the right strength-training program. BodCraft can help your workouts on the green and in the gym with its dedicated line of casual golf attire for men as well as its high-performing gym athletic wear. Whether you play golf competitively or casually, this post walks you through the reasons you should be lifting if you play golf and explains how best to adjust your training to enhance your game.

What Strength Training Can Do for Golfers

You don’t have to spend hours in the gym to get strength-training results for your golf game, but if you want to keep the workout momentum you’ve gained over the summer into the next season, adjusting your workout to include weight training can do more than improve your swing. BodCraft creates gym athletic wear so you can advance your explosiveness by strength training in the gym, offering sweat-wicking styles that give you the range of motion you need to make the most of your time in the gym. Just incorporating a basic weight routine that hits the muscle groups and movements to impact your game can give you the edge you need.

When you add strength training to enhance your golf game, you also

• Increase your control over your swing
• Add speed to your swing
• Increase power to your swing
• Prevent injuries
• Improve your ability to withstand training
• Increase your energy level
• Get restful sleep
• Develop your mental game

Adding strength by lifting weights sets the stage for more power in your swing, but just like any other sport, you don’t merely swing your club. You control your club, and to capture more speed, you need both strength and control to work together. When you have the right combination of strength and control, you create the directed force you need to get the ball going where you want it to go.

Adding strength training to your regular workouts also helps to prevent injuries. While you normally think of lifting weights as simply adding muscle, you also strengthen tendons and ligaments. Your muscles, tendons, and ligaments keep your body in proper alignment, protecting your bones and joints when swinging a golf club or while under impact. The more you lift, the more protection you offer your bones and joints. Additionally, you give your body the support it needs to withstand training. As with any sport, constant training and repetitive motions can tear your body down, but adding in strength training offers a solid base to support rigorous sport-specific training.

Adding a strength component to working out also helps you rest better. When lifting, resistance training offers different results than simply cardio workouts. The muscle recovery your body needs actually promotes longer and better quality sleep. Strength training creates more adenosine, a naturally produced chemical in your cells that can make you feel drowsy.

Lifting weights also forces you to push your body through movements you never thought possible. So adding strength training gives you another outlet for handling the stress of hitting a wall. You can practice overcoming mental hurdles in the gym, which equips you for handling stress on the golf course.

While BodCraft offers an entire line of casual golf attire for men that works with you and your range of motion so you can hone your technique on the green, you can also use the gym athletic clothing to get the weighted workout you need in the gym.

How Best to Lift When Training for Golf

Now that you know how well strength training can help your golf game and overall health and well-being, you may be tempted to run to the gym and hit the weights hard right away. Before you head out, keep these tips in mind:

• Start slowly. If you’ve not been lifting weights for a while—or ever—don’t just waltz in and start swinging dumbbells around. Start low and slow until you gain proper form. Talking to a trainer can help you know how best to begin.
• Remember how muscle memory works. You already make automatic movements for your golf swing so don’t mess up the sequence by adding weight to your golf swing. Don’t try to mimic your swing in the gym using kettle balls or pulleys. Doing so actually changes how your body supports you and moves and changes the sequence your muscle memory already knows. Keep your movements in the gym different from your swing but use weighted movements that break down the overall concept.
• Build strength and technique. You can’t have a good golf swing without good technique or strength. So avoid focusing too much on strength without also improving your technique. Strength and speed without technique will never help the ball land where you want it to.

When putting together a routine to enhance your golf game, focus on the following types of movements:

• Movements initiated from the hips, like deadlifts, build a stable base and enhance and strengthen hip rotation, all of which can improve your swing.
• Movements that encourage you to transfer force in your core while rotating your upper body can enhance the stability of your swing.
• Movements that encourage you to move your upper and lower body separately support the overall concept of your swing without mimicking it.
• Movements that strengthen your back and core enhance your back and core strength to withstand swinging a club repetitively with explosive power.

If you need gym athletic wear that allows you to perform at peak levels, whether you swing kettle balls or golf clubs, BodCraft creates unique golf attire for men and performance activewear to keep you comfortable both on the green and in the gym.