(Contributed by Stanley R. Davis)
Exercise is a crucial aspect of a healthy lifestyle. Maintaining a healthy weight through physical activity has been a top priority for many Americans to stay in shape. In fact, the CDC reports that 53.3% of adults in the United States have been meeting government guidelines of 150 minutes of physical activity per week.
Exercising is one of weight loss’ main components. Exercising for weight loss can improve your health by helping you regulate your blood sugar and decrease your risk of stroke and diabetes. An effective weight management strategy requires consistency and commitment, so a weight loss plan should include activities that you genuinely enjoy. This way, it becomes easier to reach your goals because the joy of working out remains, and healthy habits get cemented permanently.
Golf is one of those timeless sports that can help you lose weight. Besides being a social activity, golfing provides an excellent opportunity to burn calories while leaving you feeling satisfied and invigorated. Today, we’ll discuss three ways that make golf a good exercise for weight loss:
1. It burns calories
During an average 18-hole round, a golfer walks roughly four miles or 10,000 steps. Because of this, they can burn as much as 1,000 calories from walking, swinging clubs, and carrying their own bag. When golfers ditch the golf buggy and walk the whole course, they can meet the above-mentioned CDC exercise guidelines in just two 18-hole rounds per week.
2. It provides opportunities for cardio
Serious golf enthusiasts include cardio in their preparation regimen to improve their playing performance. Simple cardio warm-up movements, such as forward skips and high knees, prime the lower body and improves coordination, which is essential to a good swing. This kind of preparation also helps golfers avoid injuries and saves them an unexpected trip to the emergency room.
3. It encourages weight training
Weight training provides a power advantage to golfers. Players can create and translate the power they need for their swings when they train their glute strength, hip stability, and anterior core strength. Basic movements of push, pull, hinge, and squat improves your flexibility and drives your ability to strengthen your golf swing. Besides helping lose fat and build muscle, weight training attacks strength imbalances that prevent you from staying on the course longer.
4. It can be fitness-oriented
While golf is often seen as a leisure activity, there are variations that are actually great fitness exercises. Speed golf is one variation of golf that scores based on strokes played and the time taken to complete a round. Besides being time-bound, it is also fitness oriented and requires a higher endurance level than the traditional version. It is considered a cardio workout, and many play speed golf to complement their formal golf training and improve their swing performance.
With the sport having over 37 million players in the country, golf’s popularity can be harnessed to meet weight and fitness goals in an interactive and engaging manner. The competitiveness of the sport will surely capture the interest of those who want to lose extra weight while gaining satisfaction from a good swing.
