The good news for golfers who want to claim their time on the links as exercise is that they can.
Turns out, according to a study done at the Neuromuscular Research Laboratory at the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine, golf actually can be especially beneficial to your health.
But there is a catch: It only counts as exercise if you ditch the cart.
"Our data shows that if you walk while you're playing golf, you have sufficient intensity that you can achieve the health benefits of exercise," said Dr. Scott Lephart, director of the Neuromuscular Research Lab. "But if you ride a cart, which the majority of golfers do, the intensity is not sufficient enough to gain any health benefits."
If there's a question about golf and the body, Lephart probably knows the answer.
Golf Digest includes Lephart and his research among the people and technology changing the game. In addition to his research on the physiological benefits of golf, Lephart and his colleagues also developed Par Without Pain, an eight-week, golf-specific exercise program proven to improve a golfer's swing mechanics, strength, flexibility, balance and overall performance.
An individual who walks the course and carries clubs can cover, on average, 5.4 miles, has an average heart rate of 120 (bpm, 68 percent of maximum heart rate) and burns 1,954 calories (kcal), according to the lab's research. Walking and using a caddie, the heart rate falls to 110 with 1,527 calories burned. Using a cart, that same individual walks about 2.4 miles, has an average heart rate of 88 (50 percent of max) and burns 1,303 calories.
An individual who plays golf four times a week without a cart burns nearly 3,000 more calories than someone using a cart. Over three months, walking the course and carrying your own bag can result in a loss of nine pounds.
"The current recommendation from the American College of Sports Medicine is in order to achieve the health benefits of exercise, you need to have a minimum intensity of 60 percent of maximum heart rate, sustained for 20-30 minutes, for a minimum of three days a week," Lephart said.
"Rounds of golf are taking 90 minutes-2 1/2 hours. If you're walking, your average heart rate is exceeding that 60 percent, so it's significantly more exercise and caloric expenditure than is the minimum necessary."
Lephart's true passion for golf research is not necessarily the health benefits, but performance and injury prevention.
"The whole concept of Par Without Pain was to study the physical requirements of performing a golf swing and doing that injury free and efficiently," he said. "What the data demonstrated was that golfers who performed at a relatively high level and did it injury-free and efficiently had some very different characteristics than those who were injured or really bad at what they did."
Lephart said the study found that biomechanically the golf swing is "probably one of the most complex movements in all of sports."
The key areas they focused on to help golfers improve were balance, core and hip strength and flexibility and strength in the upper torso and shoulders.
After golfers' swings were analyzed, the lab designed an eight-week golf-specific exercise program for them to follow. In addition to increases in strength, flexibility and balance at the end of the eight weeks (22 exercises, 3-4 times per week), more than 100 golfers saw an average total driving distance increase from 227 to 243 yards and ball speed increase from 136 mph to 143 mph.
"The bottom line is this exercise program leads to improved performance and reduces the risk of injury," Lephart said.
There are, of course, plenty of DVDs and books on the market that claim to do the same things. But, as Lephart said, there are also many gimmicks out there.
"Few are medically based and even fewer have research validating the programs," Lephart said. "Do some work? Of course. Some are somewhat similar to ours. But very few have been validated by the research."
Hunter Wood, the golf professional at Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier, agreed that not all golf fitness videos promising longer drives and lower scores can actually deliver.
"It's no different from the fitness things you see on TV where they say, 'If you do this 10 minutes a day, your abs are going to look like this,'" Wood said. "It's not that easy."
In full swing
The Par Without Pain program developed in UPMC's Neuromuscular Research Laboratory now resides at Dick's Sporting Goods specialty store in Robinson Township, The Golf Shop, and is called the Golf Performance Center. It's the only place, aside from the David Leadbetter Golf Academy, near Orlando, Fla., where consumers can benefit from UPMC research. Packages vary beginning with a $50 teaser package up to $850 for the full program. Telephone (412) 809-0392 to set up an appointment.
Larger text
Smaller text
Print this article
E-mail this article
