High Performance Golf Nutrition

[GolfFitPro]

Welcome to Blue Collar Mondays.

Every Monday, Troy Anderson of The Blue Collar Golfer, will add his insight to the Better Golf with Fitness Blog. His articles have appeared on GolfFitnessProducts.net as well as magazines all over the Southwest, and he has been a part of all of The Virtual Roundtables. Troy has a different approach than most golf fitness experts, one he is very successful with training golfers in Arizona.

 

Fat Beware! High Performance Golf Nutrition

 

As a golf conditioning coach, I have done more than my fair share of nutrition counseling and along the way I have come to find out that if you are going to ask someone to make changes, you need to follow two guidelines:

 

1. You need to keep it simple: You can’t ask people to measure out 2.3 ounces of this and 1.45 ounces of that, it won’t work, it’s just too confusing.

2. It has to be actionable: You have to break it down to simple tasks that don’t seem all that different from what they are doing now; if there is no action taken then it’s pointless.

 

Here are my top golf nutrition tips that will have you on your way to becoming a lean and mean golfing machine by spring time.

I have organized my recommendations into problematic habits (OUTS) that are common among most golfers and replaced them with much wiser choices (INS)

 

IN: Black coffee, any non-sweetened tea, and occasionally diet soda

OUT: Fancy coffee drinks and regular soda

 

IN: Fish Oil and Flaxseed oil, each come in oil or capsule form; 1 serving of each daily.

OUT: French fries, wings, and any other fried food

 

IN: Minimum 3 servings of vegetables daily, steamed, grilled, raw or inserted into a favorite dish

OUT: Nothing to throw out here as most people don’t eat enough vegetables period

 

IN: Shopping on the store perimeter and buying foods that don’t have labels

OUT: Shopping in the center of the store and reading labels

 

IN: Quick and simple “on the go meals”, protein shake and an apple, vegetables and cottage cheese, raw nuts, string cheese, jerky.

OUT: Fast food burgers, tacos, sandwiches, any and all things fast food

 

IN: Breakfast as oatmeal and berries, protein shake, homemade egg sandwich

OUT: Breakfast as a coffee and a bagel, scone, fast food sandwich, or even the good ‘ole donut

 

IN: Lean cuts of fish, beef, chicken, turkey, or pork that have been grilled, sauteed, or roasted

 

IN: Consuming enough water, most people drink maybe 20 ounces per day. Fill up a ½ gallon reusable container, fill it at the beginning of the day and finish by the end. A more precise recommendation comes from nutritionist Robert Yang. According to Yang, the optimal amount of water to drink is ½ your body weight (pounds) in ounces per day. For example, a 200 lb. person will need to drink 100 ounces of water per day. A key point to remember is that other fluids do not count toward your goal of ½ your bodyweight in ounces. Those fluids include: coffee, tea, juices, soda, milk, sports drinks, and flavored water. In fact, other fluids like sports drinks and juices can actually dehydrate the body because it takes water to actually dilute these high sugar drinks before it is assimilated in the body."

 

There you have it; six very problematic actions and eight healthful substitutes. I would guess that for many of you, these recommendations are not something you haven’t already heard before.

That leaves you with the final component necessary to “make it work”: Execution.

Execution of the plan is the key. No matter what your goal it has to be important enough to execute!

Although good nutrition is something that is very difficult for most individuals to adhere to, those that are able to spend a little time and effort on it will be duly rewarded with a leaner, more athletic and more capable body.

 

Next week I will be back with an introductory total body fitness program for those that have never done any golf conditioning work before.

 

Until next week, keep it simple.

 

Troy M Anderson

bluecollargolfer.com

[email protected]

 

Troy is a golf conditioning expert, located in Tempe, AZ. To download your FREE copy of his special report "8 MUST-KNOW Tips for Starting a Successful Golf Conditioning Program”, go to www.bluecollargolfer.com

 

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