Skiing and Snowboarding: Keep in Shape


by Simon Moyes - Date: 2007-07-03 - Word Count: 376 Share This!

THE SKIER & SNOWBOARDER MAGAZINE, SPRING 1998


THERE are two main ways for skiers and snowboarders to stay in shape for their next trip to the mountains.


First is to stay aerobically fit and so cardiovascular workouts are important during the summer and autumn months to maintain cardio respiratory fitness. This can be achieved through running, jogging, cycling or swimming, as long as these activities maintain a sufficiently high heart rate for a sufficiently long period of time (typically, 160 beats per minute for half an hour three times a week).


Most gyms or health and fitness clubs will have wall charts which map out exactly what your exercise heart rate should be for your age. Regular workouts make it much easier to maintain cardio vascular fitness. But let it slip and your good work can soon be undone and you will find yourself having to build your vascular fitness up again.


The other element of maintaining fitness for the next season is to work on the strength in your quadriceps, the largest muscles in your body in the thigh area. This can be achieved through a range of simple home exercises, such as adopting the chair position up against a wall, to more comprehensive variations in the gym such as squats with weights or using isokinetic leg strengthening machines.


Most fully equipped gyms today will have instructions or fitness trainers who can demonstrate which particular muscle groups the isokinetic machines are designed to strengthen.


I would suggest that in association with doing a cardio vascular workout three times a week that you strengthen and maintain quadriceps mass/bulk by doing sets of repeat exercises.


In next season's issues we will be looking at how exercise can help avoid the most common injuries sustained by skiers and snowboarders. We will also give advice on what to do if you are unlucky to suffer from one of these injuries.


By far the commonest joint injured these days is the knee. A range of intra-articular injuries can occur to the knee including cartilage damage and ligament tears.


Of all of these injuries it is damage to the cruciate ligaments within the knee that carry the worse prognosis.


In future issues we will study the most modern management techniques for those unfortunate enough to sustain a cruciate ligament injury.



Related Tags: fitness, snowboarding, surgeon, prevention, injury, skiing, strength, stretch, simon, knees, warm-up, ankles, moyes, orthopaedic

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