My Fitness Caddy

Guest post: Lose Weight While Improving Your Golf Swing

By Bob Foreman at www.golfitcarolina.com

One of the benefits I often hear from my clients is that they lose weight while working to improve their golf games. While not a priority for many who enter into the golf fitness program, it is a welcomed benefit.

The key to a successful golf fitness program is to isolate the anatomical weaknesses identified through the physical assessment. This often entails a combination of specific stretching and strengthening exercises, done on a regular basis, to help bring balance back into the golfer’s body. This is essential as the research is now crystal clear that muscle imbalance is the root cause of most swing faults, inefficient golf swings, poor performance, and both acute and chronic injury.

One of the benefits from this pursuit of a better golf game is a loss of body fat. As in any exercise program that incorporates a strength component, muscle tissue is enhanced. Not only does this improve strength, balance, and power, it makes you a better calorie burning machine.

It takes about 2 to 4 calories a day to maintain a pound of fat in your body. It takes about 50 to 70 calories a day to maintain a pound of muscle. That’s a pretty significant difference! Muscle is what drives our metabolism and when you increase muscle, you increase the number of calories you’ll burn during the day.

Most of us had more muscle when we were kids running around the neighborhood and walking to school, uphill, 6 miles both ways. Then, for one reason or another, we slow down and sit more. This wastes away our muscle and as a result lowers our metabolism. We usually don’t alter our eating patterns to make up for the slower metabolism, in most cases the eating patterns get worse, so we put on weight/fat.

When a golfer begins an exercise program to improve their swing efficiency, they inevitably will need to include strengthening exercise to correct the weaknesses they posses (and we all have some). This progressive strength component, usually moderate in intensity, has a positive impact on body composition. As you tone muscle, and this is worth repeating, you raise metabolism and burn more calories. Increase the number of calories expended during the day and you lose weight.

Now be forewarned, muscle is also denser than fat and will weigh heavier on the bathroom scale. So don’t be alarmed if the scale doesn’t change all that much, but yet you’re able to fit into those jeans you haven’t worn since high school.

A word about cardio exercise. Keeping the heart and lungs in shape is a must and will help you on the back nine when fatigue can lead to poor shots and an enhanced potential for injury. Cardio exercise is important and should be included. It will burn calories while doing the exercise, and for an hour or two afterward as your body returns back to resting state. Cardio will not, however, do anything for strength development nor will it increase resting metabolism. That needs to come from strength training.

Whether desired or not, exercising to improve your golf swing will have additional benefits for your health. One of these, if you’re consistent with your workouts, is a leaner body. This will ultimately improve your ability to burn calories and lose body weight/fat. So not only will your playing satisfaction improve, so, too, will your sense of well-being.

About the author:  Bob Forman, has a Masters degree in Exercise Physiology and is a Certified Golf Fitness Instructor through the Titleist Performance Institute and the Flexor motor learning program for golf.  The articles, videos, and other related material presented are intended to help golfers improve their game and playing satisfaction.  The information is based on Bob’s 27 years in the fitness industry and his work with golfers of all levels and ages.  www.golfitcarolina.com

Guest post: Alexander Technique and Golf

A Poised Golfer Is A Happy Golfer by Roy Palmer

Top golfers can make it look so easy. With effortless ease they can hit a ball well over 300 yards time and time again. So why do the rest of us fail to hit this distance on a regular basis? And why does it seem to take so much effort to do so? I believe it comes down to using the wrong kind of effort from trying too hard.

In my role as a teacher of The Alexander Technique, the world-renowned movement system, I’ve worked with almost one hundred golfers and found many unknowingly interfere with their technique. This usually involves unnecessary actions during their preparation, such as clenching the jaw, stiffening the neck and raising the shoulders. Our neck muscles play a vital role in coordinating all our muscles as part of their function in our head and neck righting reflexes. Undue tension in the jaw, neck or shoulders has a similar effect to applying the brake before driving away from the lights.

Yet it only takes a tiny amount of inappropriate activity in one seemingly insignificant muscle to upset your coordination and timing. Unfortunately, the majority of us simply don’t have the degree of sensitivity or self-awareness to notice these actions and small differences from one shot to the next. If you have the habit of tightening your grip on the club handle, this can also cause your neck and jaw muscles to tighten. It’s probably not on your list of things to do, but I see many golfers doing it.

