1. Improve Your Core Strength and Balance

Good balance is essential when skiing or snowboarding. Both sports require you to continually shift your center of mass over the center of your equipment while speeding over packed snow. One way to prevent falls is to ensure you have a strong core and good balance.

Core strength plays an important role in maintaining balance and coordination. Your core consists of several muscles that wrap around your spine, including your back, glutes, and deep abdominal muscles. Our team can assess your core and let you know any weaknesses or imbalances you need to work on. We can also guide you through the best exercises for your needs.

You might also benefit from dedicated balance training. Targeted exercises, like standing on one foot with your eyes closed, challenge your balance and proprioception (your body’s awareness of itself in space). Working on your balance each day throughout the fall will help you see improvements in your balance this winter.

2. Don’t Neglect Your Cardio

Strength isn’t the only factor that matters when it comes to preventing ski or snowboarding injuries. Both sports require a high level of aerobic fitness, partially because of their specific demands and partially because of the high altitude.

Just as we can help you improve your strength and balance, we can let you know which aerobic exercises will work best for your needs. Ideally, you want to select exercises that work your entire body, such as running or using an elliptical machine (which has the added bonus of emulating the movements you perform during skiing).

3. Make Sure Your Ski or Snowbing Shoes Are Properly Fitted

You wouldn’t wear ill-fitting shoes when running errands or taking a walk; the same is true when participating in sports.  This is especially true with skiing and snowboarding, where properly fitted boots are directly responsible for fine-edge engagement and balance. 

Balance, alignment, and the ability to articulate the ankle in your boots all profoundly affect your performance and endurance. Even if the fit of your boot is only off by a small bit, it can change your performance by a lot! You may have to work harder to stay balanced and aligned, which can lead to overuse of the knee, hip, and trunk muscles. This can also lead to inefficient compensatory movements. Now is a great time to have the physical therapists at The Fitness Lab perform an assessment for you. That way, you’ll have the correct boots ready to go when the resorts finally open.

4. Start Planning Your First Few Sessions

Even with dedicated pre-season training, starting the season slowly and gradually building up the intensity is still important. Jumping into intense new physical activities sets you up for overuse-type injuries, which in turn make you more likely to suffer a fall or other severe injury.

Take some time in the fall to review your favorite resort’s available slopes and develop a start-of-season plan. Even if you’re a dedicated winter athlete, it’s important to begin on gentler terrain than you may have been skiing on at the end of last winter. Then, you can slowly work your way up.

Are you new to skiing or snowboarding? Then let our physical therapists know! We can provide guidance on which slopes will work best for you so you don’t do too much, too soon.