The Loop

Fitness Friday: One more for the core

August 25, 2011

*Editor's note: Every week my colleague Ron Kaspriske, Golf Digest Fitness Editor, presents Fitness Friday on the Instruction Blog. This week he gives you a different exercise to strengthen your core muscles, which are so important to an effective and long-lasting golf swing. Look for Saturday Morning Tip tomorrow, and remember to follow me on Twitter @RogerSchiffman.

Roger Schiffman

Managing Editor

Golf Digest*

Here's Ron: The problem with any one exercise is that, sooner or later, you get tired of doing it. The only thing that should be "routine" about a good workout routine is that it's well balanced. You should be switching up exercises and movement patterns as often as you can.

Instead of performing only one exercise to strengthen and lengthen a particular muscle group, it's smart to have two or three different ways to hit that same area. For instance, many of you probably work on your core muscles by doing planks or leg lifts or torso raises on an incline bench. (Let's hope you are not doing crunches or sit-ups or anything that violently compresses your vertebrae.) But instead of doing just one core exercise, it's a good idea to alternate between two or three from workout to workout--not only to keep from getting bored, but also to constantly challenge your muscles. With muscle growth, repetitive exercise falls into the law of diminishing returns. If you plank all the time, your body is not going to have to work as hard as the days go by.

So if you're weeks or months into your workout program, it's time to switch some things up. If you're looking for a new way to challenge your core muscles, click on the video below.

*Ron Kaspriske

Fitness Editor

Golf Digest*