Get Fit – The Easy Way
As If You Needed a Good Reason to Join, Here Are Several:
Fresh air and sunshine: The forgotten antibiotics - Yes at a time when COVID-19 and Coronavirus are a concern for everyone, probably the safest place to be is outside in the fresh air. Better still on a golf course, surrounded by trees and shrubs and all things natural, in the heart of the Sussex countryside.
Florence Nightingale knew about the power of fresh air, and probably so did our grandparents. You may have seen the famous photos of patients convalescing from Spanish flu in hospital beds lined up on the Embankment by the Thames in London.
‘Open Air Factor’ - Tests were done in 1968 by the MoD on the cleansing properties of fresh air, at the height of the cold war and fear of chemical and biological attack. Scientists wanted to find out what would happen if a bomb filled with deadly bacteria exploded above London and for how long the fallout would remain dangerous to people. In tests, in just over two hours, almost all the sample bacteria were dead. Yet when kept in boxes at identical temperature and humidity, over half the microbes were still alive after that time. Something in the fresh air was killing bacteria. It became known as OAF, Open Air Factor.
Live longer – golfers have a 40% lower death rate, which equates with a five-year increase in life expectancy - says a study by the Karolinska Instituted of Sweden and Professor Anders Ahlbom, (Golf: A game of life and death – reduced mortality in Swedish golf players). This was regardless of whether the thousands of golfers assessed were male or female.
So if you have never played, or you are a lapsed golfer, why not book a lesson with our club pro and kickstart your golf and life extension plan.
Stress Buster - a good walk-in fresh air supercharges endorphin and serotonin levels. This leads to improved mood and reduced levels of anxiety and stress and anxiety. A round takes you away from the pressures of the day, especially the distractions of the smartphone and email. Added to that you get human contact - and we all know from the lockdown how important that is to a healthy mind in a healthy body.
Exercise and Coordination - there is a lot of walking involved in golf. Every hole takes you closer to the daily target of 10,000 steps that many fitness gurus recommend. Some estimates put the step count on a golf course at as much as 13,000. And of course, it is all low impact, which is the best kind of exercise for hips, knees and other joints it is believed.
The golf swing itself is great for giving you a full-body workout. Every full swing will exercise your core, as well as arms, legs, and back; and retrieving the ball of course from each of the 18 holes on the Waterfall course or 9 holes on the Kingfisher course. Your hand-eye coordination and balance will benefit too from your time on the course, as well as on the putting green and driving range.
Weight Loss - A full, 18-hole round of golf involves a walk of some five or six miles. Even on a flat course, this is equal to using some 1,500 calories. The calorie count can be even more with a few slopes to ascend and descend, such as you find on our courses.
If you choose to use a golf buggy, you are still benefiting - as well as when you play the shorter game on our 9-hole course. All in all, it is probably going to be a lot more fun and easier to accomplish too than a visit to the gym, which means you are more likely to keep up your exercise habit and so benefit more.
Why not call to arrange a visit to the club to find out more Tel: 01403 220 345 or email us membership@manningsheath.com
