Golf is a challenging sport for all ages, but it presents special challenges to the over-50 golfer. Power and strength can decrease after age 50. An average aging adult will experience a 30% decrease in muscle mass and maximum strength between the ages of 40-70.
These changes can be quite significant, but they can be reduced through scientific applications of functional strength training and power-training exercises.
This overview is a starter guide to golf training for seniors- to ensure safety and reduce injury, make sure to get in touch with a personal trainer at a fitness studio that specializes in strength training for seniors.
Strength
The loss of muscle strength is primarily due to the aging process. This is called sarcopenia, which is Greek for "poverty in flesh".
After 30 years, people who are physically inactive can lose between 3 and 5% of their muscle mass. After age 70, this percentage increases even more.
A personal trainer can help you treat sarcopenia through a personalized strength and conditioning program. Strength training is the best anti-aging remedy for muscle loss. Your potential to hit the ball further depends on how much muscle you have.
Functional Strength Training
Any type of strength training can help preserve muscle mass. Single-joint movements which isolate particular muscle groups are classified as "nonfunctional."
A strength and conditioning program must be functional in order to be effective. The majority of exercises should be performed unsupported with three dimensions. This requires the brain to coordinate the muscles to create patterns of movement.
Gym SRQ clients may receive strength training exercises based on these movement patterns;
Squatting
Lunging
Bending
Pushing
Pulling
Twisting
Gait (walk, jog, stride, run, sprint).
Power Training
For over-50 golfers, a strength and conditioning program is essential. However, to maximize performance and prevent disability as we age, we must also train power.
Muscle power decreases faster than strength as we age. Loss of fast-twitch fibres can have an effect on muscles' ability to generate force necessary for certain tasks, such as swinging a golf ball. Functional ability is more affected by power than strength. For older adults, power training can help to maximize function and prevent disability.
Combining a strength and conditioning program with explosive power is best achieved under the supervision of a personal trainer.
Conclusion
Your brain must be able to make the correct combination of strength, endurance, power and flexibility to allow your body to perform the complex, consistent, and powerful movements required for golf. This means that you must ensure your body can move in coordinated sequences.
It is important to exercise regularly if you're over 50. Optimal health and fitness as you age enables you to keep doing the things that you like, need, want, and enjoy. It's possible to achieve amazing feats for older athletes if you strive to improve on the performance attained earlier in life.
If you are looking for a strength and conditioning program or one to one training in the Sarasota area, get in touch with our team today.