On Monday you may tighten slightly with no noticeable effect on the shot, whereas on Tuesday you may do it a fraction more and see the ball go wayward. If you’re not aware that you’re doing this in the first place, it becomes an unknown variable in your technique and leads to an inconsistency with no obvious cause. More importantly, if you don’t know you’re doing it, you can’t control it. And of you can’t control it, your efforts to execute the perfect swing, chip shot or putt are undermined. You may think you’re doing exactly what your coach or text book are suggesting but in reality there may be any number of other actions you’re unknowingly bringing to your shot. This complicates your golf as whilst you’re trying to do one thing your body may be doing something else.

So how can you improve your coordination? Well it’s not something you can do directly as good coordination requires us to do less and thus prevent interference with our natural reflexes. The answer is to promote poise which means using the most appropriate effort for every given task. To be poised you need to relax and allow your own innate reflexes control your muscles; a bit like a puppet whose strings can let go a little. If you’ve had the experience of hitting the ball further than your average distance whilst it felt effortless, this was because you were poised, better coordinated and therefore able to let your muscles to do exactly what was necessary – no more, no less. We need to practice in order to become poised by trying less and less to hit the ball hard. Try a few shots on the driving range and see how much effort you can take out of the shot to let your club do the work. Check to see if you’re clenching your jaw or lifting your shoulders to prepare. If you can stop doing what you think is necessary, relax and let it flow you may be surprised to see how far you can hit it.

I have more tips on my website at www.play-better-golf.com and in my forthcoming book due out in February 2010 called Golf Sense: Practical Tips On How To Play Golf In The Zone (FrontRunner Publications).

The Definitive Guide to Sticking to Your New Year’s Resolutions

Every time this year there are millions of people around the world that promise themselves this is the year to lose weight, or the year to stop smoking, or the year to run a marathon.  But the reality is that most of us fail when it comes to sticking to resolutions — so much so that many swear never to make resolutions again.

And yet the rest of us are eternally hopeful when the New Year comes around, believing without any credible evidence that we can improve our lives, that change is possible, that we’re not going to be stuck in the same old rut again this year.

Author Leo Babauta (www.zenhabits.net or Twitter zen_habits) has an excellent method that will help you not only set your resolutions, but also KEEP them.  Goal setting and resolutions are possible and you can do it following these easy steps.

The Problem with Most Resolutions
“While I love the optimism of New Year’s Resolutions, unfortunately, the enthusiasm and hope often fades within weeks, and our efforts at self improvement come to a whimpering end.” says Babauta.  New Year’s Resolutions usually fail because of a combination of some of these reasons:

• We try to do too many resolutions at once, and that spreads our focus and energies too thin. It’s much less effective to do many habits at once.
• We only have a certain amount of enthusiasm and motivation, and it runs out because we try to do too much, too soon. We spend all that energy in the beginning and then run out of steam.
• We try to do really tough habits right away, which means it’s difficult and we become overwhelmed or intimidated by the difficulty and quit.
• We try to be “disciplined” and do very unpleasant habits, but our nature won’t allow that to last for long. If we really don’t want to do something, we won’t be able to force ourselves to do it for long.
• Life gets in the way. Things come up unexpectedly that get in the way of us sticking with a habit.
• Resolutions are often vague — I’m going to exercise! — but don’t contain a concrete action plan and don’t use proven habit techniques. That’s a recipe for failure.

There are other reasons, but the ones above are easily sufficient to stop resolutions from succeeding.

The 6 Changes Method
So what are we to do? Babauta created the 6 Changes Method, along with a new site called 6Changes.com, to solve these problems:

• Focus on one habit change at a time, so our focus and energies aren’t spread thinly.
• Implement the habit changes gradually, so you don’t run out of steam.
• Start out really, really easily, so it isn’t intimidating.
• Focus on enjoyable activities, so you don’t need “discipline”.
• Plan two months to do the habit change, so if something comes up, it’s but a small bump in the road. And because you are publicly committed, you are going to get back on track.
• Have a very specific plan with actions built in, using proven habit change techniques.

If you stick with the method, you’ll do much better than you’ve done in the past with New Year’s Resolutions. You’ll focus on creating long-lasting habits rather than trying to reach a short-term goal that fails. You’ll maintain your enthusiasm for longer and not become overwhelmed by the difficulty of change. You’ll have habits that will change your life, and that’s no small feat.

