Piggy backing off of yesterday’s post on warming up, today I wanted to share with you a few exercises that are great at preparing the body for activity by using weights.  Yes, you are going to get some dumbbells or kettlebells in your hands as a way to get ready for your workout!

Here’s the deal with the deal:  Yes, we want the body to be moving at it’s best before starting a workout or playing a round of golf.  But, engaging muscles and bringing awareness to the nervous system requires more than just leg swings and pelvic tilts most times.  This is about going beyond the warm up and into the zone of body preparation.

As a golfer, there are so many demands being placed on your body.  How many times in a round of golf are you actually standing on a flat surface?  Never!  You are attempting to swing a long lever at a high rate of speed on an uneven surface that you have never trained your body to adapt to.  That’s the inspiration for the first exercise in the video today.  You will be holding a weight in one hand and marching in place.  As you raise each leg, the weight wants to pull you out of balance and it’s up to your body to make the necessary adjustments just like it must do during a round of golf.

The second exercise uses the kettlebell as an aiming point for a lateral lunge/rotation sequence.  I love using lateral lunges because of the depth you can achieve into the hip and the challenge it provides to the adductors.  When you complete the torso rotation asking the hips to stay stable, the exercise becomes even more complex.  By placing one hand on the kettlebell, it creates a stable point to rotate from and will give you feedback if you try to cheat.

Give both of these a try before your next round of golf and let me know how it goes!

-S