Snow is accumulating in the mountains, the days are much colder and shorter… the inevitable winter is upon us… in three weeks we will be skiing the hill again! And are you ready for it this winter? Are your back feeling strong and your knees feeling stable? Or are you still nursing an injury from the past? Injuries, whether chronic or acute, take a significant amount of time to heal. Proper recovery from injuries has very crucial long-term benefits. If you don’t take the time to heal properly post-injury, you could be facing injury-related complications in the not too distant future.
Injuries have great impact on our bodies. Not only do we face pain and discomfort, but we also face the inability to move effectively. Stiffness, weak and aching muscles are all very common symptoms of the effects of an injury. The muscle atrophies (wastes away) leaving us with imbalanced and unstable body parts. Fortunately, if you are prepared to put in lots of time and effort, you can make an excellent recovery, bringing your body back to where you left off pre-injury, in a reasonable amount of time.
Swimming is excellent training in the early stages of rehabilitation. It allows you to get your heart pumping aerobically, allowing blood to flow throughout your body and prevent blood pooling in lower extremities. Nutrients that aid the healing process occurring at your injury site are carried by the blood; therefore, the more blood flow to your injury site, the faster the healing process will be. Any aerobic exercise will do this but swimming is an activity you can get started on right away because it is a non-weight bearing exercise. If you have to limp due to your injury, swimming may be the only exercise you will be able to do. If you are trying to build up strength in your lower extremities, (especially knees!), doing a flutter kick in pool with flippers is a terrific exercise that will help maintain your strength and prevent your muscles from atrophying excessively.
Once you have gained some range of motion in your injured body part, long slow distance biking is the next step. Biking is a low-impact exercise that will continue to build up your muscular endurance in your leg muscles without creating damage or causing pain. Rode-biking on the flats or getting on the stationary bike and spinning for at least 40 minutes 3- 5 times a week will give you the muscular endurance benefits you need. When biking, it is important to find the proper seat height -- your knee should not be totally straightened when sitting in the saddle, but the seat must be high.
Once you are able to properly weight bear again and are able to do most activities, you can start doing some jump-training or “plyometric training.” This will help you reactivate your power, speed and agility skills. When doing plyometrics, proper footwear is essential because you need support for the lateral movements you will be doing and you also need cushion for your feet. This type of explosive training should only be performed twice a week and exercises should be performed on a soft surface.
Strength training and stretching
are essential components of any fitness program. Stretching keeps your joints limber allowing
your body to gain more movement and range of motion. Strength training not only increases the
strength of your muscles, it also strengthens your bones as well. Strong bones and muscles make for an
injury-resistant body!
Tip for the Week:
Hiking with ski poles is an excellent ski-specific exercise for getting you back into ski shape. With ski poles, you get a full body workout, you can move faster and more efficiently through the terrain, and it will cause less impact on your joints, specifically – knees and back joints. Hiking up -- and especially down, moderate to steep slopes, simulates skiing so you can be working on your technique and dynamic movements long before the ski hill opens, thereby, allowing you to be ready for action opening-day. Trekking poles are preferred but any pair of old poles will do to start.
Ski you on the slopes!