The Health Benefits of Walking the Golf Course
Walk or ride? That is the question. Walking is cheaper. If you are wearing shorts then it’s a great opportunity to let the calves pop. Walking can be better for pace of play if you and your partner’s balls are always scattered. Golf carts on the other hand, let’s be honest, are cooler. Secondly, it’s easier to take proper care of any cold beverages given the cup holders and storage capacity of a golf cart. And what better way to say “I’m better than you” to the rest of your group than to hit a bomb off the tee and then peel off into the distance, leaving them to literally and metaphorically eat your dust.
But what about the health benefits of walking the golf course? Excellent question. A research article out of Finland from 2000, titled “A controlled trial of the health benefits of regular walking on a golf course,” is one study that sought to answer that question. Here is a brief review.
Comparison: 2 groups of 53 men who were previously sedentary during the previous 7 months. The age range was 48-64 years. Participants did not have diseases or disabilities which precluded exercise training, nor regular use of medication, smoking, or physical exercise more than once a week during the pre-study period.
Intervention: Those in the intervention group were encouraged to play golf and walk the course two to three times a week; the controls were not. Measurements of body composition, cardiorespiratory performance, motor and musculoskeletal fitness, blood pressure, and serum lipid, glucose, and insulin levels were obtained at baseline and after the 20-week study. Both groups kept a physical activity diary during the study. The golfers played an average of 2.5 rounds of golf per week during the 20-week study.
Results: There were multiple benefits seen in the walking-golfing group compared to the sedentary controls. All of the following benefits were statistically significant. After this 20-week study period, compared to the sedentary controls, walking on the golf course:
- Improved aerobic performance. On a treadmill test involving walking on an inclined treadmill at speeds/metabolic demand increased at 3 minute intervals until the point of exhaustion, the walking group was able to exert 36 seconds longer than the controls. Additionally, at the final/hardest stage of the treadmill test which was maxed out at 7 METs, the walking group demonstrated lower heart rates as well as better aerobic capacity as measured by oxygen consumption.
Walkers lost ~ 3 pounds and 1 inch off their waist
- Increased trunk muscle endurance. (Wink wink). The walking group outperformed the controls by 13 seconds for a static back extension exercise.
- Decreased weight. The average weight of the walking golfers decreased by 1.4kg (3 pounds) more than in the control subjects.
- Decreased waist circumference, by 2.2 cm (almost 1 inch).
- Improved cholesterol levels, specifically increased HDL or “good cholesterol” by a modest difference of 1.2.
Conclusion: Regular walking had many positive effects on the health and fitness of sedentary middle-aged men in this study. For those able to walk the golf course instead of ride the cart, walking can be a great health-enhancing physical activity.
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Source:
Parkkari J, Natri A, Kannus P, et al. A controlled trial of the health benefits of regular walking on a golf course. Am J Med. 2000;109(2):102-8.
