:heavyweights:

Football, basketball, and baseball players do it. Olympians do it 8 hours a day 7 days a week and now golfers are catching on. Weight training has become increasingly more popular among golfers looking for an edge. Professional golfers are much more athletic and muscular than in the past as a result of golfers adding weight training to their practice routine.

A few golfers remain overweight, like John Daly, but he hasn't done much to sway my opinion that being overweight has its advantages. With the added pounds, comes restricted flexibilty and agility during the round. That's why many professionals are watching what they eat, especially at the half-way house and have increased their amount of exercise to their golf routine.

Mike Pederson, famous golf fitness trainer, addresses the importance of exercising and keeping your body in tip top shape to improve your golf game. Pederson explains that lifting weights will not decrease your flexibility, but rather increase it. "Weak muscles are also tight muscles. When you do resistance training, you are increasing blood flow, working through a functional range of motion specific to golf, and strengthening the tendons and ligaments in every joint of your body. In conjunction with a stretching program, strength training will improve flexibility, not hinder it."

Always remeber to have a friend spot when lifting heavy weights and never forget to stretch before you get up to the tee, its the little things that can make a world of a difference in golf.

photos from gettyimages.com and nndb.com