Getting The Most Benefits From Your Golf Game
Posted on: 10 August 2015
While golfing doesn't have to be super strenuous, it still has a wide variety of health benefits. How you get from hole to hole can affect just how beneficial the game is, but even those who ride in golf carts can benefit.
Burn Calories and Lose Weight
When golfing 9 holes, the average person burns 411 calories if they ride in a cart, 613 if they walk but have the caddie deal with their clubs, 718 calories if they use a pull cart and 721 calories if they carry the bag themselves. Each 3,500 calories burned over and above those you eat results in a 1-pound weight loss. This extra activity can also help lower your risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Golfers tend to live 5 years longer than non-golfers, according to a study conducted in Sweden by the Karolinska Institutet.
Carry Your Bag to Get a Better Score
You may want to skip the caddy and the golf cart next time you play in any of the upcoming golf tournaments. While the reasons for the results might not be immediately clear, a study conducted by the Rose Center for Health and Sports Sciences found that people tend to get the highest scores if they use a pull cart compared to the other methods for carrying their bags. So not only does this method burn a lot of calories, it may also improve your game.
Low Risk of Injury
Since golf isn't a fast-paced sport with a lot of jerky moves, it tends to be one of the sports with a relatively low risk of injury. Taking lessons to learn the proper form, stretching and warming up before playing, using the proper equipment, not playing during the hottest part of the day and lifting and carrying your clubs safely can limit the risk of injuries further.
Reduces Stress
Golf can also help minimize stress. Being outside in nature, walking or other exercise and spending time with friends are all good ways to reduce stress, and all a part of playing a round of golf. If you don't know anyone who plays, you can usually meet up with people looking for a game at the club and thus make some new friends. Of course, for the most stress relief you'll want to choose a golf club that has a course with the type of holes you like to play, not ones that frustrate you whenever you come across them.
Other Potential Benefits
Golfing can help you maintain balance control as you get older, and may also help lower your blood sugar levels, with decreases of as much as 10 to 30 percent after playing 18 holes.
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