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Golf is a relaxed leisure activity yet it also provides a great opportunity to improve fitness and develop a healthy lifestyle. The benefits of golf are as follows:

• Good aerobic (fat burning) activity
• Low intensity - anyone can do it
• Promotes flexibility and movement at a number of joints
• Development of coordination skills
• Whole body strength development (golfers use most of their body to swing a club at up to 120mph).

To achieve some of these benefits, the average golfer needs to make only small changes to their normal round of golf. Use these tips to improve your fitness and use golf to develop a healthy lifestyle as well as experiencing an enjoyable leisure activity.

(a) Dont take a buggy. The average round of golf is an equivalent walk of approximately six miles. Walking this distance once or twice a week is a great way to build up aerobic fitness and burn fat. If you find a walk of 18 holes too difficult, walk six or nine holes at first and use a buggy for the rest. Alternatively, you could walk the 18 holes but take a rest on each tee and take a little longer for your round.
(b) Carry your clubs. This is an extension for those who are fit enough to cope with walking for 18 holes. Put the buggy away and carry your clubs instead. Start out with a small bag and a half set of clubs and slowly build up to a full set and a bigger bag. The extra weight on your back means that your body works harder and improves fitness. Just make sure that the bag you are carrying has a double strap and is balanced correctly to alleviate any back pain.
(c) Eat well. Make sure that you plan ahead and eat the proper food around the golf course. Substitute the fizzy drinks or whiskey for water. Swap the chocolate bars for bananas and change the pre-round bacon sandwiches for some fruit, porridge or muesli. Burning off more calories than you put in will see your waist line decrease.
(d) Warm up and cool down. At the end of the day, golf is exercise. The body needs to generate a huge amount of power and needs a certain level of endurance ability to play a round of golf. To prevent injury and muscle soreness, a warm up and cool down is important. Before play, make sure that your body is ready for exercise by getting the heart rate elevated and increase body temperature. A brisk walk for five minutes will satisfy this. Following this, a few light stretches focussing on the legs, arms, trunk and neck will stretch the important muscles used in a golf swing. These routines will prepare the body for the round ahead and minimize any injuries that could occur. If possible, do exactly the same for a cool down after the round of golf. Doing so will ease any waste products from the muscles and reduce muscle soreness as well as stretching any muscles that may have tightened up during the round.

Follow these tips for a healthier lifestyle and ultimately to improve your fitness.

This is a sure fire way to pick up an injury. True, extra weight makes the body work harder when walking, however, dragging extra weight over uneven ground and constantly loading and unloading the bag to play shots can put extra pressure on the back and major joints. If you are going to these extremes, go to the gym instead.

Golf takes place over a long period of time and although weight loss means burning more calories than you take in, a golfer needs energy during such a long period of exercise. The real issue is to be able to eat the correct foods during a game of golf such as bananas, raisins or nuts that provide energy but are low in fat.

Although walking faster increases intensity and so improves fitness it is only possible to keep up with the pace of play. Walking faster means that you have to stop and wait for the golfers in front to play and so too much inactivity cancels out the high intensity walk. It is much better to walk at a solid pace, but constantly for a long period of time.