Courtesy: Mike Pedersen

I am very pleased to announce a relationship between eagleparbirdie.com and Mike Pedersen, one of the foremost golf fitness experts and trainers in North America.

Mike has worked for years with golfers of all stripes, improving their fitness levels and flexibility and, by extension, improving their golf games. He has a quarter century's worth of experience as a fitness trainer. But, during his college days, he was a top ranked track and field athlete before becoming a nationally ranked decathlete on Canada's national track and field team in the late 80s.

And for those who need a reminder, decathletes specialize and compete in no less than 10 different track and field disciplines.

In short, Mike is the real deal, a blue-chip trainer with the knowledge and products to walk his talk.

Regular readers of eagleparbirdie.com will know that I am a huge supporter of fitness for golfers, heck, fitness for ANYONE! How does that old adage go? "If you don't have your health, you have nothing".

When Mike and I began discussing our "alliance", I asked him to write something that would focus on those golfers who are getting on in years (ahem). Mike agreed and his first contribution on this golf site deals with an issue that I have encountered: lower back problems.

With any exercise program, it's wise to check with your doctor before beginning. The same applies here and I'm sure Mike would agree.

As we get older, one of the first areas that begins to hurt in golf is the lower back.

Do you experience back pain on or off the course? Statistics show that 80% of all amateur golfers experience back pain at some point in their golfing life!

Hitting more balls will not improve your back pain. The ONLY way to stop and/or prevent this from occurring as we age is to focus on strengthening and stretching the muscles that protect our backs: the hamstring, glutes and muscles in the lower back.

Those are the direct muscles involved in your golf swing, especially holding that very awkward position in the golf swing. Swinging a 3 and a half foot implement at upwards of 80 mph in this position puts an intense amount of pressure on the lower back.

Below are instructions for a simple golf exercise you can do in your home with a pair of dumbbells that will specifically strengthen and stretch the muscles of your hamstrings, glutes and lower back. You'll want to start off with a light weight, maybe 10 pounds and slowly go down to the point of discomfort, then come back up.

As you do this exercise consistently, you'll be able to challenge yourself and go a little farther down and use a little more resistance. It is critical you really listen to your body as you do this, so you don't overdo it and strain anything. If you go light enough and don't stretch too far, you should be just fine.

Instructions
• Start in a standing position, holding dumbbells in front of the legs (or hold a golf club behind the neck), palms facing toward thighs.
• Assume a golf stance with slightly bent knees and a slight bend at the hips.
• Lower the weights by bending at the hips to just below normal golf posture.
• Raise your upper body back to original golf posture.
• Repeat for 3 sets of 12 repetitions.

Benefits to Golf Swing
• Strengthens the lower back to help maintain a consistent golf posture throughout swing.
• Reduces or prevents injury to the lower back due to high-speed torque in the golf swing.
• Indirectly strengthens the backs of the legs to add stability in the lower body during the swing.

This is just one simple golf exercise of dozens in Mike Pedersen's Golf Fitness Manual at PerformBetterGolf.com.