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The Loop

Fitness Friday: Is your workout bad for your back?

October 10, 2014

Perhaps the biggest misconception in terms of training for a better golf game is that your back— particularly the lower back—needs to be more mobile. Trying to increase the range of motion in your lower back with a variety of torso-twisting exercises is a recipe for future pain and injury, says Mike Boyle (@bodybyboyle), one of the world's top strength-and-conditioning experts. Among Mike's many credentials is that he consults for the Boston Red Sox.

"Anything from trying to rotate in one direction to crack your back or stretches where the lower body is put into a stressed state can eventually lead to serious back problems," Boyle says.

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Click on the video below to get Mike's thoughts on what exercises to avoid and what to do to play better.

Ron Kaspriske is the fitness editor of Golf Digest.

(Illustration By Jason Lee)*