In May 2013, Golf Digest published a great article describing a 42 point, six week get fit plan – Click Here to see the Golf Digest plan.
We’re expanding on the points and adding insights and perspectives. The list was authored by Ben Shear, who trains many of the game’s top players, including Luke Donald, Jason Day and Webb Simpson. Embrace his suggestions, and it won’t be long before you look better, feel better and, yes, play better golf.
“Write down how much you sleep each day. Your goal is 60 hours a week.”
Wow, that’s a stretch goal for most of us! Between managing a busy work schedule, balancing family life, getting enough exercise, and practicing our golf game, fitting in 8 and a half hours per night seems practically impossible. A key point to remember here is that sleep is important. Sleep is key, essential, and absolutely downright necessary for our basic physiological operations. Sleep supports our neurological performance, endocrine balance, immune system functioning, and musculoskeletal growth and repair. Our bodies release human growth hormone (HGH)during sleep which is an essential player in cellular regeneration.
Like most aspects of health and fitness, the need for sleep varies by individual. Some of us fall into the range of the seven-eight hours and others of us can’t get by without nine or ten. A few mutants among us hit our optimum with only six or so hours of shut eye but these are truly very rare indeed. Much of our differing sleep needs is determined by age. Babies need the most, while adults require the least. Older adults actually need as much sleep as other adults, in contrast to popular belief. Although sleep patterns become more fragmented as we age, we still need more than we typically get. Sleep still enables critical hormonal secretion (like growth hormone) necessary for healthy aging. One study in particular linked solid sleep with higher levels of testosterone in older men.
Most of us with busy schedules and extreme demands on our time will benefit from more sleep. If you’re not getting 8-8.5 hours per night, make an effort to get 30 minutes more every night for a week and see if you feel differently by the end of the week and see if it impacts your golf game that week. Other suggestions to help you get better sleep include:
Eat a light dinner: lighten up on the size of dinner to help get a deeper sleep
Have a glass of wine: One glass will help you relax and release the day’s pressures. More than one can be detrimental and cause intermittent sleep which will defeat the purpose.
Handful of nuts: eating a few nuts before bed can help you get to sleep faster due to the nutrients they contain.
Write out the reflections of the day: Take a few minutes to write out the accomplishments, tasks, worries, andpressing concerns of the day. In many cases you can arrive at solutions if you don’t try to consciously force them.Recording them before bed will enable your sleeping mind do the work for you and you will be ready to tackle the list refreshed in the morning.
Watch or read briefly: Reading is overall better for your mind than watching television but sometimes intentionally doing something mindless can help you relax. Periodically, perhaps watching a movie can help your sleep. However, if reading helps you fall asleep, then read before bed.
Sleep is good for your health, your life, and your golf game. Develop a strategy for getting more sleep and improving the quality of your sleep. Try to increase the amount of sleep you get for a week and feel the difference for yourself.
http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2014-05/improving-your-sleep-ron-kaspriske
We’re expanding on the points and adding insights and perspectives. The list was authored by Ben Shear, who trains many of the game’s top players, including Luke Donald, Jason Day and Webb Simpson. Embrace his suggestions, and it won’t be long before you look better, feel better and, yes, play better golf.
“Write down how much you sleep each day. Your goal is 60 hours a week.”
Wow, that’s a stretch goal for most of us! Between managing a busy work schedule, balancing family life, getting enough exercise, and practicing our golf game, fitting in 8 and a half hours per night seems practically impossible. A key point to remember here is that sleep is important. Sleep is key, essential, and absolutely downright necessary for our basic physiological operations. Sleep supports our neurological performance, endocrine balance, immune system functioning, and musculoskeletal growth and repair. Our bodies release human growth hormone (HGH)during sleep which is an essential player in cellular regeneration.
Like most aspects of health and fitness, the need for sleep varies by individual. Some of us fall into the range of the seven-eight hours and others of us can’t get by without nine or ten. A few mutants among us hit our optimum with only six or so hours of shut eye but these are truly very rare indeed. Much of our differing sleep needs is determined by age. Babies need the most, while adults require the least. Older adults actually need as much sleep as other adults, in contrast to popular belief. Although sleep patterns become more fragmented as we age, we still need more than we typically get. Sleep still enables critical hormonal secretion (like growth hormone) necessary for healthy aging. One study in particular linked solid sleep with higher levels of testosterone in older men.
Most of us with busy schedules and extreme demands on our time will benefit from more sleep. If you’re not getting 8-8.5 hours per night, make an effort to get 30 minutes more every night for a week and see if you feel differently by the end of the week and see if it impacts your golf game that week. Other suggestions to help you get better sleep include:
Eat a light dinner: lighten up on the size of dinner to help get a deeper sleep
Have a glass of wine: One glass will help you relax and release the day’s pressures. More than one can be detrimental and cause intermittent sleep which will defeat the purpose.
Handful of nuts: eating a few nuts before bed can help you get to sleep faster due to the nutrients they contain.
Write out the reflections of the day: Take a few minutes to write out the accomplishments, tasks, worries, andpressing concerns of the day. In many cases you can arrive at solutions if you don’t try to consciously force them.Recording them before bed will enable your sleeping mind do the work for you and you will be ready to tackle the list refreshed in the morning.
Watch or read briefly: Reading is overall better for your mind than watching television but sometimes intentionally doing something mindless can help you relax. Periodically, perhaps watching a movie can help your sleep. However, if reading helps you fall asleep, then read before bed.
Sleep is good for your health, your life, and your golf game. Develop a strategy for getting more sleep and improving the quality of your sleep. Try to increase the amount of sleep you get for a week and feel the difference for yourself.
http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2014-05/improving-your-sleep-ron-kaspriske
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