Sam Heffer shares his top

NO PAIN, NO GAME?

By Sam Heffer

It’s a common thought that in order to hit the ball further, not stiffen up on the back 9, feel in control of your swing and shoot overall lower scores then your fitness routine needs to be a punishing one.

Whilst a little soreness from working out in the early stages is normal, a measure of an effective training programme should never be how sore you feel afterwards. After all, the 1 week on 3 month off routine never really helped anyone.

Here are my top 3 tips to help manage your training sessions so you remain consistent and see the results on the golf course that your time and efforts deserve:

CHOOSING THE RIGHT WEIGHT In order to get stronger and more flexible we should be safely lifting some weights so choosing a suitable one with each exercise is crucial.

Too heavy could see compromises with technique however a weight that’s too light won’t see the necessary adaptations within a muscle both of which can cause frustration with lack of progress.

Choose a weight that leaves between 2-4 reps in the tank eg: if the set demands 10 reps, use a weight which you could do 12 reps with and stop at 10.

RESTING BETWEEN SETS Most people don’t take enough rest between sets which could see a couple of problems:

Either they didn’t work hard enough in the previous set or the following sets could be compromised with poor technique or tiring way too soon.

I advise 1-2 minutes rest for the lighter sets (>10 reps) with as much as 3-5 minutes for the heavier work (<8 reps).

Using rest periods to do some form of low intensity stretches is a good idea and can mean getting more work done in less time.

REMAINING CONSISTENT It’s not uncommon to feel sore in the early stages of a training plan and could even be expected after a long hiatus however as previously mentioned, measuring the effectiveness of your workouts by how sore you feel is never a good idea due to the inconsistent nature it will create.

The right weight, reps, sets and rest are all pointless if you’re unable to remain consistent with the average club golfer benefitting hugely from the 3x52 method. A basic workout done consistently well, 3x a week for a year will always be better than the ‘perfect’ workout done every now and then over the same time period.

Sam is a fitness coach who helps the club golfer hit longer drives, shoot lower scores and play with more enjoyment without giving up the foods they love. Follow @samgolffitness on Instagram or visit samgolffitness.com for help getting started with a personal training programme.