Core Exercises

OK I started doing these about a year ago. I am 55 and have been an avid gym rat for 25 years. Nothing I have done has helped me with my core strength as much as these simple exercises. They are awesome. You can do them every day, they work.

 

 

Plank with Diagonal Arm Lift

Assume a modified pushup position with your feet shoulder-width apart, forearms on the floor. Keeping your torso steady, raise your right arm for-ward and to the right, so that it points to 2 o'clock. Hold for 2 seconds, then lower and repeat with your left arm, raising it to 10 o'clock. That's one rep. Your elbows should be bent 90 degrees and directly under your shoulders.

Your welcome. I do them after my cardio work out but I really don't think it makes a difference. These are harder then they look so be prepared to control your breathing. You will find the core muscles under definite strain, but it's a good thing!

As for weight lifting before or after cardio, depends on the level of strenuous activity. If i run long, i will not do heavy weights on the legs. 

 

Here's my core workout that i do three times a week

 

In & Out - Sit on the ground with your knees bent infront of you, keeping yourself in the shape of a V, extend your legs out and bring them back towards you. To help out, i would recommend placing your hands on the ground for support the first time you do these. Then work your way to using no hands. 

 

Bicycles - Same position as the in & out, with your hands on the ground for support, move your feet like your riding a bicycle. Do 20, then go in reverse for 20

Crunches 

 

Leg Lifts - I use an exercise bench for this, with my butt just at the end, so i can lower my legs slightly past parallel. Keeping my chin to my chest, i will slosly raise my legs up to about 45 degrees, then slowly lower to just bellow parallel. I can do about 10, these are pretty brutal 

 

RKC Plank - You think because you can hold a plank for 2 minutes your all that, try this out. Get into a plank with your elbows on the ground. Your elbows will be positioned under your eyes, so your arms are not 90 degrees. From there, contract your gluts and quads. This is a pretty nasty plank. 

 

Resistance band rotation hold/Twist - Tie off a resistance bands at waist height, i use two 6lb bands. Take hold of the band, and talk so the bands become in tension, then extend your arms out from your body, and hold. I hold for about 20-30 seconds, then i will do 20 rotations with the bands. 

 

Resistance band side bend - Just step on the bands about a foot from the handle, and do a side bend

 

Glut thrusters- Place your shoulder blades with arms extended out 90 degrees from your side on a workout bench. With your feet infront of you so there 90 degrees bent, lower your butt, and then thrust upward making sure your hips are moving straight up. This will activate your gluts a lot more than a squat. I do these one leg only, and they just burn

 

 

Sometimes instead of glut thrusters, i will tie off a resistance band at knee height, and then with your leg bent at 90 degrees while standing up, push your leg backwards and up, keeping the knee at the same angle. This works the gluts as well. 

Sometimes i will do cable twists instead of resistance bands

The standard pushup is a very good core workout when done properly and one of my favourites has always been the russian, twist either with or without a medicine ball. For a complete core workout you may want to consider yoga, specifically power yoga. There are some excellent poses that target core muscles that are often times missed by more traditional core exercises. 

 

 

http://www.ripcords.com/circuit7.html

 

I bought these strength training bands - and it comes with an instructional DVD with a 7 minute workout.  It is affordable, they can fit into your carry-on bag very easily for when you travel.  And don't take up a lot of room.  Very good value and you can get a full body workout with them anywhere... And the 7 minute workout is quick enough - you could do it several times back to back, or throughout the day.

 

If you are looking to build strength and get lean and fit for golf... These are great items to pick up:

 

The book 'Fix your body, Fix your swing' by Joey Diovisalvi and really all you need are:

 

1.) Strength bands (like the ripcords linked above).

2.) Stability ball

3.) Dual Grip Medicine ball

4.) Dumbells

 

With these four items... You can do tons of exercises and whip your ass into shape in no time.  I've been doing this, mixed in with some treadmill work and feel great.

Yeah, they are really good.  I went with the variety 6 pack that came with the DVD.

http://www.ripcords.com/ripcords-packages.html

 

The reason is I didn't know which resistance band I'd use.  Come to find out that I use nearly all of them for different exercises.  And I like to do one exercise to failure with a higher resistance band, then go to a lighter resistance band - and do the same exercise to failure.  Repeating 3 to 4 times with lighter and lighter resistance.  You get a tremendous burn doing it.

 

And the bands are very durable.  You would have to really abuse the bands to tear or make them fail.  I've had mine for nearly 5 or 6yrs.  And not one has failed.

My uncle scoffed at me when i told him i used resistance bands, i am willing to throw him through some hellish workouts those resistant bands can do. 

 

Just diagnosing the most problematic areas in a person's body, with modern society, would be the hip girdle. 

