Incline dumbbell bench press...

The incline bench press is exactly the same as the bench press, except the bench is at a 45` angle to the ground, allowing us to use a slightly different group of muscles than the standard bench press. The Clavicular muscles (upperchest) receive a greater workout due to the weights going up at an angle above the chest and shoulders.

An individual will normally press a smaller amount of weight for the incline than the normal bench. I use 40lbs. dumbbells for the bench press and 35lbs for the incline. 15 reps and 3 sets again while alternating between other exercises.

All of the chest, shoulder and arm weight exercises build strength to help keep our arms from folding or laying across our chest while swinging. With our increase in speed of the core, we require more strength in the upper body to keep our arms in a correct position throughout the swing.

"PRO"

PGA Tour report - Mark WIlson

I just checked the scores from the opening round of the Northern Trust Open at Rivierra CC in Los Angeles, CA and KJ Choi has the early lead at 6 under with many players still left on the course. To the right of the leaderboard on PGAtour.com are stats of players and the leaders of each category. I ususally check the distance leaders as JB usually leads that category. But I noticed an amazing stat that Mark Wilson was leading the total putts category with 20 putts.

So I go back to the leaderboard and immediately go to the top of the board to find his name...unfortunately I had to look through 24 names before I found him t25 - 70 (-1). He hit 4 greens in regulation and shot a (-1) under par round...WOW! I'm sure he chipped in a few times or holed out from the fairway, but he could have easily just missed 2 putts in 18 holes!

Goes to show you, it's never over until its over, and yes the putter can be a great equalizer! Mark won the Honda Classic last year and will defend his title in about 3 weeks from now in Florida.

Back extensions...The Set-up

Back extensions are another exercise to work the core of the body...a strong core is what most strong (long hitting) players have. The faster you can rotate the core equals more clubhead speed! Other factors are involved to optimize a player's speed...but the major contributor is the core (torso) of your body.

The hanging leg lifts yesterday worked the front side of the core, abdominals. The back extensions will work the lower back muscles, glutes and hamstrings. If you have trouble with your back, especially the lower back, I would certainly recommend you talk to a professional, trainer or therapist, possibly your doctor before working your back too much.









The picture shown above is a little different than the machine I use which positions the indivual at a 45` angle instead of being parallel to the ground at the top of the exercise. It provides for a greater range of motion and is much easier to get in and out. Weights can be used by holding barbell weights to your chest with arms crossed in front. Again, we want to work 15 reps of 3 sets with us lowering ourselves slowly as far as possible and lifting ourselves back to a straight position, which puts us at a 45` angle to the ground.




It has been a while since I have talked about the golf swing...and we are only a month away from our first tournament of the season. It colds outside and the snow has most of the ground covered, but it's time to get ready for the late winter golf trips most of take at this time of the year.

One of the most important things we need to practice as we get back into the swing of playing golf is our set-up. Yes, practice your set-up!!! It is something that can change drastically after a long layoff, and will definitely result in poor golf swings.

The best way to practice is in front of a large mirror or window at your house. Facing the mirror, we can check the width of our stance, hand position, ball position, body tilt and weight distribution.

The width of our stance is dependent on the club we are hitting, but typically, drivers should have your heels aligned just outside of your shoulders. Hand position is another important position to check as the butt end of the club should point back towards a position just left of your bellybutton, not out towards your left hip or even worse, your right hip! (These instructions are for right-handed golfers. Please reverse if you are left-handed)

Ball position is again dependent on which club we are hitting, with the driver being forward toward the left heel or instep, and your wedges back to a position just left of center. The last position to check is to make sure we are tilted slightly away from the target with our weight feeling very centered. Tilt and weight will most likely move away from the target as we swing longer clubs.


Positions to check from a side view in the mirror are: Posture, tilt, and weight distribution. We can check our posture by rotating our head (not our body) to see if our back is fairly straight. Our arms should hang from our shoulders, not extend out, and our weight should be near the balls of our feet, putting our chin out in front of our toe line.

Our knees should be flexed slightly with our chest tilted toward the ball. This angle will change with the varying lengths of clubs. More tilt for short clubs, less for long.

This gentleman has pretty good posture but has his arms extended away from his body. This separation generally will cause an excess of arm movement. His most likely swing path is inside on the way back and out over the top on the way back to the ball. The result is normally weak slice to the right.


