Snowboarding Fitness Preparation

Snowboarding Fitness Preparation

Before hitting the mountain hone your snowboarding fitness and conditioning. See the training plans used by the top boarders.

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Executing a toe grab while you float through a 360-degree spin suspended over the half pipe takes guts, technique and some serious off-season training preparation.

In a sport like snowboarding characterized by speed and a penchant for the extraordinary stunt trick, you'll need power and balance and refined athletic sensibilities. So, the question emerges "how do I get the 'right stuff' during my training period?"

The answer for snowboarding mirrors the answer for any sport. In order to improve your skills or excel at the sport, you have to create and master a personal training program which will blend cardio-vascular endurance work with pure power or strength work. Without this core-training platform, you won't have the 'juice' to board at a high level for the entire day on the mountain.

In addition to strength and endurance work, you need to design a training program which will challenge you in matters of overall athletic balance. Last, but certainly not least, is mind training. You need a solid dose of 'attitude' to take with you on the hill so that you can ride hard, yet at the same time handle unexpected situations requiring quick judgment and athletic skill with a minimum of fear.

Begin your training structure with a commitment to stretching. Since the "power" zones demanded by snowboarding include your trunk, abdomen, lower back, quads, hamstrings, and calves, you must incorporate concentrated work on obtaining meaningful stretching in these areas. Remember to hold stretches for 30-60 seconds without bouncing or moving. Sink deeper into the stretch, soften muscles and tendons so that you can dig deeper into the stretch. This area of stretching is even more directly addressed if you know or can learn yoga stances.

For power, think squats and toe rises, lunges with lightweights, along with serious abdominal work including sit-ups and crunches. Many modern gyms now offer members a vast selection of power equipment to train various body areas, along with treadmills and stair climbers and related cardio equipment to push your heart and vascular system.

If you're serious about getting the most while boarding the mountain, then you should commit to a minimum of 1-hour training per day year round. Walking, riding your bike, inline skating, hiking steep mountains, doing sit-ups and push-ups and chin-ups will both sculpt you and give you the strength, power and balance necessary to master snowboarding

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