Yoga For Golf and Core Conditioning

Yoga For Golf and Core Conditioning

by Katherine Roberts - contributor for GolfOnline



The big buzzword in athletic training these days is "core conditioning". What exactly does core conditioning mean and why do golfers need to improve their core strength? Core conditioning refers to the center of the body - the abdominals, back and buttocks. Core strength will enable the golfer to maintain proper spine alignment throughout the golf swing and develop a consistent, repeatable golf swing. The walls of the abdominal cavity are supported entirely by the strength of the muscles located there, as no bones provide support for this area. Weak abdominal will stress the low back as the muscles do not provide adequate support for the spine.



These exercises will strengthen and stabilize the back - increasing rotation and decreasing risk of injury. Core strength and flexibility will maintain your primary spine angle and allow a reproduce able swing. Without core strength the golfer will have trouble maintaining a proper set up posture.

Three things to remember when working the core strength of the body - M.B.A: Move slowly, Breath deeply exhaling on exertion, and Align the body with total support of the neck.

Core abdominal presses:



To begin, lie on your back with bent knees and feet on the floor, relaxing the neck and shoulders. Begin by pressing your lower abdominals towards your spine and your spine towards the floor. Imagine you are pressing a penny into the floor under your low back. You should maintain this action while breathing deeply through your nose. Envision you are creating an imprint of the penny on the floor below your back. Hold this for one minute.





For more advanced students you can begin to lift the legs and lower slowly while maintaining the low back touching the floor. Raise and lower the legs as slowly as possible for one to two minutes. Once you cannot keep the low back on the floor or you experience any sensation in the low back immediately bring your legs back to the set up position.



Bicycle Oblique Crunches:

Lying on your back with your knees bent place one foot flat on the floor and the other leg extended approximately six inches off the floor. Supporting your neck with your clasped hands bring your right elbow to your left knee. Keep your elbow in your peripheral vision, twisting from the trunk not just the arms. Switch sides slowly exhaling as you twist. Continue as long as you can maintain the low back pressed against the floor.





Traditional Crunches:

Lying on your back with your knees bent and press your low back into the floor. Support your neck with the fingers interlaced. Very slowly exhale and lift your upper body towards the ceiling. Note: Keep your face and sternum facing the ceiling without straining your neck. Hold for five breaths and then lower. Repeat as many times as possible while maintaining proper alignment.



Practicing your exercises will build strength and you will continue to maintain your proper spine angle and reproduce your swing consistently. In my next article we will address the muscles of the spine continuing to build your core strength.



http://www.howtobefit.com/yoga-for-golf.htm

Yoga For Runners

Yoga For Runners

By Doug Kurtis - Detroit Free Press



Yoga has long been known to enhance running, but few take advantage of its benefits.

Runners complain of sore knees, hamstrings and backs from the pounding they absorb. The pain they endure isn't necessarily from the force of their feet hitting the ground but from the imbalance caused by running.



Yoga can help strength, flexibility and balance.

The body tries to avoid injury by working around instability. This compensation puts stress on the muscles, joints and bones. Tight muscles get tighter and become hard and inflexible.

As shock absorbers, they should be soft and malleable, with some give. Brittle muscles are vulnerable to tears.



Repetitive actions, such as running, can create unbalanced and excessively tight bodies. The endorphins that give runners such a positive feeling also can mask the pain of oncoming injuries.

Yoga can help runners overcome their imbalance and learn to relax their bodies, making them more effective and also saving strength. Tight muscles limit range of motion, but relaxed muscles allow bodies to operate more efficiently and with greater range of movement.



Yoga also teaches relaxation techniques for breathing. Having an awareness of your breathing helps reduce the tension that running, especially racing, can cause.

Many gyms, YMCAs and parks and recreation centers also offer yoga classes.



In the past several decades, almost a dozen different styles of yoga have emerged. If you attend a class and it doesn't work, try another style.



Karen Lewis of Brighton quit weightlifting after she discovered that power yoga gave her the same upper-body workout and maintained her muscle tone and strength.

Grace Gilmore of Northville also was suffering from neck pain because of stress on the job.

"I'm addicted to yoga," she said. "A combination of strength, stretching, endurance and a quiet mind have been a godsend to my heavy travel schedule. I bring my yoga mats and Kest tapes wherever I go."



http://www.howtobefit.com/yoga-for-runners.htm