Because it's what we do

By Suzanne Nottingham

Having lived through last year’s hunk o’ burning thighs, you swore you'd be physically prepared for skiing and snowboarding this year. Are you? If not, cramming leg strength and cardio workouts the way you did for college exams is as dangerous to the outcome of your winter sports experiences as not doing them at all.

When time and good intentions slip by, consider your “training” approach may be impractical. At the last minute, there is a simple answer. It’s not the best, most effective solution but it’ll do in a pinch. Simplifying means doing the bare bones minimum, which just happens to be enough (to have a darn good time on the hill) for most people. Think of it as “preventative exercise”, things you can do right now to prevent injuries and stay in balance on the hill, with grace.

By being mindful of the suggestions in this article, you get more stamina, better balance, enhanced flexibility and less risk of injury, no matter what ability skier or snowboarder you are.

The last ditch philosophy focuses on three areas of conditioning: weight-bearing cardiovascular exercise, balance and strength combined, and stretching, and the importance of an on-hill warm-up.

Skiing and snowboarding are weight-bearing activities; you stand on your feet to do them. Even 15 minutes a day (30 minutes a day is more appropriate) of cardiovascular activity is an effective jump-start toward feeling great on the slopes even if you’ve only got a couple weeks to prepare. And, the more aerobically fit (muscles work with the presence of readily available oxygen) you are, the less anaerobic (muscles work without the presence of much oxygen—BURNING, OUCH!) winter sports become. Resign to moving at a moderate intensity. Keep your pace steady the entire time. If you have a heart rate monitor, use it and stay at about 70-75% of your maximum heart rate. Walk briskly to work, jog in the park during your lunch break, go for a skate, bike or swim.

Winter sports force you to constantly stabilize your body weight to stay in balance. That takes full-body strength. Since we're simplifying, you want to be strong enough to do one thing in particular--balance from foot to foot, or over the outside ski. It takes about six weeks to see strength gains in typical strength programs but balance training takes very few exposures to notice results.

Single-side balance is perhaps the best thing you can do to enhance your time out there. When
you’ve trained your body to be reactive to imbalance (in a controlled situation, like at the club or in your living room), when it happens by accident, you’ve already been ‘there’. Your body has a recent memory to draw upon for balance recovery. Single-side balance progression is below.

If you do one thing to prepare for winter sports, it should be to spend ten minutes warming up before hitting the top. The warm-up decreases risk of injury by increasing blood flow and oxygen to the working muscles, and increases body temperature at the cellular level. Most important, it energizes and stimulates the nervous system. That means you will not only recover balance easier, but also be quicker to recognize the onset of imbalance. If you start without a warm up period, your muscles experience too much tension, too quickly. Muscle burn (you know that feeling) starts immediately, sometimes on the first run and interferes with judgment, performance, and skills. The warm-up facilitates muscles that are primed to go with the terrain instead of struggle against it. Movements feel more natural, easy, flowing.

Take warm up runs on EASY terrain. By going easy you allow the nervous system to ‘catch up’ with the new demands placed on the muscles and heart. Those who take this valuable time can ride longer, with fewer rests and less muscle burning.

Finally, you’ve got to stretch AFTER snowboarding. New research suggests stretching AFTER skiing
is far more beneficial because stretching elicits are relaxation response. Stretching enhances your elastic limits on the slopes. By spending a few minutes after your body becomes resilient in those extreme, awkward positions that accidentally present themselves. Do stretches for the calves, inner and outer thighs, quads, hamstrings, low back and for lateral flexion.

Single-side balance progression: Stand upright with equal weight on both feet. With hands spread comfortably low and in front at belly button height, slowly shift your pelvis (hips) to the right to feel a solid commitment for balance over the right leg and foot. Observe how the body and foot ‘take the weight’. Slowly lift the left foot only a fraction of an inch away from the floor at first; still observe your body taking the weight on the right. You’ll need no explanation as to which muscles are working because YOU’LL FEEL THEM! Keep your upper body quiet—no excessive arm and hand movements. Did you notice your ankle wobbling? The ankle is command central for balance recovery in the training environment and inside your ski boots. And, on the hill, any expert will tell you that ankle awareness is a key component of their proficiency.