The Method
So how does the 6 Changes method work?

It’s simple:

1. Pick 6 habits for 2010.
2. Pick 1 of the 6 habits to start with.
3. Commit as publicly as possible to creating this new habit in 2 months.
4. Break the habit into 8 baby steps, starting with a ridiculously easy step. Example: if you want to lose weight, the first step is just to pack your exercise clothing at the same time each night.
5. Choose a trigger for your habit – something already in your routine that will immediately precede the habit. Examples: eating breakfast, brushing your teeth, showering, waking up, arriving at the office, leaving the office, getting home in the evening.
6. Do the 1st, really easy baby step for one week, right after the trigger.
7. Post your progress publicly.
8. Each week, move on to a slightly harder step. You’ll want to progress faster, but don’t. You’re building a new habit. Repeat this until you’ve done 8 weeks.

You now have a new habit! Commit to Habit No. 2 and repeat the process.

2010 Fitness Trends

Just in time for your New Year resolution planning on your fitness goals, here are the Top Ten Fitness Trends for 2010….

From the Home Office in San Diego, CA….

10 – Cost-Conscious Workouts at Fitness Clubs and at Home
9 – Group Training
8 – Time-Efficient Workouts for the Time-Pressured
7 – Exergaming
6 – Boomer-Specific Programs
5 – Functional Training Workouts
4 – Health and Fitness Awareness
3 – Importance of Proper Professional Credentials
2 – Specialty Exercise Classes
1 – Fitness Training Tools

Click here for the entire article

How to do a proper abdominal crunch

Remember your grade school gym class days, when Miss Gym Teacher tested your “sit-ups” by having someone hold your feet as you completed a full sit-up?

We’ve come a long way since then (by the way – those “sit-ups” probably did more harm to your neck and measured your leg strength rather than abdominal).

CLICK HERE for the proper way to do an abdominal crunch, thanks to my friends at the American Council on Exercise (ACE).

Quietly, the President Finds That Golf Is No Slam Dunk

Elizabeth Williamson of the WSJ has a very interesting article about Presidents and their golf games…

One day last summer, Gene Mulak, observing carnage in the sand trap, decided it was time to rescue the Leader of the Free World.

“Open the clubface more!” the golf pro yelled to President Barack Obama. A rank of bodyguards stiffened when they heard the shouting, but the commander-in-chief continued to hack away, sand flying, recalls Mr. Mulak, a resident professional at the Vineyard Golf Club in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

Mr. Obama waved off the guards and welcomed Mr. Mulak into the pit. The pro says he gave the president tips on his golf stance and his swing, both of which were conspiring against him. “He would have had trouble getting out of any bunker in the country,” concludes Mr. Mulak.

Click here for the rest of the story   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125900966061461145.html

Obama’s golf game: He’s no Jack Kennedy

One thing is clear about President Barack Obama’s golf game: he clearly loves playing. In his first year as president, he’s played 25 rounds, as much as his predecessor George W. Bush played in two terms.

The state of his game is more murky. Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Teacher Brady Riggs analyzed Obama’s swing last summer and gave it a big thumbs-up for a beginner, while other reports say the commander in chief has become the hacker in chief.

Obama ties G.W. Bush in golf

President Barack Obama has only been in office for just over nine months, but he’s already hit the links as much as President Bush did in over two years.

CBS’ Mark Knoller — an unofficial documentarian and statistician of all things White House-related — wrote on his Twitter feed that, “Today – Obama ties Pres. Bush in the number of rounds of golf played in office: 24.

Took Bush 2 yrs & 10 months.”

Thanksgiving message

An oldie but goodie Thanksgiving message…

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 beers.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly.

The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full.

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.

Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full.

The students responded with a unanimous ‘yes.’

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed..

‘Now,’ said the professor as the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life..

The golf balls are the important things—your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions—and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else—the small stuff .

‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ he continued, ‘there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

• Spend time with your children.

• Spend time with your parents.

• Visit with grandparents.

• Take time to get medical checkups.

• Take your spouse out to dinner.

• Play another 18.

• There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

• Take care of the golf balls first—the things that really matter.

Set your priorities.

The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented.

The professor smiled and said, ‘I’m glad you asked.’

The beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of beers with a friend.