Think about a boxer throwing a punch. He has no power to hit if he has his arms extended out in front of him the entire match. Keeping his arms connected to his power source, the body core, he can now use his legs and body weight to deliver a blow through his fist. The same is true in golf. However, we can get to close, causing again poor path and having to excessively turn our body out of the way through impact. Proper set-up and posture is very important in delivering the clubhead back to the ball with maximum force and optimum path and angle.





"PRO"

Hanging leg lifts...

Hanging leg lifts is one of the few exercises I perform where each set is executed to exhaustion...I normally do 3 sets of 30. But again, I do it in roatation with other exercises to give the abdominal muscles a short rest.

The exercise machine is shown on the left and the individual lays his/her arms across padded supports and grips the handlebar at the end of the support. The individuals legs will hang freely without touching the ground. The individual should then lift the legs parallel to the ground keeping the legs extended as much as possible. If you have a difficult time keeping the legs extended, bend at the knees and lift your knees to your chest as much as possible. Try to move the legs as slow as possible, especially while lowering to achieve the maximum abdominal workout. Pointing your toes also helps to concentrate the work on the abs.

We won't know for sure until Sunday, but it looks like JB Holmes will be playing Phil Mickelson in the WGC Match Play tournament beginning Wednesday, February 20. This would make for an interesting re-match of the playoff win JB had two weeks ago. I'm sure it would be one of the highlighted matches for the day and receive a larger percentage of TV coverage.

I heard from an undisclosed source that Gillespie is heading to Oklahoma St. at the end of the season and former UK player Sean Sutton is out as the head basketball coach for OK St. The internet is the greatest way to spread propaganda...so I guess I'm here to keep the chain letter going!!! Maybe we get Pelphrey from Arkansas!?!?

"PRO"

Front arm raise...Basketball!!!

The front arm raise is another exercise working the front of the deltoid (shoulder) muscle. The pictures show the basics of the exercise but Brian has me alternating my arms with each rep and standing with either foot forward slightly to support my back. I am prone to lower back problems, so it is important I remember to set up properly before I start this exercise. I use a 20lbs. dumbbell in each hand and perform 15 reps lifting the arm straight up in front of me to shoulder height. I again perform 3 sets of this exercise.

My workouts are beginning to become more routine to me, and the best part is I actually look forward to most of them. The cardio workouts are much easier, so I will look to increase the difficulty of some of my sessions. This means more inclines and at sharper angles. I completed 40 minutes last night on the elliptical machine and felt as though I could have continued for quite a bit more. At the beginning of my exercise program, 10-12 minutes of the machine and I was ready to fall over. It's good to see the effort begin to pay off.

My knees are much better, but not as good as I had hoped. I'm unsure as to how good they should or could feel, so if any of our medical professionals would like to comment, please feel free!

I attended my first Centre College game on Friday night with my son Jackson and Steve and Will Bramel. (Harrison was sick again, but better now) They play on the same Recreation league team, and we, Steve and I, hoped exposing them to "Real" organized basketball would encourage them for their league play. It was a great experience for all of us, but the big thing I realized was the great product the basketball teams offer for the community.

We grow up in Kentucky thinking of University of Kentucky basketball, maybe Louisville basketball, ;) (that's a wink for those that are not familiar with emoticons) and we forget about the local teams that compete with the same effort each and every night. I really love to watch and play basketball, but had settled myself to sitting in the easy chair at home watching whoever I don't know play on the television.

I can't get my children to watch a basketball with me at home, Kentucky or Louisville. But they had a great time watching Centre College Friday evening. They were typical 7 year olds at times and missed some of the action, but they were always aware of the score and cheered and celebrated like everyone else on the big plays.

We had such a good time, we (Harrison, Jackson and I) went again Sunday for the Women's and Men's basketball games. Both victories for the home team. The Bramel's were there for Sunday's game too just to show you how much fun it was! In between the games, I was able to squeeze in a quick workout at the Fitness Center, how convenient!!!

The Centre College men are having a great season, but don't forget about the women and the local high schools. They all work very hard, and they do it because they want to, not because they get paid to! This was quite a tangent I have written today, but it is another way to get ourselves out of the coach potato mode!!!

"PRO"