Upper Body Training

[Martee]

The Golf Channel has a fitness series they run.

Dr. Greg Rose has a segment on Upper Body Training. One of the exercises, actually four of them involving the wrists/forearms was of particular interest. It had the underhand and overhand curls but also included rotating or turning the [s]hands/wrists[/s] forearm. When doing these exercise he made the point that when doing the left side, maintain a flat wrist as you would want in your golf stroke, when doing the right side, maintain a bent wrist, again as you would want in your golf stroke.

His comments in other portions of the episode also included why you want to low weight and high reps, which made a great deal of sense to me. Simply cause and I think I recall his term correctly MUSCULAR endurance. You want to train and be able to perform for 18 holes. This he equated different from PHYSICAL stamina. Editted Not sure I totally appreciate why he made the distinction other than Stamina is a broader term and he was being specific for particular muscles.

Also he gave some interesting insight as to why when working the upper body there is more benefit to the golf stroke by doing exercise where you are standing than when lying. Balance for one, another was that while lying you are push against the bench whereas when standing you depend more on the core to maintain position and complete the exercise.

The last thing I found interesting was the length or range of motion of an exercise can help or hinder the golf stroke. For example when doing forearm presses, by only going from the side and forward limits whereas if you allow the arm to go back further, you gain more.

The episode was FIT 04-001. It might be a good watch.

[revert]

It was a very intersting watch. I recorded the show so i can take a more indepth look later.

[Vickie]

Great post Martee! I agree with everything but limiting range of motion during training to try to replicate your golf technique. There is a place for programming muscle specific action but not during your strength training. You have the imbalance built into the game. The training session should be designed to allow the body to re-establish balance, homeostasis. Neurological imprinting is it's own work time and that is the protocol Lynn and I are developing specific to TGM.

Endurance and stamina are the same thing. I think you need to train for strength relative to your body type but you have to also do some training for endurance. All the power in the world won't do you any good if your muscles are inefficient to assimilate enough oxygen to create enough energy endure the day. Likewise, if you have great endurance but don't have a well toned muscle that is used to tolerating a higher work load than your work or play, it will fatigue anyway. This is one of the reasons it is important to change up your workouts. Everyday shouldn't be the most you can do in terms of weights or reps.

It is true what you said about standing vs. lying. But it is relative to the resistence and your objective. You simply can't overload a muscle standing so you would fall short of your objective on that day. However if it's a muscle recruitment training day then standing would be the ticket. Again mixing up your training.

I'm a firm believer in range of motion. Shortened motions (where you don't fully extend, not lock, the joint) are great if you're going for bulk and size. While golfers want strength they may not want such a thick muscle as the end of the muscle is the tendon and suppleness is the name of the game in joint health.

Basically you are in the gym to raise your work threshhold higher than the work inherent in your game. The greater your ability in terms of strength and endurance the greater your margin for error and the safer your joints (that's your spine too) and the better you play and the faster you recover for the next game.

I hope everyone is paying attention to the info that comes thru the golf channel. It takes a more discerning mind muddle thru the information sometimes but TGM golfers qualify themselves as they get thru the little yellow book. They are eminently qualified.

Thx for the input! Vik

[Martee]

I did a few edits to clear up some poor choice of words as Vickie pointed too.

[Vickie]

Yes, the clarification of muscular endurance relative to physical stamina is accurate. Muscular endurance infers that you maintain a level of 'quality' performance while physical stamina refers to your ability to continue performing in the face of fatique. This is the reason your cardiovascular 'aerobic' training can also be of great benefit to your stamina. If you can cover the distance of a golf course with some uninterrupted, measured degree of intensity, you will raise your aerobic threshhold and walking the course (even with the addition of heat and humidity so prevalent in the season) will be less taxing. If you can run that distance your golf walk will be almost uneventful in terms of overall stamina. This usually means your posture is better allowing you to bring the same physique to each shot. I recommend trying to get some cardiovascular work (walking, biking, running) outside to better acclamate yourself to the environmental factors on the golf course. One of my golfers has done his heart healthy work on his treadmill every day for the last few years. Early this spring he started going outside for his work and says he already has seen improvement in his stamina in his golf game on a couple of our hotter days. He is going on his annual trip to Palm Springs next week, I'll let you know if he fares.

I think I need to clarify a little, too. I see general training for body health and training for your sport as two complimentary and seperate workouts. It doesn't mean they each take an hour. When I am playing tennis I shorten my general workouts by ten to fifteen minutes and do a few minutes or sport specific movements/exercises. Think of the football player. He trains in the gym and then he does his drills on the field. Each individual player trains at the level of their needed performance and their body type. It's no different in golf than any other sport.

Finding a balance between your play and your training protocols (cardio, fitness, sport specific neuro-linguistic training;yea I know it's usually mind stuff but isn't TGM until you feel it?) training is the key but consistency is the secret.

Thanks for staying in this Martee. Vik