Well, you’ve made it. You retired. Finally! No more job, no more boss, no more clients…just freedom. Freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want. Now you can sit back and relax. Watch all of those oldies but goodies movies and tv shows you’ve been wanting to revisit. Read every book on your list of books to read. Take 3 naps a day.
As we get older, our bodies and our minds slowly begin to deteriorate. It’s natural, and unfortunately, it’s a part of life. And while laying around, watching movies and reading books may sound heavenly and even glamorous to some, these things are not going to do anything for your longevity but shorten it. You’ve got to make sure your body, muscles and joints are strong and healthy.
You’ve got to make sure you stimulate your brain, including free it from stress and worry. Luckily, there’s one thing you can do that will accomplish all of these things: you can play golf. You can check out this website for information on golf clubs specifically made for seniors.
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Playing Golf Is Good for the Joints and Muscles
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Playing golf forces you to use your entire body. Even if you ride in a golf cart, you still do a considerable amount of walking to and from tee boxes and greens. And if you forego the golf cart and throw your clubs on a push cart, you will be walking at least 2 to 3 miles playing just 9 holes. Done regularly, this will be a huge benefit to your knees, hips, quads, and hamstrings. Your legs are also used each time you swing a club (with the exception of putting), which will provide even more benefits.
You also use your entire upper body when you golf. A golf swing uses your core, back, shoulders, and arms. And it uses them with very low impact, which is what is recommended for seniors. Swinging a golf club regularly will help to keep the muscles and joints in your upper body loose, while also helping to maintain and even improve strength.
Golfing is Great for the Brain
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When you play golf, you inevitably spend a considerable amount of time in the outdoors. Spending time outdoors is one of the best natural stress and worry relievers there is. Just by breathing fresh air and being out in nature will automatically boost your mood and lower your stress levels. And lowering stress and worry is extremely beneficial for your brain.
Being outdoors and exercising, i.e. playing golf, also result in the release of natural endorphins. These endorphins act on receptors in the brain that cause us to feel increased happiness and well-being. These endorphins also cause us to feel a decrease in pain and negative emotions. This is very beneficial for the brain!
Golf Helps us Get Vitamin D
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Spending time in the outdoors gives you exposure to the sun. Exposure to sunlight gets a lot of bad press, and rightfully so due to the short and long-term damage sunburn can cause. However, when you are careful and properly avoid sunburn, UV rays are one of the best sources our bodies have for getting vitamin D.
Vitamin D provides a number of amazing health benefits. We’ll discuss just a few of those benefits here. Vitamin D can help normalize blood pressure (especially useful for those of you with high blood pressure). Vitamin D can help prevent certain cancers. Vitamin D is a powerful anti-depressant. Vitamin D can assist in weight loss and is important for building muscle as well. Vitamin D can help fight heart disease. The list goes on and on. Vitamin D is so important, and most people have a deficiency. Careful and protective exposure to the sun can give you all of the vitamin D your body needs, and you can’t overdose when getting it from the sun too.
As a Golfer, You’re More Likely to Socialize
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The older we get, the less we tend to socialize for some reason. The majority of the social interactions seniors have comes from visits from family members. But these visits don’t exactly foster improving relationships and getting to know each other, which is where the true benefit from socializing comes from. One of the reasons women have a longer average lifespan than men is they are much more social, so if their spouse dies they have people to turn to, talk to, and be with.
Make sure you go golfing with friends or family members. Unlike the occasional family visit, golfing with others encourages spontaneous dialogue as there is a lot of time in between shots. These types of dialogues help you get to know others, even your immediate family members, in ways that are difficult to replicate outside of golf. This type of relationship building and fostering provides amazing benefits, both tangible and intangible, and are great for the mind, body, and spirit.
To illustrate what I mean, when I was in my twenties, I would go golfing with my dad and grandpa a couple of times a month. I had never had a relationship with my grandpa before. It’s not like we had a bad relationship, I just didn’t know anything about him, and he didn’t know anything about me, by no fault of either of ours. This time I spent with my grandpa, as well as my dad for that matter, helped us get to no each other and really establish a meaningful relationship. There are things I learned about both of them through golfing together that I would never have learned otherwise. They are moments and memories that I will always treasure, and I hope to carry on the tradition with my son and my dad.
Conclusion
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One thing that sets golf apart from just about every other sport is the fact that a completely beginner can play with an advanced player and both can try their absolute hardest, play their very best and have a great time. This means that senior golfers can absolutely play with younger golfers and all involved can still have a ton of fun.
Golf is the ideal activity for seniors because it provides valuable benefits to the body and the brain, is a great way to get vitamin D, and helps seniors maintain a social life. It helps keep the body strong and loose and promotes brain health and activity. And along with all of the incredible benefits mentioned earlier, golf is a very entertaining and fun game that anybody, at any age, with any skill level can play and enjoy.
