5 Reasons Female Golfers Need Strength Training

Strength training has a whole host of health benefits, especially for women, and in particular, female golfers. But if you’re not familiar with the moves, equipment or even how to introduce strength training into your existing routine, it can feel like you don’t know where to start. You may also be asking yourself: how can lifting heavy stuff up and putting it down again really improve my golf game?

In this blog, Tori talks with Andrew Hannon, a golf fitness expert from Premier Fitness Systems in North Scottsdale. Andrew takes us through 5 great reasons why every female golfer - and women in general - should introduce strength and weight training into their fitness regimen to not only improve their golf game, but also their whole life.

1. Strength Training Improves Quality Of Life

We love statistics, but this one really shocked us! A staggering 93% of Americans have some form of metabolic disease, which includes things like heart conditions and weight issues, increased blood pressure and high blood sugar. Strength training, along with golf, walking - any activity that gets you moving - reduces the risk of such health issues, which can eventually lead to some serious health complications. Strength training also allows us to go about our daily lives without the risk of injury, whether it’s picking up heavy grocery bags or playing down on the floor with the grandkids. No one wants to throw their back out doing basic everyday activities.

2. Strength Training Helps Maintain Strength And Muscle As We Age

You may not want to hear this, but when we hit our 40s, our muscle mass starts to decrease by 1-3% year on year. And the best way to combat this is to introduce strength training into your fitness regimen. If you’re already lifting weights on the regular, you don’t need to do anything special, just keep doing what you’re doing.

A prime example of how strength training can support us as we age is Tori’s mother. She incorporated strength training into her life 4 years ago and has reaped the benefits. She amazing people are an inspiration to us all! It isn’t just about lifting weights - strength training includes work on apparatus like cable machines and TRX equipment using your own body weight.

3. Strength Training Can Aid In Weight Loss

If you are on a weight loss journey,  incorporating strength training alongside your cardio activities can help you reach your goals. Cardio is great for our heart health, overall conditioning, and helping us burn calories, but adding weight training to build good quality muscle will go a long way to helping you lose fat. 

And for those women out there who are worried that strength training will make them look bulky and manly – listen up! Women are not designed to put on muscle the same way men do. Unless you pump yourself full of supplements and testosterone, eat a ton of food, and strength train every single day, it’s extremely unlikely that you will end up looking like a guy.

4. Strength Training Can Improve Your Golf Performance

So we know that strength training can help us maintain muscle mass as we age and protect us from a range of health issues. But how does it help us improve our performance on the course? To understand this, we need to put our science hats on and look at different muscle fibers. There are two types of muscle fibers:

• Type I – these muscle fibers support long-distance endurance activities like marathon running and cross-country running. You may have noticed that marathon runners often look leaner than the average person. That’s because their body is mostly made up of type I muscle fibers.
• Type II – these muscle fibers support quick, powerful movements, which is why sprinters often have well-developed leg and butt muscles.

If we look at a movement like a golf swing, it’s similar to throwing a ball or shooting a basket – it’s a fast, dynamic, powerful move, and you need type II fibers to make it happen. These type II fibers keep us strong and powerful, but as we age, we start to lose them, which is why older people are more prone to injury and may take longer to recover.

5. Strength Training Improves Mobility And Range Of Motion

Mobility is a key part of any sport, but this is especially the case with golf as the swing is such a dynamic movement that relies on the full range of motion. Furthermore, you’re performing the same movement over and over again. Weight lifting enables you to build strength across the entire range of motion, which only improves your swing, drive, and overall game. Being able to move our bodies through the full range of motion is also how we avoid injury in everyday life.

Final Thoughts And How To Get Started With Strength Training

There are so many resources out there to help women get into strength training, whether you choose to work out in the gym or at home or whether you decide to work with a trainer or not. YouTube also has a ton of free videos to help you get started.

Before you get started with strength training, do a little research and find something that fits into your lifestyle and goals. And don’t be afraid to increase your weight as you progress - a good guide is finding yourself close to failure with 2-3 reps left to go. Strength is completely subjective, so do what works for you and don’t worry about what other people are doing.

Tori:
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Website: CompeteConfidenceGolf.com