SNOWBOARDING SPECIFIC

Snowboarding is an ultimate sports experience. Your body and the equipment are moving simultaneously over a constantly changing surface. When you’re feeling good out there, it’s because of refined balance recovery skills. Your body makes constant balancing adjustments, reacting to a variety of stimuli, including your equipment, the terrain, snow conditions, obstacles, and other skiers.

Besides balance, the backbone of snowboard fitness includes aerobic conditioning, strength to stabilize your own weight over your equipment, and the flexibility to bounce back to the sweet spot on your board when you least expect to.

Snowboarding is classified as an anaerobic sport because of high altitude and structural stresses experienced in the process of maneuvering over equipment. But, the more aerobically fit you are, the less anaerobic snowboarding becomes. Do aerobic activities—biking, running, skating, or swimming—at a steady and constant pace for a long duration of time. The benefits: longer runs and less muscle burn when you get out on the slopes.

A thorough strength training program should include resistance exercises for stabilizing muscles that surround the ankles, knees, pelvis, lower back, shoulders and wrists. Specifically, the lower legs, ankles and feet are responsible for initiating and fine-tuning movements, and making corrective, balancing adjustments.

Balance exercises target these lower leg muscles, but other weight-bearing strength exercises are also recommended, like single-side balance, lunges, squats, and stability ball crunches.

Over time, stretching provides elastic mobility within your body, so you can recover your balance with smooth effort. You can stretch every day, but only after working out or riding. Stretching before is counterproductive, as muscle fibers tend to relax. Include stretches for the calves, shins, quadriceps, hamstrings, adductors, abductors, obliques, and upper and lower back.

The most valuable way to enhance balancing ability on the hill is to warm up, which is different than stretching. A perfect warm-up is spending 20 minutes riding on easy terrain. That’s about four runs. Like your muscles, the nervous system is responsible for your body’s balance mechanisms, among many other human functions, and it needs a little time to adapt to the demands of snowboarding.

Balance and stability training are what physical therapists order for healthy joints, but also directly address the true culprit of injury on the slopes: slow reactions and an inability to recover smoothly from imbalance.

After a few weeks of practicing these exercises, your body will have developed a motor skill blueprint, an automatic memory that kicks in when imbalance strikes again. Recovery movements feel smooth because you will have already been there in the training environment.

Challenging your balance improves quickness, movement speed and responsiveness. Have fun with these. Remember, the moment of learning is when you feel imbalance. And, the more OK you are with wobbling ankles during balance exercises, the more quickly improvements happen. As you practice, learn to recover with less effort.

BALANCE AND STABILITY

These exercises are not necessarily physically demanding, but require calculated concentration to develop postural awareness and memory for the movement. Don’t worry about reps, sets and load. Remember, your objective with these drills is to stabilize your own weight. Each elicits a full body reaction, meaning many muscles are at work to stabilize and balance your weight.

1. Book on the head drill

Place a book on your head. When the book stays, you’re in a balanced, upright posture. Try to keep your chin level with the floor. Try it going up anddown stairs. Try it on a Bongo Board.

2. Single-side balance

Stand and balance on one foot. Maintain a level chin and hands level with the surface. Notice your ankles wobbling. Learn to be OK with the wobbling and balance will improve immediately on the hill. Do the other side, and to add intensity, try one dumbbell only on the support side (weight-bearing leg). Raise and lower your pelvis without breaking at the waist. As you rise upward, don’t forget to extend at the hips, knees and ankles to work your calves. Then try it on a Bosu.

3. The Bongo Board is a longtime favorite of surfers and recently, snowboarders. Balance boards make it easy to simulate snowboarding stances and maneuvers.

AGILITY

Fast footwork combined with a relaxed upper body adds a speed component that’s necessary to be able to respond quickly. Agility drills can be cardiovascular in nature. It’s best to add them into existing cardio routines.

4. Good old-fashioned jump rope

Hold rope handles in both hands with elbows pulled in an inch from your waist. Swing the rope with motions from the wrists. You don’t need to jump high for the rope to pass under your feet. Get into a snowboard stance and try 180-degree hops to change the lead foot.

5. Bosu blast

Begin with one foot on the Bosu, the other on the floor; alternate lead foot quickly.

6. Dot drill

Using masking tape, place small pieces 2-3 feet apart in an hourglass pattern.
Start in the lower left corner and hop around the hourglass with both feet. Then try it on one foot.