Helmet, goggles, fitted equipment, water, and snacks are essential to bring for a day on the slopes. A helmet will protect your head if you fall and equipment that fits you will make the day easier on your body. But what are some simple ways to ensure you don't end up hurt at the end of the day?
Travis Maak, MD, associate professor in the Department of Orthopaedics at 91麻豆天美直播, provide insight into how you can prevent the injuries that may occur on the mountain.
What are some recommended pre-ski practices?
Stretching in advance and warming up the muscles is a great way to start the day. Focus your muscle strengthening on:
- Quadriceps/hamstring (thigh)
- Gluteal (buttock)
- Abdominal (core)
Maak advises lower body stretching or a gentle exercise bike routine in the morning to warm up the muscles before a big ski day.
Is it important be healthy and strong to prevent injury?
Healthy nutrition and overall cardiopulmonary (heart and lung) health is extremely important for injury prevention. Fatigue and muscle strain are primary contributing factors to sporting injury. The most common types of injuries occur to early muscle fatigue and "getting in that last run" at the end of the day.
You can minimize injury through off-season strength and conditioning. Maak suggests starting your season slowly and then working into it, rather than going zero to 60 on the first day.
Where are some good stretches for snowboarders?
Snowboarding requires a large amount of buttock, core, and thigh strength. Stretching of the lower back and hamstrings are of particular importance for snowboarding due to the mechanism of turning and to avoid injury when falling.
How do you strengthen the MCL and ACL?
The ACL and MCL ligaments cannot be "strengthened" in the classic sense as they are more like a rope than a muscle that can be changed with exercise. However, there are some great ways to avoid ACL and MCL injuries that utilize muscle strengthening to stabilize the dynamics of the knee.
Some exercises that have shown to significantly reduce the risk of ACL injury include:
- Squats
- Leg press
- Hamstring curls
- Knee extensions
- Plyometrics (box jumps)
Any quick daily exercises you recommend?
The best daily exercises that can be done easily at home without specialized equipment include:
- Straight leg raises
- Wall sits
- Box jumps
- Weighted squats (put some water jugs or cans in a backpack)
What can be done to help the knees before and after skiing?
Warming up the knees with gentle exercise prior to skiing is always a good activity. Consider an exercise bike or bike trainer for 30 minutes prior to hitting the hill. When you return from a long day, use cold therapy such as ice packs or frozen peas to help with post-skiing soreness.
The best thing you can do above all else is to make sure when your knees and legs start to get tired at the end of the day鈥攕top! Don't go for that one last run. This is when your muscles are fatigued, and the impact goes directly to your knee ligaments increasing the risk of injury. Hit the cold and then hot tub instead.
Tips for bad shin splints?
Shin splints is a unique term that鈥檚 typically used to describe pain in the front of the shin bone (tibia) with impact loading such as skiing, running, etc.
"It can occur with skiing for a different reason such as poorly fitted boots or skiing in a far forward leg position,鈥 Maak explains. "This can put a large amount of stress at the interface between the top of your boot and the front of your shin.鈥
Maak says to consider these fixes:
- Get your boots checked or refitted
- Change the incline on your boots toward your heel
- Get an x-ray of your leg if you're experiencing pain with other activities besides skiing
Being on the mountain is a great way to enjoy the outdoors, but with any activity comes risk. Understanding these risks in advance can help you take extra precautions to keep yourself safe while soaring down the mountain.
