How To Stay Healthy In Your Next Winter Sport Adventure

If you're going to engage in some sporting activities during this winter season, chances are that you're already preparing your gear. Perhaps, you're booking your next flight or shopping for your travel insurance. While getting ready is essential to your winter vacation planning, your body deserves attention.

Winter sports adventures like ice skating, skiing, snowshoeing and more may present new challenges to both professionals and amateurs alike. In this regard, we’ve rounded up some ideas to help you stay healthy in your next winter sports adventure.

Overview

Naturally, the surrounding temperature is usually lower than the body temperature in cold weather. As a result, heat flows from your body, and your temperature falls. Subsequently, your metabolism rises, and your heart and lungs work hard for your body to stay warm.

Engaging in extreme winter sports involves muscle strength and cardiovascular endurance. Therefore, there are chances that your muscles will be worked out more intensely, unlike in summer sports. Because the season is typically short, you must train your body to endure before the winter season kicks in.

You can keep fit by performing regular workouts such as stair climbing, running, or cycling to get your heart pumping blood and test your endurance levels. If you’re up for a challenge, you can opt for intense training a few days per week.

Abdominal and Back Workouts

Strong core muscles help to support your spine, improve your posture and prevent injuries and back pain. So engaging in abdominal and back exercises can help strengthen your core for stability, which is beneficial for all sports, including snowboarding and skiing.

Strengthening your core may involve more than a few crunches. It can also include engaging the core gently and having a perfect posture during the day as you perform your everyday activities.

Calves and Ankles Workouts

Sports gear such as ice hockey skates, ski bindings, and snowboard bindings typically keep your body upright and flexed, which can put extra stress on your calves and ankles.

You can do various calf and ankle workouts to increase your strength and flexibility. For example, you can do a calf raise with or without weight and with your feet pointing straight forward or turned out. In addition, you can engage yourself in a workout that requires no equipment, like ankle circles.

In addition, you can use resistance bands to provide calf raises and ankle circles for a more strenuous exercise. By including these exercises in your winter-sport prep, you may avoid unwanted injuries and maintain the strength you require to tackle strenuous activities.

Outer and Inner Thigh Workouts

You will constantly engage your inner and outer thighs as you maintain your skis together or move laterally.

Therefore, you need strong outer thighs to protect your knees and robust inner thighs to increase balance and stability. Squats and lunges are arguably the common ways to strengthen the outer thighs, while side-leg lifts and side-lying leg abductions may be helpful for the inner thighs.

As you become more familiar with these exercises, you can increase the intensity by adding more repetitions or weights.

Arms Workouts

When participating in winter sports, your arms will be active in pushing off ski poles, pumping you across the snow or snowshoeing poles. Your upper body will help your arms in performing these activities.

Different arm workouts can be very effective in improving your upper body strength. One such exercise is the chin-up, which works your biceps and a group of muscles in the upper arms. You can also try triceps extension if you’re targeting the muscles on the back of your arms.

Quadriceps Workouts

Quadriceps are the most used muscles during winter sports because they help stabilize your body as you ski down the slopes. Moreover, strong quads are essential for several activities, such as snowboarding, and can help prevent injuries in your knees and hips.

Some of the quad workouts include squats, leg presses, and lunges. You can aim for 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 15 repetitions of each workout if you’re up for a rigorous exercise. Plus, don't forget to balance your squats because squatting too low may do more harm than good.

Glutes and Hamstrings Workouts

Winter sports usually involve a lot of movements that keep your body in a flexed position such that you'll lean forward in front of the hips. When you trudge through the snow, your hamstring and glute will stabilize your body and help you generate power when you push off the skates.

Including exercises targeting these muscle groups in your workouts is essential for a successful adventure. Examples of such workouts include;

● Squats target multiple muscle groups at once. One way to do this is by keeping your weight in your heels and driving through your hips to stand back up when you squat.

● Deadlifts are a classic strength-training exercise. You can perform this exercise by standing shoulder-width apart and bending your hips to lower your hands to the floor. Then, keep your back flat and drive through the heels. Finally, when you feel stronger, you can add weight by holding a dumbbell with each hand.

● Lunges target your glutes and hamstrings. Step forward with one leg to perform this exercise and lower your body until your front thigh is parallel with the ground. Then push off with your back leg to return to the starting position.

Keeping Healthy Through Nutrition

Besides working out, you can also keep healthy by eating a balanced diet and providing your body with essential nutrients and minerals.

Take vitamin D supplements

As you probably know, during winter, there's limited sunlight exposure. Therefore, your body may lack vitamin D, which helps fight off seasonal illnesses such as colds and flu. However, you can add vitamin D supplements to your diet if you work mostly indoors.

Further, consider diets that are primary sources of vitamin D, such as salmon, flax seeds, walnuts, chia seeds, dairy products, and cod. Whether you want to spend a few more hours per day basking in the sun or take some of the top rated vegan powder options, your body should have sufficient vitamin D before the winter season kicks in.

Eat More Fruits and Veggies

Fruits, vegetables, and spices can play a role in maintaining your health and helping your body combat winter diseases. This is because fruits and vegetables provide natural antioxidants like vitamin C and carotenoids. Spices, like turmeric, can also contribute to your antioxidant intake.

Take a lot of water

Hydration is important while skiing because a high-intensity workout can make your body lose water through sweat, making you feel thirsty. Therefore, it's essential to ensure you're adequately hydrated by drinking water to ensure your body is in peak condition. Experts recommend at least 64 ounces of water per day to prevent an afternoon “bonk”.

Take immune boosters

Some of the most common winter diseases include colds, flu, pneumonia, strep throat, and stomach flu. Even if you've taken your flu shots, consider boosting your immunity by taking vitamin C-packed foods such as fruits. Also, zinc is an excellent immunity booster found in crabs, beans, whole grains, shrimp, and nuts.

Conclusion

To ensure you have the best possible experience on your ski vacation, take care of yourself.

Consider including some physical activity in your preparation plans to increase your chances of lasting more than one round of winter sports activities. Last but not least, feed well and supply your body with essential vitamins and minerals.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Fred Felton          

Content Creator / Editor

Fred Felton is a copywriter, editor and social media specialist based in Durban, South Africa. He has over 20 years of experience in creating high end content. He has worked with some of the biggest brands in the world. Currently Fred specialises in the winter outdoors space, focussing on skiing and snowboarding. He is also a keynote speaker and has presented talks and workshops in South Africa.