1. Improves Your Balance
Keeping your body upright while making your way down the mountain on a set of skis or a snowboard needs some serious attention, not to mention balance abilities. It also makes the body more flexible, which helps reduce muscular strains and sprains.
Read More: Adam McManus Etobicoke
“From your core muscles to the small and large muscle groups of the lower legs, the dynamic motion that our body is going through while skiing improves balance and stability, both important factors as we move through our daily lives,” Cohen adds.
According to a research in the “Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports,” 12 weeks of skiing drastically altered the health of 60- to 76-year-olds, resulting to a considerable boost in their balance, along with aerobic capacity, strength, and power.
2. Your Muscles Get Stronger
There are several muscles used in skiing and snowboarding. In addition to being great core exercises, both snow activities put a lot of strain on your legs and lower body. Because you’re in the squat position for an extended amount of time, the isometric posture keeps your quads continually engaged, and your glutes, calves, and hamstrings will grow much stronger too. Shifting your weight while skiing or snowboarding is vital; consequently, engaging your core, especially the obliques, is necessary to rotate the torso and support the lower body.
3. It Burns Lots of Calories
The number of calories you may burn when skiing or snowboarding varies greatly, depending on a number of factors, including your level of exertion, how hard you ski, the depth and weight of the snow, whether or not it is groomed, and other factors. Generally speaking, you may burn anywhere from 300 to 500 calories every hour.
As to whether is a superior exercise, skiing or snowboarding, that’s a serious argument best explored over a cocktail at your next après-ski. The Compendium of Physical Activities, a database that determines how much energy is used in sports and activities, rates the two snow sports similarly in terms of calories burned. “Skiing and snowboarding will engage the lower muscle groups no matter what type of sliding around you do,” says Cohen, adding that it’s ultimately good for your health.
4. It Makes You Live Longer
“Downhill skiing, especially when performed on a regular basis, may contribute to healthy aging by its association with a healthier lifestyle, including higher levels of physical activity,” said a study published in Frontiers in Physiology.
Another sport that you may frequently continue until old age is skiing. Because you can choose how quickly you want to go, how hard you want to work, and how much effect you want to make, it’s a really flexible sport.
According to Cohen, “Skiing is not just a sport for young people.” After leading a healthy lifestyle for many years, many individuals continue to ski into old age due to the delight skiing provides.
5. It Improves Your Mental Well-Being
Because not all advantages can be quantified, Cohen believes it might be difficult to demonstrate the positive effects of being outside in the fresh air on mental health. “I find that skiing provides me with a place and activity that helps me stay grounded, maintain mental stability, and spend time with my loved ones.” Stress and anxiety reduction are among the advantages; exercise may also boost vitality and enhance the quality of sleep.
Skiers and snowboarders are likely to have positive psychological impacts, which have been connected to overall human well-being, according to research. According to participants in a qualitative study of freeride skiers, frequent experiences with joy, freedom, nature, difficulty, balance, and social contacts are what drive them to participate in their activity. The findings suggested that “the effects of skiing itself, the interaction of these variables, and the mere exposure to nature may explain improvements of psychological well-being during and after skiing.”
6. It Aids in Weight Loss
Because you’re not only burning calories but also gaining and retaining muscle, skiing and snowboarding can help you lose weight. Another advantage of skiing is its influence on body temperature, as it may increase your calorie expenditure in colder weather. Most importantly, though, it’s an enjoyable kind of workout.
Cohen says, “It’s exercise that doesn’t feel like exercise.” “I don’t think, ‘I have to exercise to stay healthy,’ when I’m outside taking in the fresh air on the mountain.” The workout is so much more fun because I’m just having fun. Exercise doesn’t feel like a duty when you start a program because you’re doing something thrilling and engaging, like skiing.
7. It Promotes Blood Flow
According to Cohen, daily skiing or snowboarding can strengthen your heart and lungs and increase the effectiveness of your cardiovascular system. Riding downhill may increase circulation and provide the body with new oxygen, making it an excellent aerobic exercise for the heart. Your body’s tissues get more oxygen and nutrients as your blood circulation improves.
8. It Offers a Great HIIT Workout
Skiing and snowboarding are excellent HIIT workouts because of their start and stop nature. A personal trainer could not design a more ideal HIIT training session than a simple chairlift or gondola ride up the mountain, followed by a strenuous, concentrated run downhill.
As our muscles extend and shorten throughout the action, skiing and snowboarding give the body a quick, high-intensity workout that benefits our muscles in isometric, concentric, and eccentric ways, according to Cohen. We are able to increase our overall endurance through short-interval exercise because we can pause along the trail and enjoy a chairlift ride. It seems like you’re not “having” to work out when you enjoy the advantages of these well-liked gym routines while being outside.