Workout Wednesday: Free fitness advice for our golfing president

President Trump, during your campaign, I recall reading published reports that said you grew up not just playing sports, but that you were a star athlete in soccer, football, and baseball.

Considering your past athletic prowess, I was surprised to learn about your current, how shall we say, unorthodox ideas about exercise.

If I understand your theory correctly, you now believe that the human body is like a battery, with a finite amount of energy, which exercise only consumes.

Though that is an interesting theory, it is counter to the decades of health and fitness advice from health researchers and the medical community.

Keeping that in mind, I would like to offer my unsolicited advice, free of charge.

Surely, a fun workout can help you stay motivated, reduce stress, and even improve your golf game.  As a matter of fact, as you love golf so much, let's just focus on exercises that will help improve your golf game.

Here are four ways to keep yourself in presidential shape and improve your game:

A good game of golf starts with good nutrition.
Like all sports — and presidential politics and golf are no exception — it starts with good nutrition.  If you want to improve your golf game, sorry, you don't get a free pass at the all-you-can-eat White House buffet.  Nutrition is very important for any athlete, regardless of sport.  Food is fuel.  I like to use the Lamborghini analogy: If you fill your Lamborghini with low-octane gas, it's not going to perform optimally.  It's the same for your body.  If you want overall better performance, good nutrition is a must.

Good golfers stay flexible.
World-class golfers know how important it is to remain flexible.  Flexibility gives you full range of motion within your joints and muscles, and therefore is crucial if you want to not only swing correctly, but also to avoid injuries.  Believe it or not, the yoga exercise cat/cow pose is a great way to improve flexibility in your lower back.  The exercise is simple: Begin on all fours, making sure that your knees are under your hips and that your wrists are under your shoulders.  Begin in a neutral spine position, with your back flat and your abs engaged.  Exhale and round your spine toward the ceiling while engaging your abs.  Exhale and slowly arch your back, releasing the abs while simultaneously lifting your head and tailbone toward the ceiling.  Repeat 10 times.

Golfers need strength.
Equally important to improving your golf game is strength training.  If your goal is to improve the strength aspect of your golf game, do golf squats. That's right, golf squats. They're similar to regular squats, but you'll also need a 5- to 10-pound dumbbell.  To execute golf squats, begin with feet a little wider than shoulder width, hold one dumbbell with both hands, slowly lower to a squat (until your thighs are parallel to the floor), the dumbbell held straight out at chest height. Next, rise to a standing position while you rotate your upper body to the right, lifting the weight toward the ceiling (keeping your arms straight as though you're swinging a golf club).  Return to center and slowly lower back to the squat position. Repeat, alternating to the left side.  Do 10 sets.

Golfers need a strong core.
The plank will target your shoulders, calves, abs, lower back, glutes, and hip flexors. Lie face down on your stomach, prop yourself up on your elbows with them bent at 90 degrees, shoulder-width apart.  Keep body straight from head to toe.  Hold 30, 60, or 90 seconds.

So, Mr. President, you don't have to participate in the next Iron Man or aspire to look like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, but do get back into the practice of regular moderate exercise — which is good for your golf game and good for you.