As an LPGA Teaching Professional, certified personal trainer and former managing editor of Golf Fitness Magazine, I come across massive amounts of information about golf and golf fitness. In this blog, I will be sharing with my readers useful information about all things related to golf and golf fitness including tips on strength, flexibility and endurance, mental strategies, nutrition, swing tips and advice and injury prevention. It doesn’t matter what level player you are, there are always things to learn about the game.

I have been playing golf for more than 30 years and I have been teaching for 17 years and I am still am amazed that I come across new tips and exercises all the time. I am always trying to learn something new and trying to improve my game as well, so hopefully I can help you improve your game too. Please feel free to share with me your thoughts, comments and questions. It is never too late to Shape Up Your Swing and Trim Your Score.

The Weekend Warrior

If you are a typical weekend golfer, like the rest of us, you may spend your weekends overdoing it on the golf course-trying to get in as many holes as possible. Monday morning rolls around and instead of feeling rejuvenated and ready to get back to work, you crave a massage or a hot tub.

Instead spending money on a massage or investing big money in installing a hot tub, test the waters with simple yoga pose that may help you undo all the overdoing…

Simple Supported Back Bend

If you spent the whole weekend on the golf course, your back may be sore from all the swinging, bending and twisting. Doing a ‘simple supported back bend pose’, also know as the ‘anti-slouch pose’, can help relieve stress by opening the chest and shoulders while gently stretching the lower and middle back.

You will need a small blanket to do this pose.

Fold the blanket in thirds and stack it lengthwise on the floor.
Sit in front of the blanket, and begin to lie back coming onto your elbows and gradually lowering your torso and neck onto the blanket.
Your chin and forehead should be aligned, relaxed and comfortable.
Drop your arms to the side and bend at the elbows to relax and open the chest.
Breathe deeply and hold the pose. Adjust the height of the blankets or sliding up or down the blankets to find a more comfortable position as desired. Hold the pose for as long as possible or until you feel a release in your back. One or two minutes should be enough to refresh and restore your back.

Variation: If your chin pops up and the neck is over-stretched, add a small pillow or towel roll under your head to maximize comfort. If more stretch is desired to the low back add an additional blanket to increase the height and extension to the low back.

The Weekend Warrior 1

Caption-Sit in front of a rolled blanket with legs extended.

The Weekend Warrior 2

Lower your upper body on blanket.

What is Cardiogolf?

Cardiogolf (www.cardiogolf.com) is a 60-minute golf-specific workout that is taught by certified instructors using an area in a gym or at a practice range. Using the specially designed Cardio Club participants learn exercises to promote better swing mechanics, flexibility, strength and balance throughout the golf swing. The exercises are set to music which makes this program ideal for a group exercise class. It accommodates every golfer regardless of gender, age and skill level or fitness level.

Who developed Cardiogolf?

The Cardiogolf Fitness Program was created by Karen Palacios-Jansen. Karen, an AFAA certified personal trainer and LPGA teaching professional and is managing editor of Golf Fitness Magazine. Over the years she has instructed hundreds of professional and amateur golfers using this unique and effective program and has been featured in several top golf publications illustrating this success.

Why Cardiogolf?

Karen used to have a dilemma: spend her free time working out or working on her golf swing. Golf may be good mental exercise, but as far as a physical exertion it can’t compete with aerobics. So she got to thinking, maybe she could do both at the same time.

Learning to play golf requires a lot of time, effort and money. To play consistently, you must spend countless hours at a golf course. To achieve power, you must train your body, spending time in the gym lifting weights and stretching most days of the week.

Through analysis and research Karen developed a program that revolutionizes how people learn and practice the game of golf. Cardiogolf is a way for golfers to improve their swing mechanics and fitness levels at the same time.

Cardiogolf –The Core Workout is the second DVD to LPGA Teacher of the Year and Certified Personal Trainer Karen Palacios-Jansen’s Cardiogolf Fitness Program. Cardiogolf uses easy-to-learn movements without the need of leaving the privacy of your own home. In Karen’s newest DVD, you’ll learn core specific exercises to help improve your golf swing, lengthen your drives and reshape your body at the same time. You know you need to exercise for better health, so why not practice your golf swing at the same time.

There is nothing like Cardiogolf on the market today. This unique golf fitness program is designed to improve swing biomechanics, increase clubhead speed for more power and tone your body at the same time. Karen demonstrates proper technique step-by-step in a unique format that is easy to follow. The workout can be modified and intensified to fit the needs of players of all levels. Karen has taught her Cardiogolf fitness program to hundreds of golfers to help them achieve incredible results. To order visit www.cardiogolfcore.com or call 1-704-663-5199.

Click here to buy my new Golf Fitness Book

Every golfer, at every level, can shoot lower scores and play injury-free with the golf-specific programs outlined in Golf Fitness. This book looks at the tips and techniques used by today’s top golfers: Master’s Champion Trevor Immelman’s exercise routine, Stuart Appleby on how to develop the “power move,” LPGA Tour pro Suzanne Petersen’s routine for top performance, Phil Mickelson’s trainer Sean Cochran on staying fit in the off-season, and more. Golf Fitness includes exercises to improve the golf swing, details on better warm-ups, whole-body workout routines, and notes on nutrition. The book also looks at the mental game, and how the mind and body can work together for lower scores. Any golfer looking for an edge will find it in Golf Fitness.