Step 1
We start with general warm up exercises. These activities would help to generate heat in the joints, muscles, ligaments and other soft tissue before we move into the next phase. Activities could include climbing stairs, a comfortable jog or brisk walking. This is meant to be simple and the goal would be to increase our heart rates at a comfortable pace, increase blood flow to muscles used as well as temperature, flexibility and response time. General warm ups should not take longer than 5 minutes.
Step 2
Next, we focus on joint movement. Here, we want to reduce the stiffness in our joints and prepare our nerves and muscle systems for the game ahead. Warm ups here include stretching all the joints we are about to use in the game. Do not forget the smaller joints such as fingers and ankles. This will help lubricate the joints and get rid of stiffness that will create more stress in the joints during the game.
Step 3
Then, we look to warm up specific muscles. This should include: The spine (neck, mid-back, low-back), shoulders, arms, hips and legs. These exercises would include lunges, chest opening swings, side stretches, trunk rotations, hamstring and low back stretches.
Step 4
Lastly but certainly not the least, we need to activate and warm up our central nervous systems. This should be activity-specific. So imagine, if you were going for an intense jiu jitsu class, you would need to do back bridges, sprawls and hip escapes. For golfers, high knees, twist lunges and spiderman are a few of the many exercises that could help get the body ready for powerful and complex movements. Just remember that the warm-up should produce a mild sweat without fatiguing yourself. A general time-frame required for a proper warm-up will depend on how intense the exercises are performed and to what extent each type of golf shot (putting, chipping, driving) is practiced. A good target is 15 – 30 minutes.
Hopefully, with all these warm up tips, you will be able to prevent injuries as well as improve your golf game. Happy golfing!
