Your golf body type is:
Restricted Upper Body
Your custom golf workout will focus on: Upper Core Mobility
This workout is designed to mobilize your shoulders, stabilize your shoulder blades, and improve the mobility of your upper back so that you can achieve a better upper body turn as well as better separation of your upper and lower body in your golf swing.
Workout Focus:
- Reduce C-posture (curvature in the upper spine and rounding of shoulders)
- Strengthen the upper core
- Improve shoulder mobility
- Enhance shoulder stability
- Improve upper back mobility
- Reduce upper back and neck pain
1. Open Book
Reps: 5 each side
This exercise will unlock the muscles in the front of your shoulders and chest, which will reduce any neck pain and improve your upper body rotation in your swing.
Set up in Side Lying Position, laying on your left side with a rolled-up towel or a pillow parallel to your hips in front of you. Bend your right arm to 90 degrees, bend both knees, then hook your right leg over the top of the towel. Press your right knee into the towel as you rotate and open your upper body to the right as far as you can without letting your hips follow your upper body. Feel the stretch across the front of your right shoulder and chest. Hold and breathe, deepening the stretch by dropping the back of your right shoulder towards the floor as far as your body allows (it’s okay if the back of your shoulder doesn't touch the floor), then return to start. Repeat the set on your other side.
1. Open Book
Reps: 5 each side
2. Shoulder Y's
Reps: 10
This exercise will strengthen the stabilizers around your shoulder blades, which will pull your shoulders back and help connect your arms to your upper body in your golf swing.
Set up in Face Down Position with a small towel rolled up under your forehead. Tuck your toes up under your ankles, extend your arms out in a Y shape, then make a fist and point your thumbs straight up toward the ceiling. Brace your abs, grip your glutes, and lift your arms straight up off the floor in a Y shape by squeezing your shoulder blades together, then lower back down with control. Keep tension through your arms and upper back as you return to the floor rather than relaxing and resting. Lift again. Be careful not to lift your head up or bend your elbows as you lift your arms.
2. Shoulder Y's
Reps: 10
3. Shoulder T's
Reps: 10
This exercise will strengthen the muscles in-between your shoulder blades, which will not only reduce any neck and shoulder pain, but also help pull your shoulders back to allow for better upper body rotation in your swing.
Set up in Face Down Position with a small towel rolled up under your forehead. Tuck your toes up under your ankles, extend your arms out in a T shape, then make a fist and point your thumbs straight up toward the ceiling. Brace your abs, grip your glutes, and lift your arms straight up off the floor in a T shape by squeezing your shoulder blades together, then lower back down with control. Be careful not to lift your head up or bend your elbows as you lift your arms.
3. Shoulder T's
Reps: 10
4. Dead Bug Arm Drop:
Reps: 8 each alternating side
This exercise will strengthen your abs and lengthen your lats to reduce any lower back or shoulder pain and minimize tightness and rounding of your shoulders, which can restrict your upper body rotation in your golf swing.
Set up in Plane Position with your back against the floor, knees bent, then extend your arms up directly over your shoulders and make a fist with your thumbs pointing overhead. Press your feet into the floor, brace your abs, and tuck your hips, flattening your lower back against the floor. Maintain this position as you slowly lower your right arm overhead, dropping your thumb towards the floor as far as your body allows without bending your right arm or arching your lower back, then return to start and repeat on the left.
4. Dead Bug Arm Drop:
Reps: 8 each alternating side
5. Palm Up Club Lift:
Reps: 8
This exercise will strengthen your mid core and unlock your upper core, notably your lat muscles, to improve your upper body rotation and reduce any lower back pain.
Set up in Address Posture and take hold of a golf club with your palms facing up, arms slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, then corkscrew your elbows by rotating the insides of your elbow pits outward. Brace your abs, take a deep breath in, then exhale as you push the golf club away from you, lifting it as high as you can while keeping your arms straight and your elbows corkscrewed. Inhale and
exhale at the top of your range of motion, then lower back down with control. Be careful not to stand up out of your address posture as you lift the club, and keep your abs braced throughout the entire movement to prevent your lower back from arching.
5. Palm Up Club Lift:
Reps: 8
Pro Tips for our Core Cues
Brace your abs:
Pull your belly button towards your spine, bracing as if you're preparing to take a punch, or as if you’re
blowing air out through a straw, and then hold that tension in your abs to activate your mid core.
Corkscrew your elbows:
With your arms straight, rotate the insides of your elbow pits outward to activate the upper lat and scapular muscles of your upper core, which will help stabilize your shoulders.