07.02.2023 – Golf lovers, concentrate: You move rather a lot – not less than while you go for a walk.
Walking 18 holes is pretty much as good — and possibly higher — for cardiovascular health as a brisk walk and even walking with trekking poles, in line with a brand new study.
All three sorts of exercise improved blood pressure, however the lower intensity and longer duration of a round of golf led to higher cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
“The study confirms that walking golf is a form of healthy exercise,” says lead researcher Julia Kettinen, a researcher in sports and exercise medicine on the Institute of Biomedicine on the University of Eastern Finland.
“[Golf] can be recommended to healthy older people as a means of preventing cardiovascular disease and improving cardiometabolic health in those who already have cardiovascular disease,” says Kettinen, who can also be knowledgeable golf instructor.
Their research results were published on Monday in BMJ Open Sports and Exercise Medicine.
“I hope our study will encourage people to play walking golf and enjoy the health benefits that come with it,” she says.
What the study shows
In the study, 16 men and 9 women with a median age of 68 played 18 holes on a comparatively flat golf course in Finland while walking and pulling a golf cart (or trolley, as they're called in Europe), covering about 8.8 kilometers in 3.5 hours.
By comparison, additionally they walked briskly and in Nordic style, swinging and setting down their walking poles. Each walk was 6 kilometers long and took about an hour.
Golf was less strenuous than walking, but took longer. “The longer duration and higher total energy expenditure seem to have a positive effect on the lipid profile and glucose metabolism,” says Kettinen.
“Golf is a great way to exercise because it motivates people to move without often realising the distance they have covered (up to 8-9 kilometres) during the game,” she says.
The researchers compared the hour-long walk to a full round of golf because “we wanted to simulate the real-life exercise patterns of older adults,” she says. (Few people walk for 3 or 4 hours, she notes.)
But in America, in line with the National Golf Foundation, about two-thirds of golf rounds are played with a golf cart.
When golfing, the topics reached a median of 61% of their maximum heart rate. When walking, the figure was 76% and when Nordic walking, 77%. The participants wore fitness monitors, gave blood samples and had their blood pressure measured before and after training.
Golf is taken into account “low to moderate intensity” since it requires players to stop, plan and wait between shots. (The effort of swinging the club was outside the scope of the study, Kettinen says.)
All three sorts of exercise “improve the cardiovascular profile of older adults when performed in a single session, despite differences in duration and intensity,” says Kettinen.
Golf had a more positive effect on triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol than either style of exercise.
The biggest difference was in blood sugar levels. “Golf regulated blood sugar levels more effectively than walking, although it was less intense due to the longer exercise duration,” says Kettinen.
“This was surprising,” she notes, “since previous studies suggested that more intense exercise is needed to improve blood sugar levels.”
Another interesting finding: “Golf, despite its lower intensity, had a longer lasting effect on lowering total cholesterol levels,” says Kettinen. That's why it's necessary to think about not only intensity but additionally duration when selecting your exercise.
Previous studies have checked out the health advantages of golf, but this study was the primary to check the acute effects of those three sports in healthy older adults, in line with Kettinen.
“These age-appropriate aerobic exercises can be recommended to healthy older adults to improve their physical health and prevent cardiovascular disease,” says Kettinen. They can even function a treatment strategy for many who have already got heart disease.
Kettinen can also be studying the consequences of golf, Nordic walking and walking on cognition, brain health and continuous glucose monitoring in healthy older adults.
“More articles will follow as part of this research,” says Kettinen.