Skiing
It’s that time of year again for all you lucky women who are jetting off for the skiing experience. Every year thousands of British and Irish head off to Europe/ the United States to enjoy a week of Skiing throughout December to April.
Not only do you get away for a holiday break enjoying scenic locations, you are having fun while burning calories. Aside from enhancing both flexibility and strength, skiing also improves heart health and tones your entire body while providing an excellent cardiovascular workout.
Tips for Beginners
- You will fall down a lot, but the only thing it will hurt is your confidence. Get back up and keep going, You will overcome the embarrassment and you will improve with time.
- For a beginner, the amount of exercise can be a shock to the system, as your body gets even more tired throughout the week, you begin to make more mistakes. Why not take a day off mid-week and avail of a day of rest in a Spa and get those sore muscles massaged or even a day exploring the region.
- Practise running up and down the stairs. You will be working muscles skiing that you would normally attack in an average workout so prepare yourself. As the saying goes; “Fail to Prepare and Prepare to Fail”
- If you can get some exercise on Dry Slopes before you go it would make your first day that bit more productive and fun... and you can look like a born natural( who needs to know about those hours of practise)
Exercises for Beginners and Returners- Try out a series of the following exercises to get your muscles in order for the most enjoyable workout your body will experience
· Legs; Squats, Squat Jumps, Lunges, Lateral Lunges, Calf raises, Hamstring curls( w/ gymball)
· Core Strength: Plank, Bicycle crunches
· Ski Jumps; Stand with feet together. Bend the knees and jump to the right as far as you can - think of jumping laterally rather than vertically. Land with soft knees and immediately jump laterally to the left. Do 20 reps.
· Cardio work to increase your general fitness. (Running, cycling, walking at pace)
Injuries and Safety
Make sure to always stretch to avoid injury and always stay safe on the slopes. It’s easy to get left behind so make sure to follow signs and avoid those black slopes until you are ready and don’t be afraid to try out small jumps, they might look scary but keep yourself controlled and the adrenaline rush as you’re mid air is worth it.
