5 Exercises for Skiing and Snowboarding (to lower the risk of injury)

by westcoastsciJan 30, 2018Health and Wellness

Warm up exercises for skiing and snowboarding

Skiing is the favorite winter pastime for a lot of people, but warming up is neglected by most. Are you one of the people who head straight to the chairlift after jumping off your vehicle? Take a look at the warm-up exercises and try them next time to wake your body up from driving to your favorite mountain, and lower the risk of getting injured.

Warm Up Exercises

Around the clock exercise can warm up your shoulders and back, while also activating your neck and thoracic spine. Start lying on your side with your knees bent, place both arms straight in front of you. Keep the bottom arm on the floor, and the top arm reaches forward. Roll back and have the top arm reach back like a hand of a clock. Make sure to minimize hip movement to give your upper back a good stretch. Maintain the position, open your chest by inhaling, and return to the starting position.
Flexion and extension is a global warm-up involving your ankle, knee, hips, spine, and shoulder. It also gives your spine from neck to low back some forward and back movement.
A cat-cow stretch includes mobilizing your entire spine from head to tail, warms up your core muscles, and muscles attached to your spine to make movements smoother.
The can opener also targets your shoulder, back, spine, and neck. What makes it unique is it involves horizontal spine rotation from neck to lower back, which most warm-up exercises don’t.
Forward and back/side to side leg swings prepare your hip and groin for skiing and snowboarding. Remember, your snowboarding/skiing boots are pretty heavy, find something you can hold on to and a place where it won’t hurt if you fall down.