 

Hip Flexors

Hip Abductors

Hip Adductors

Internal Hip Rotators

Gluts

Hamstrings

Quads

Quadratus Lumborum 

 

These muscles are the areas i think most people have insuffecient strength in. Think about it, a typical office worker sits in a desk for over 7 hours a day, then goes home and sits and watches TV, then goes to bed. They do this for years, and while doing this, there hip girdle is stuck in on primary position the whole time. This means the muscle in these areas are degrading. Now lets look at a professional golfer, spends his time in a gym, hitting golf balls, walking a golf course, he is constantly moving and standing upright. His hip girdle and core are developed completely opposite of a typical worker. This means, for us to be good at golf, we need to strengthen these areas. shortened hamstrings, bad hip muscles, poor hip flexors, all lead to a big issue with Amateurs, comming out of the shot. How many times have you seen a person's butt get closer to the ball during the downswing? Some only want to work out the abdominals, those are important, and really drive power in the golf swing, but transfering all that powers, stability, all of that starts in the hips. 

+1 on Beachcomber's exercises.  You can also do some of the Joey D exercises with pulley weights at the gym.  What I simulate are:

 

1. The backswing from set up A1 to A4 with the pulley or resistance band down at foot level.  Do them slow with emphasis on form, no head movement and really extending your right side.  I do both the right side and the left side (which feels weird but will help stretch as well.
2. The downswing from A4 to Impact with pulley or band anchor up high.  Again slow for strength development.  Emphasize form with weight moving forward, right elbow moving in toward your belly button.  You should end up at the correct impact position.  do both sides.
3. Through impact start where your club would be parallel to the ground on the downswing and push through impact to wear both arms are at full extension.  Anchor the band at waist height. Again do it slow and emphasize form.  do both sides.

 

Add these to the other core work show by the other members and you will have quite a workout.  I do them 3 times a week.

 

Don't do too much weight or too much resistance at first, but more reps, around 20.  For resistance bands, you can get lighter ones and double up for light/heavy.

 

You can also do these same exercises faster with resistance band for more of a plyometric workout.  But build strength first.  And stretch!!

Good to hear.  It sounds like you have a plan, and that is a big step in and of itself to being successful and sticking with a regular routine/workout regimine.  

 

Also, Youtube is pretty amazing... There are tons of videos of various workouts and modified exercises... So don't be afraid to check it out and look for ways to further engage various muscle groups, and mix up your routine to avoid boredom/burnout.  

 

Also, getting those bands, which are fairly inexpensive I think would be great... And a few other items, like a set of dumbells can take you a long way.  For dumbells, I have a set of 20's 25's and 40's and it is amazing how much I can do wit those and the bands.  I could easily just workout at home with the limited items I have.   But, I still have a gym membership because it is something that me and my wife can do together.

 

Good luck! 

Just got my resistance bands today. All colour coded. YouTube is a great resource for exercises tailored to golf. There is one brutal workout with Vijay and his trainer. That's the beauty of these bands you train for the movement you are trying to perform. I also play tennis and it's not hard to create an exercise that mimics forehands and backhands.

Brakkus,

 

Can you post the link to the Vijay workout?

I have always loved doing this workout. It will kick your butt everytime.

 

http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/ultimate-medicine-ball-workout

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4-rg622Fgw

 

This is the link to Vijay working on a machine which you can replicate with bands quite easily. There's a bunch of other videos of his training once you find it.

 

I have now been using my bands for a week or so and I have to say I have been foolish neglecting my body. I used to be a bodybuilder before the usual married,job,and two kids came along. I was pretty strong through the chest,shoulders,arms,and legs and glutes. However I hated doing 100's of sit  ups, so avoided a lot of core work. I don't think I ever had core strength as much as I should have although I didn't neglect my back.

 

Stopped lifting weights a good 14-15 years ago and apart form a cable machine I haven't trained,just rode a bike and tennis,and golf. After using the bands it's clear I have physical issues. My lower back and abdominals are flat out weak. Something I detected during my swing was that I seemed to be pulled off balance whenever I tried to inject some pace on the downswing and I'm not talking about full out either. I still have lots of sufficient power in the glute and thigh area but my midsection isn't strong enough to hold my posture when the rotation is at it's highest. My flaw when swinging a little bit harder is to thin the ball so my body is compensating by coming out of my posture.

 

Could be mechanical but probably a combination,but it's a chicken and egg which is first. Mechanically coming out of my posture therefore technique,or physically weak in the lower back causing mechanical breakdown.

 

Anyway I would recommend getting some bands for core work. Reluctant to pay money for exercises I can find myself on youtube I have combined plyometric with isometric exercises. Isometric for the different stages of the golf swing and a plyometrics for an overall movement similar too the swing. I also do some strength work on my core for endurance. Not a massive time stealer 15 mins max.

 

Doesn't matter if I don't hit the ball further but if I can maintain my mechanics for longer and improve them then I should hit the ball longer and better without much increase in speed due to increased fitness.

Thanks!!  I having been doing the middle exercises, but not the first and last.  Also, I use both hands and try to keep the form exactly as my swing.  I will add the other ones now.

 

I also do the takeaway.