High Intensity

Each person is at a different intensity level with their work-out, but what we often find is that few golfers have really stepped it up to create a workout routine that does what they really are looking for – improve their golf game.  There are two ways we recommend to increase the intensity of your work-out, and hopefully in doing so continue to increase the effectiveness.  The first is by time and the second is by quantity.

You can increase the intensity of your work-outs by using time as a factor.  Here is an example of using time when running a mile.  If you usually run a mile in 10 minutes, a great way to increase the intensity of that mile run is to bring the time down a little.  In the first week, time yourself to see if you can get it down to 9 minutes and 50 seconds.  As the weeks go along, dropping that time even 5 seconds per week can really add up and you will be at a higher intensity level each week.  The only way to bring the time down is to jog/run a little bit faster than the previous week.  What this will do is make the legs and cardiovascular system stronger which is important for the golfer because you need to have strong legs to be able to swing the golf club and keep good balance and if you walk a lot, this will help you make that back side walk, especially on the last few holes, much easier to make.

You can also increase the intensity of the work-out by using quantity.  Now, instead of going by time, you can increase the intensity of your work-out by increasing the distance each week.  If you are accustomed to running just a mile, increase the distance in the next week to a mile and a quarter.  By keeping the same pace (a 10 minute mile), adding distance to the mile will, over time, increase the intensity of the work-out.  Going from one mile to two miles is a pretty big increase in distance and should be gradually done over some time.  In this case, we would suggest adding a quarter of a mile for each two weeks.  So in a month you are up to 1.5 miles.  And in two months you are now at 2 miles.  You will feel the intensity level increase as the distance increases.

There are many ways to increase the intensity of your work-out.  A lot of gyms are getting very creative now a days with increasing the intensity of work-outs to maximize weight-loss.  As an example, where I work out, the trainers will turn up the heat of the room (90 degrees or more) and turn off the lights so the trainee can sweat a lot and stay focused and not think about time or where they are at because they are in the dark; therefore giving them no excuses to give it all they got.  While this can be effective, it is hard to do this on your own!  The two examples I gave can be done without the use of extra equipment or asking the gym to turn up the heat.  Instead you can gradually increase your intensity level over time.

The main reasons for increasing the intensity should be for weight loss, strength, and peak performance.  When you do a higher than usual intensity work-out, make sure that you give your body plenty of time to rest up with sleep and make sure you keep hydrating yourself with water!