PREPARE FOR THE SNOW

They say that to enjoy the snow in winter you have to train in summer. If you prepare to be almost 100% in the first days of snow, you will be able to feel the intensity of your favorite sport and you will be prevented from injuries. We think the latter is the most important, because how many people come to us as coaches telling us that they have a bad knee or wrist due to an injury produced in a descent.

There are many sports that can be practiced in the snow, but in this article we will talk about the descent with skis or with a board, since it is what a greater number of people practice when they go to the snow. Although I encourage you to also do snowshoeing or go to stations where there are cross-country ski trails.

Worldwide, there are more than 2,000 alpine ski resorts spread over 80 countries, with approximately 400 million days suitable for the influx of skiers. Assuming a fatality rate of 1 per 1 million days and an injury rate of 1-2 per 1000 days, it could result in a total of 400 fatalities and 400,000 to 800,000 skiers injured. Although it seems outrageous, the risk of injury during alpine skiing is lower than football or other team sports, but it is comparable to cycling, running or playing tennis (Burtscher and Ruedl, 2015).

The skiing and snowboarding are related to a relatively high risk of injury. The most common injuries affect the knee in skiers and the upper limb, especially the wrist, in snowboarding (Stenroos and Handolin, 2015). And although similar injuries can occur, such as the relatively frequent fracture of the tibia, in the case of snowboarders they tend to be more proximal, the biomechanics of sport mean that the injuries are also different, although they occur in similar areas (Stenroos et al. ., 2015).

Given this incidence of injuries, the researchers propose that skiers could prevent many of these injuries by developing adequate physical condition and responsible behavior on the ski slopes (Burtscher and Ruedl, 2015). Well, let’s see some of the contributions of science on alpine skiing physical preparation:

Already in 1987 Steadman et al. Indicated something as basic as that skiing requires aerobic capacity, strength, power and resistance to force. But what specific requirements would you need to practice recreational skiing? Well it is actually quite evident that alpine skiing requires both aerobic and anaerobic capacities. Furthermore, the intermittent nature of alpine skiing allows you to tailor your skiing in relation to your personal health and physical ability (Krautgasser et al., 2011).

In a 1996 study (Kanhet al.) Carried out in middle-aged men, it was observed that this type of activity is relatively intense (heart rate greater than 70% of the MHR), in addition to being carried out in many cases in hypoxic situations mild.

In another investigation carried out in older men, it was observed that during 75 min of recreational skiing, the oxygen demand ranged between 40-50% of VO2max, while at the same time the peak heart rate was 70-80% (Krautgasser et al. al., 2011).

In addition to taking into account the levels of cardiorespiratory effort, other demands must be known. After 7 days of skiing, it was possible to see how the sensory and stability indices improved significantly (Wojtyczek, Pas? Awska and Raschner, 2014). In addition, the accumulated muscle fatigue and the activation of the muscles of the trunk and lower limbs will determine the modification of the technique (Hébert-Losier, Supej & Holmberg, 2014) and, therefore, may be an influencing factor in the risk of injury . In fact, the technique itself that is used, for example more or less flexion of the knees, will be the trigger for subsequent levels of fatigue, also depending on the physical condition. It is because of the latter that many older people when skiing end up reducing the angle of flexion of their knees (Scheiber,

Given all this, good physical preparation is of the utmost importance before starting the season in the snow. And even more so if we add that a cold stimulus affects body temperature and energy metabolism, which can lead to a decrease in exercise capacity in skiers (Suzuki et al., 2014).

What do we recommend for you?

• Train your heart to withstand intense intermittent efforts.
• Train your stability and the muscles of the trunk so that it is compact and can better support the “slalom”.
• Train your strength, especially in the lower limbs, to resist the fatigue produced by technical positions, and also for a better stabilization of the abductor muscles.

Start today to prepare for your favorite sport and add FAST to your physical preparation, where the coaches will make you a specific program and will seek to optimize the results, in addition to advising you for the rest of the physical activities that you are doing.

References:

• Burtscher and Ruedl. Favourable changes of the risk-benefit ratio in alpine skiing. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015.
• Hébert-Losier, Supej and Holmberg. Biomechanical factors influencing the performance of elite Alpine ski racers. Sports Med. 2014
• Kanhet al. Physiological effects of downhill skiing at moderate altitude in untrained middle-aged men. Wilderness Environ Med. 1996
• Krautgasseret al. Physiological responses of elderly recreational alpine skiers of different fitness and skiing abilities. J Sports Sci Med. 2011
• Scheiber, Seifert and Müller. Relationships between biomechanics and physiology in older, recreational alpine skiers. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2012
• Steadman et al. Training for Alpine skiing. ClinOrthopRelat Res. 1987
• Stenroos and Handolin. Incidence of Recreational Alpine Skiing and Snowboarding Injuries: Six Years Experience in the Largest Ski Resort in Finland. Scand J Surg. 2015.
• Stenroos et al. Tibial fractures in alpine skiing and snowboarding in Finland: a retrospective study on fracture types and injury mechanisms in 363 patients. Scand J Surg. 2015.
• Suzuki et al. Physiological responses in Alpine skiers during on-snow training simulation in the cold. Int J Sports Med. 2014
• Wojtyczek, Pas? Awska and Raschner. Changes in the balance performance of polish recreational skiers after seven days of alpine skiing.