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Tip #5: Cardiorespiratory Endurance
Cardiorespiratory endurance is a good indicator of overall physical
capacity, especially the ability to do more work, burn more calories, and
recover better from activity bouts such as a round of golf. Although
many golf courses require you to use a cart, several hours of play can
leave you feeling quite fatigued on the last few holes. If you walk (which
we strongly recommend whenever possible), you are likely to suffer an
even greater performance decrement unless you have a moderately high
level of cardiorespiratory fitness. Playing golf, unfortunately, is not the
best means for getting in better shape to play better golf. Instead, you
will make much greater progress by specifically conditioning your
cardiorespiratory system.
 | | Playing golf is not the
best means for getting in better shape to play better golf even if you walk. |
Usually called aerobic conditioning, this aspect of your exercise program
requires about 20 to 30 minutes of moderate activity, three days a week. Walking, jogging, stepping, and cycling are all appropriate activities for
improving cardiorespiratory fitness. The level of conditioning is closely
related to the intensity of the exercise. For example, a slow walk that
raises your heart rate only 20 beats per minute above its resting level
(typically about 70 beats per minute) is unlikely to have much impact on
your aerobic capacity. A fast walk or jog, however, one that elevates your
heart rate 60 beats per minute above resting, should have significant
conditioning benefit. Performed on a regular basis, 20 to 30 minutes of
moderate aerobic activity should make your heart a stronger pump,
your circulatory system a more efficient blood transporter, and your
blood cells better carriers of oxygen.
A simple formula for selecting appropriate exercise intensity is to train
at about 70 percent of your estimated maximum heart rate. You can
easily approximate this by subtracting your age from 220, and exercising
hard enough that your heart rate is about 70 percent of this number.
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