I’ve been serious about my strength training now for a couple years. Since you add power to the golf swing from the ground up, it’s important to have strong legs. I want to share with you now what I believe is the best leg exercise for golfers.
While I’ve been on this strength training journey, I’ve always tried to incorporate barbell squates into my training.
Unfortunately, due to the low back issue I’ve had for nearly 20 years, I haven’t been able to consistently perform squats.
It is a technical exercise, and there are a couple ways to do it.
The high bar squat rests on top of the shoulders, and you keep the upper body more vertical as you squat down and push up.
Unfortunately, this version puts more pressure on my lower back, and I popped my disc more than once doing this exercise.
I learned about the low bar squat about 18 months ago, but this requires some upper body flexibility that I don’t seem to have.
As a result, this type of squat puts pressure on my elbows due to the way the bar is held in position.
One day I came across a video on Youtube that involved a discussion of replacing the primary strength building exercises (squat, deadlift, bench press and overhead press).
The best leg exercise for golfers
The three trainers agreed that the Bulgarian Split Squat was the best replacement exercise for the barbell squat.
I started working it into my routine about six weeks ago, and it is a great exercise.
I demonstrate how to do this exercise in the video below.
This is now my primary exercise for leg training. Therefore, I train it hard. Here is how I do it.
I train it with five sets for each leg.
I do the first set with a low weighted dumbbell in each hand and do 12 reps. After hitting both legs, I rest one minute.
I increase the weight of each dumbbell by 5 pounds, and do 10 reps, then rest one minute.
I increase the weight again by 5 pounds, and do 8 reps, and rest one minute.
I increase the weight one more time by 5 pounds in each dumbbell and do 6 reps, then rest one minute.
For the last set, I drop the weight to my starting weight, and do 12 reps with each leg.
By the end of that fifth set my legs are pretty much toast. I could end the workout with just some calf raises, and that would be all I need.
I recommend starting out with no weight, and try to work your way up to 15 reps. Then you can start adding sets and weight.
The beauty of the exercise is that, because you are balancing on one leg, the tiny muscles in the hips that help with balance are fully engaged.
Put all this together and you can understand why I think this is the best leg exercise for golfers.
Check out the video below on my Youtube channel.
