Get Ready For Winter Sports
If you want to avoid injury and improve performance, get ready for winter sports. No matter if you like snowboarding, ice skating or skiing, each actvity requires strength, flexibility, coordination and balance. Especially balance and stability are crucial and all muscles need to be strong and able to contract and work together to allow jumps and control movements. Core strength increases your efficiency, balance and execution, making it an essential area to target in all pre-seasonal training.
Another important thing is sport-specific training. You need to train your muscles to perform movements that are performed in some sports in order to improve their strenght and performance in a functional manner. The best thing to do is to mimic the positions and movements necessary in your sport.
Definitely you’ll also need to train hips, buttocks and the calves. For optimal performance and injury prevention, include flexibility exercises.
Don’t forget to train your dynamic balance. Good examples of this exercise are standing on one leg and incorporating some movements like swinging the opposite leg, swinging the arms or, for more challenge, trying a balance board.
Snowboarders should also train their hamstrings. Dead lifts and bridges are good examples of those.
Another winter sport, snowshoeing, requires strength of the hip flectors, extensors and abductors as well as the thigh and calf muscles. If you do snowshoeing, you also need to be flexible. So in order to prepare for winter, include strengthening and stretching activities in your training but other activities such as walking outdoors or on the treadmill and stair climbing would all be beneficial and functional training.
Of all the winter sports, cross-country skiing ensures the best cardiovascular workout as you are using your arms as well as your legs to propel yourself forward. Good training for cross-country skiing should include Nordic Track, elliptical or the treadmill. Focus on strengthening quad, calf and gluteal muscles.
If you’re an ice-skating fan, remember to train especially your balance. Focus on the calf and gluteal muscles.
