Snow Sports Injury Prevention
Winter is here!
That means snow is right around the corner and it won’t be long until snow sports become a weekly activity here in the northeast. Whether you enjoy skiing, snowboarding, snow-shoeing, cross-country skiing or just hiking a winter trail, knowing the in’s & out’s of common injuries can be a huge advantage in maintaining a healthy body throughout the winter. Today, we discuss the three most common injuries we see during the snow sports season and how to prevent them with certain exercises!
Low Back Pain
Low back pain is typically something that most winter athletes embrace and deal with as if it were expected. I am here to tell you that lower back pain is never acceptable and should not be anticipated! There are many ways to hurt your lower back though, for example, taking a sharp turn too quickly, falling, having a collision or simply overuse. We have to be extra aware of our surroundings when out on the mountain, especially when there are a lot of people on the same run. One false move and you can easily go from cruising at a comfortable pace, to being face down in the snow. Landing hard on the tailbone for a snowboarder, or going end-over-end on the ski’s are common ways to hurt the lower back.
In order to prevent these moments from doing damage to your back, preparation is key. Getting into a routine of utilizing core stabilization and hip strengthening exercises will help to provide stability to your lumbar spine, while keeping the supportive muscles strong enough to endure a full day of activity. Regularly practicing front/side planks, paloff press and single leg bridges are all excellent ways to reduce the onset of lower back pain from winter sports activities.
Knee Pain
With the exception of cross-country skiing, all winter sports generally involve a mountain (or at least a hill). Going up is typically the easy part, while coming down is the strenuous and dangerous part. The more time you spend going downhill, the more your quads (front of the thigh) must stabilize to control your speed and maintain your balance. In the unique case of snowboarders, the need to pivot onto your toes for turning will place some extra-added pressure on the quadriceps group, resulting in some post-boarding soreness. If not properly conditioned, these quad muscles will pull hard on the patella (kneecap), causing irritation and potentially some micro-tearing of the patellar tendon. This injury typically causes pain just below the kneecap and is very difficult to avoid during snow-sport activities.
By performing eccentric exercises to strengthen the quads, you will not only prevent patellar tendon injuries, but you will also improve your overall lower body conditioning, allowing you to spend more time on the mountain without fatigue! A few great eccentric exercises include step-downs, reverse squats, and single-leg presses.
Ankle Sprains
Although technology has improved the design and fit of ski/snowboard boots in recent years, we cannot ignore the simple fact that you are locked into your gear. When one joint is TOO stable, our body will find ways to move at the joints above or below for compensation. In this case, when the foot & ankle are locked into your boot/bindings, the lower leg will now rotate more than it usually does, placing increased stress on the upper ankle and space between the two bones of the lower leg (tibia/fibula). Although this joint’s movement will typically help to provide some mobility during turns, overuse or an unexpected catch of the edge can cause a high-ankle or syndesmosis sprain. The joint will twist and separate more than it is designed to, causing inflammation, micro-tearing and pain along the front or lateral side of the ankle.
Some common ways to prevent this from happening is to strengthen the muscles in our ankle but also our hips! By improving our general hip strength, rotation will occur more from the trunk & pelvis, opposed to the ankle, reducing the likelihood of injury. Some great hip & ankle exercises include: single leg band-resisted flexion/abduction/extension, single-leg RDLs and band-resisted ankle mobility.
If you or someone you know are interested in improving Snow Sport activities or preventing injury during the winter months, now is a great time to get in touch with
Starting on Tuesday, January 11th, we will be hosting a 6-week Snow Sports Prep Course to cover all of the pieces listed above!
Classes will be 1 hour long on a weekly basis. Each class will cover different topics and include an educational component, dynamic warm-up and exercise practice. There will also be home programs given out so that you can continue to practice these exercises from week to week and long after the class is over!
Click the link below to register!
Do not hesitate…there are only 8 spots available!