We are now well into 2015 and resolutions will be in full swing. The snow gods finally delivered over the New Year period, and post-festive thoughts are no doubt turning to your booked winter holiday. After all the recent indulgence many New Year resolutions revolve around getting fit, so with time booked on the slopes what training preparations have you got underway? Maybe you have a fitness routine which you adhere to and are just getting back to after the festive break; maybe you need to ramp up your training programme a bit; or perhaps you need to introduce some snowboard-specific exercises. Below are a few things to think about.
From my previous blog post on 25th November 2014 the fitness categories you need to be working on for snowboarding are:
- Mobility
- Strength
- Core stability
- Cardiovascular fitness
Georgie: fitness trainer extraordinaire
And there are a few words from Georgie, my fitness trainer who emigrated to Australia, so words of wisdom from Down Under:
“The good news is with even with only a week or two until departure to the snow, pushing yourself now will really benefit your fitness on the slopes. Interval training is incredibly satisfying because you feel like you have worked hard, it doesn’t take long to do, and you can do it anywhere!
Long runs are good for endurance, however the short burst interval training will increase your muscle mass, reduce your fats, increase your metabolism and contribute to weight loss. Your body will become stronger and your fitness will accelerate. The intervals can be 1 minute exercise, 1 minute rest, using a timer. Then as you progress reduce the rest period. The principle can be used out and about: go for your run but when you run a past a line of lamp posts, sprint between every other lamp post.
Beach Rock outdoor exercise
If you pass steps on your run, use them to do a quick session. Run up the steps as fast as you can, then jog or walk back down them – repeat 3 times. Steps are brilliant because you can use them in all sorts of ways; double foot jump ups, split jumps, step ups, press ups, triceps dips. Use your imagination, burst hard at it for a minute, rest and repeat. You are outside in fresh air; it costs nothing and doesn’t take long. Of course on rainy days these same exercises can be done in your home on stairs if you have them. An example is, 40 seconds of lunges, 20 seconds rest, 40 seconds of squats, 20 seconds rest – all repeated 4 times. Then choose two other exercises to do in this format. There are apps available now to support your own ideas.
This topic is huge and there really could be so much more to say, but there are two more things I would mention:
- Drink lots of water and eat protein within 40 minutes of hard exercise as this will help build lean muscle mass and help repair. This could be an egg, nuts, salmon or an avocado.
- Consider a roller; this is a tough foam tube that acts a bit like a massage. It has the fantastic ability to reduce painful areas and stretch muscles. The simple principle is that you lay it on the floor and using your own body weight, roll on top of it, back and forth for different muscle groups. When you find a particularly painful area focus for longer in that spot and give it a massage with the roller for two minutes. This item is fantastic for tight muscles, areas where cramps occur, back pain and stiff shoulders.
For the future think about setting a slot for regular time to exercise; three times a week will maintain your fitness level and five times a week will leap your fitness level up to that joyful level of actually feeling fit. The perfect place to be to start your holiday on the snow!”
Thanks for the tips and advice Georgie. And for some snowboard-specific exercises you can do at beginner, intermediate and advanced level as well as stretches checkout Pro Ride’s website here.
Who said snowboarders and skiers cannot be friends?
Don’t forget have some fun in between those training sessions so why not get yourself to an indoor snow slope to test out that new-found fit body and get some UK-shred time under your belt. As Georgie says it’s never too late to start getting fit even if you only have a few weeks left to train, so what are you waiting for?
TTFN, Kate.
