All complete workouts should last about an hour.  They should consist of four phases with a variety of exercises for each phase of the workout.

  First and foremost, always be sure to warm-up your body for 5-10 minutes before you begin your stretches.  The purpose of this is to get your blood flowing and cardio moving faster.  This will prepare your body to work more

  Stretching your body helps enhance a greater range of motion, making for a smoother transition throughout your golf swing.  Ever wonder why some golfers have a choppy swing?  Tight muscles will directly influence your balance, stability and rhythm in your swing.  Be sure to stretch your upper and lower body.  Forward lunges, side bends, and toe touches, just to name a few, are great for limbering up your muscles before performing. 

  Recently, I attended the TPI, Certified Golf Fitness Training workshop in Orlando and found it to be very beneficial and fun.  Working with other fitness trainers, golf professionals and chiropractors provided us with a wealth of knowledge to take back to our clients.  We learned specifically how each exercise, performed correctly, will have a positive impact to the performance in your golf swing.  

  Now for third phase, which is the main purpose of the total workout.  Plan to spend 8-12 minutes of pushing hard through each exercise.  The exercises I like to use involve your whole body working to build balance, stability, strength, power and endurance training; all of which are essential in the golf swing.  In addition to the exercises, I like to use stretch bands, medicine balls, kettle bells and exercise balls, which provide a complete workout.  Most of the exercise movements taught, will simulate an efficient golf swing motion.  The better you are able to perform those particular swing motions, the better your golf swing will become. 

  To monitor their progress, sometimes I will time my students to push themselves.  Working in groups also makes it easier to motivate and have fun while doing the exercise.  However, it is critically just as important that the exercise is performed correctly and safely.  As the student progresses, I will continue to challenge each person, by increasing the amount of reps, along with adding resistance or more weight.

   
  Finally, the cool down stage of the workout should consist of both stretching and stability exercises. The prone stretch, side stretch, and the super man stretch are most effective exercises when used with a Swiss ball.

  In summary, working out with others who share common goals, combined with a variety of golf exercises through each phase of the workout, will help to make your workouts more effective, rewarding and fun all year round!