Improve your Health with Indoor Cycling

As Spring blooms, fitness and good health become a priority for many. One of the increasingly popular trends in fitness is cycling, and McConnell Golf offers a variety of options for spinning your wheels, whether it’s out on the open roads or in a spin class at your club.

Spin classes offer a riding experience similar to an outdoor ride, but on an indoor bike. Sedgefield Country Club offers spin classes twice a week, taking riders on a journey with flat stretches, sprint intervals, jumps, and seated and standing climbs.

Sherri Tallant heads up the spin program at Sedgefield. She’s been a certified spin instructor since 1999, and one of her favorite benefits about the exercise program is that it’s both a mental and physical experience.

“Spin allows the rider to strive for their mental and physical best,” she says. “One of the unique things about spin class is that the rider controls the amount of resistance they use based on their fitness level. We have members in their thirties in the same class with our oldest student at age 79! Everyone gets a great workout in the same ride.”

The scenery isn’t bad either — during the warmer months, spin classes are often held on the patio overlooking the club’s pool.

Carolyn Gorga, Sedgefield member and frequent spin class attendee, has found that the class provides truly personal rewards and challenges.

“My favorite thing about the class is the friendships I’ve made with members who I might never have known,” says Gorga. “This is the type of class that anyone can do — you challenge yourself.”

While she’s not yet an avid golfer, Gorga believes her spin class regimen has greatly improved her aerobic health and core strength, which will certainly improve her golf game.

Read More

With short days and cold weather wintertime usually means retiring your clubs and hunkering down, but it can be a time of opportunity.

Time to Focus

“Winter is a great time to focus on certain changes that you postpone all spring and summer,” says Sedgefield Country Club Director of Fitness Sherri Tallant. “It does not have to be very time consuming, you don’t need hours in the gym or a lot of heavy weight lifting in order to get huge benefits.”

Tallant is not just a personal trainer but is TPI certified, which means she’s gained a deep understanding of how the body’s strengths and weaknesses affect a golfer’s swing. “In the spring and the summer, most of our members’ time should be spent playing golf,” she acknowledges. “But in the winter, don’t just put your clubs away and forget about your golf game until spring.” Tallant recommends going to the fitness center or any space outfitted with mirrors. “Just watch your golf swing,” she advises.

Tallant adds that cooler months are the best time to start working on your short game. “Putting and chipping tend to be the two things that get rusty the fastest,” she says. “Stick to practicing in the mirror and you’ll stay tee-time ready come spring.”

Be Flexible

Less time on the course also means more time to spend on stretching and strengthening. “In the off season, golfers should spend more time in the gym doing things like yoga classes,” Tallant says. Sedgefield offers a six-week yoga program that meets for an hour once weekly, and most of her members sign up for two back-to-back six-week sessions.

“Through yoga, you’re not necessarily making your muscles longer, but you’re keeping them from getting shorter, which they would do if you don’t use them,” Tallant explains. “Strength training and stretching lengthens that muscle right back out and helps with rotation, which speeds up your clubhead speed. It’s absolutely awesome for golfers to do in the off season.”

Read More