Exercise: Stretching For Your Health

Stretching is something that most people know is important but often times have trouble understanding how it make it work to their benefit. They stretch either because they want to increase their overall flexibility, want to maximize athletic performance or get out of pain. I also would like you consider stretching for health, which is more about balancing the musculoskeletal system to allow for optimal flow of energy throughout the body. Here’s how it works: the health of your blood vessels, lymphatic tissue and nerves are greatly dependent on the tension or lack thereof in your muscles, tendons and fascia. These structures allow for a free and un-inhibited flow of life force, whether it’s blood, or nerve energy. Therefore when you stretch, consider that your results are not just dependent on your ability to tie yourself in knots. It is more about freeing up any stagnant energy areas in the body. There are many types of stretching that we’ll touch on at a later point but for now, let’s focus on muscle stretching, on ligaments, and fascial stretching. There are different types and techniques that you can use to get maximum benefit, add balance to your body and to achieve optimal health. The type of stretching that you do will vary depending on your individual needs and your specific constitution.

A Tight Muscle Is A Weak Muscle

A properly executed stretching program will produce fast gains in golf performance and here is why:

Flexibility, strength, and power are intimately connected but flexibility is the gatekeeper to achieving optimal strength and power. Our body has a protective mechanism that does not allow it to move beyond a point that it is not strong enough to control. It can be likened to the parking break on your car.  For example a tight hip muscle will restrict hip mechanics during the golf swing. The tighter the hip muscle gets, the weaker it gets. Tightness begets weakness and weakness begets tightness. It is a perpetuating cycle that will continue until the muscle is properly stretched and balanced. A properly executed stretch will tell the body that it is ok to relax, thus “releasing the body’s parking break”.

Mastery of the Primary Golf Movement Patterns

When you break the golf swing down to its simplest form, it is a combination of the bend and the twist. But we both know
that there is more to it than that. If the bend and twist only involved one body segment we’d all be PGA pro’s. Golf is
Rotation! Every joint from the base of the skull to the ankle must be able to twist. The body must be able to bend and twist
gracefully without restriction.

Development of General Physical Preparation

Golf requires two types of training. General Physical Preparation (GPP) and Golf Specific Preparation (i.e. learning the golf swing). Your golf pro will teach you how to swing the golf club but if your body will not do what you are asking it to do, it will be difficult to take full advantage of what you are learning. If you want to make learning the skill of golf easier, General Physical Preparation (GPP) will clear the runway and allow you to take your golf performance to new heights.

For more tips visit monstergolfswing.com

An Internal Focus

After committing to a shot, a good golfer then places the focus inward. In Monster Golf Swing program, the focus is inside ourselves and not the kettlebell. This allows for superior results. One example is that when doing the kettlebell swing, focus on rooting the feet through the ground rather than lifting the kettlebell with your arms.

The Art Of Slacking Off

There is a time and place to go easy with your exercise program and if you can time it just right it can produce dramatic results for you. Here is what I mean: when the majority of people begin exercise programs they are already in an energy deficit, they are tired, malnourished, and weak. What most people do is they start intense exercise programs while in these depleted states, which makes the problem even worse. This is the absolute perfect time to introduce low doses of exercise with frequent intervals to gain dramatic results in your energy levels, fitness, and body composition.

Kneeling Lunge Stretch

The hip flexors are a bit tricky in that they tend to be really tight or really loose. Either scenario can produce posture imbalances and or back pain. A dead giveaway that you have tight hip flexors is that you have a Donald Duck posture in your hips i.e. your butt sticks out excessively. On the other hand if you have a Pink Panther type posture where your hips project forward in relation to your shoulders you most likely will have loose hip flexors. If you perform the lunge stretch with proper form and do not feel the stretch deep in the groin area you may have loose hip flexors and will need to go to maintenance mode with the lunge stretch.

The Safe Application of Force

When your body absorbs force, it responds by getting stronger. The challenge is getting the force through the body without trashing it. The kettlebell swing allows you to generate the same, if not greater forces as a vertical jump without your feet leaving the ground. This means you save your joints from wear and tear. You can train more frequently, which means that you will get stronger faster.

For more tips golf tips on power visit monstergolfswing.com!

Stability Is A Perquisite For Strength:

Your golf fitness must be like a pyramid in that one phase builds on the next. In order to have optimal strength you must first build adequate stability.

Building Strength and Conditioning Reserves:

Excessive grip tension will kill your golf swing. On the other hand, if your grip is too loose, the club will twist at impact or completely fly out of your hand.  So there has to be a happy medium. 

What if your ideal grip tension was a 4 and now after training with kettlebells it becomes a 2? In other words you will be using less effort to hold on to the golf club. Less tension mean more speed. More speed means more power. Now imagine this same result happening in your hips, spine, ribcage and shoulders. Well you don’t need to imagine it because that’s EXACTLY what’s going to happen in your Monster Golf Swing program.

To get started with the Monster Golf Swing Program visit:  www.monstergolfswing.com

Next Page »