How to prepare for your snowboarding holiday like an Olympic athlete

Most of you heard about Zoe Gillings, Britain’s number one snow sports athlete. Her coach, Liz Sinton, is sharing some top tips on how you can get fit and prepare prepare for snowboarding holiday.

We can’t all expect to have the speed, strength and agility of an Olympic snowboarder, but the Science: [So what? So everything] campaign can bring you tips from one of the experts behind Britain’s #1 snowsports athlete, Zoe Gillings. 

Liz Sinton is a strength and conditioning coach from the English Institute of Sport, and has worked with Zoe to make sure that she is in peak physical fitness for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, next February, where Zoe is hoping to win a gold medal in the boardercross event, which involves four snowboarders setting off down a narrow course with obstacles such as corners and jumps along the way.

Many snowboarders may prepare for their holiday by focusing on the areas of the body that they think may be most important, such as the legs. However, Liz says that in fact, hip & trunk stability is just as important in ensuring that landings are safe. “A key part of avoiding injury and maximising performance is ensuring the legs and strong enough to tolerate the day’s boarding, and the less dominant areas (such as glutes and hamstrings) are also conditioned and ready.”

The biggest risks to the sport are when snowboarders crash or when they land. When a snowboarder has a crash, every part of the body is at risk, so building stability on all joints will minimise the chances of injury. When landing, the main areas at risk are the knees and back. Good hip stability and eccentric strength, which is essential for deceleration and is achieved by lengthening a muscle while it is loaded and contracting, can control and soften the landings. Liz says: “Zoe has done a lot of strength and stability work so she is strong enough to control landings off kickers and other demands of the sport with ease.”

Whilst Zoe’s training and preparation for the Vancouver Winter Olympics has taken place at the University of Bath over four years, most people won’t have as much time to dedicate to their pre-snowboarding holiday training.

However, you can focus on the following areas of your body to replicate the conditioning training that Zoe undertakes before the season. This includes:

• Hip function – work the hip extension with kettlebells, single leg movement patterns or with simple bridging movements. For example, lie on your back, with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Contract the abdominals and glutes then raise your hips so that your feet & shoulders stay in touch with the floor. Most of your weight should be pushing through your heels. Repeat three sets x 20 reps.
• Leg conditioning – working the quads with squat and mat jump work. Jump on a soft crash mat, working up to three sets x 60 reps non-stop
• Hamstrings – leg kicks, swiss ball curls and arabesques
• Cardiovascular conditioning - on a rower, cross trainer or spin bike (mixing up intervals with endurance steady state efforts within your week)
• Sessions focusing on trunk strength work

Once you reach the snow, you can start the day with 10-20 minutes of cardiovascular warm up before breakfast (perhaps a walk, slow jog or bike), followed by some floor based activities and stretching, as Zoe does. However, if this sounds like a bit too much effort for a holiday, you can still benefit from warm up that Zoe does when she gets up the mountain.

• Do some squats, lunges and jumps to get the blood flowing and improve dynamic flexibility
• As you get warmer, you can increase your range of motion further and focus on specific areas of the body
• If you are stationary for a long period, you can do a smaller warm up which will help to keep your muscles warm

Five top tips to avoid injury on the slopes

There are a number of precautions you can take which can help to reduce the risk of injuring yourself on the slopes.

1. Preparation: First and foremost, you can prevent a lot of injuries commonly cause by tumbles by making sure that you’ve prepared your body for snowboarding. In particular, focus on increasing core stability and strength, which will allow your body to take the strain when turning and landing, and reduce your likelihood of injury. You should also increase your cardiovascular fitness, which will make your holiday more enjoyable, as you won’t get so tired.
2. Warming up and down: A few minutes spent warming up and stretching at the beginning and the end of the day will be time well spent, as they can reduce the risk of injury, as well as reducing your chance of aches at the end of the day.
3. Fall Safe: When you’re learning to snowboard, you are likely to fall a lot. If falling forwards, try to keep your arms slightly bent and to absorb the fall with your forearms, rather than jolting your wrists. If you’re falling backwards, bend your knees to keep lower to the ground, and try to land on your rear end. Keep hunched forward to avoid your head from hitting the ground.
4. Be Safe: Good kit will help you to avoid injury. A crash helmet can protect from concussion and head injuries. Whilst these injuries are relatively rare, they are the number one cause of death in snowboarders so it’s worth investing in a helmet. Wrist guards can help to protect against broken or strained wrists and hard shell boots will protect your ankles from sprains.
5. Take it Steady: Don’t try anything that you’re not ready for. Stunts, jumps and tricks are fun but are also increase the chance of injury. Make sure that you’re well prepared by taking lessons from a qualified snowboard instructor. This will mean that you don’t learn bad habits which can lead to injuries.