Are You Fit For Snow Sports? Part 2
The Top Five Snow Sport Injuries:
The top 5 Snow Sports Injuries are, Knee, head, wrist/hand, ankle & shoulder.
One of the most serious knee injuries in snow sports is anterior cruciate ligament rupture which amounts to nearly 15% of all ski injuries.
Prevention of Knee injuries:
KNEE INJURIES:
Knee injuries commonly occur during twisting manouvers, obviously good technique and good balance training help to prevent these injuries, therefore lessons, appropriate equipment and a good pre-training (including core and balance training) programme prior to going to the slopes will help prevent this.
Weight bearing exercises are needed to strengthen the muscles around the knee joint such as the quads and hamstrings. Exercises that also mimmick movement and position of legs during snow sports are also advisable.
Learn to Fall, this will help prevent injury also.
HEAD INJURIES:
Wearing a helmet is very much advisable, research from Norway revealed up to 18% of Norweigan winter sports injuries are to the head.
Improved control and balance could prevent some of the falls that lead to head injuries. Core strength work is a very good idea (in part 3 we will be looking at exercises for Snow Fitness, including core training).
WRIST & HAND INJURIES:
Ive got most of my statistics from Norway, and they show that around 4% of alpine injuries come from wrist and hand injuries and in snowboarding it amounts to as much as 29%.
LOWER LEG & ANKLE INJURIES:
Buy or hire the most appropriate equipment such as good skiboots, its worth paying the extra money on good kit – it will help prevent injury.
Lower leg injuries amount to up to 14% of injuries of snow sports enthusiasts.
SHOULDER INJURIES:
up to 12% of injuries are caused this way, mainly from falls with out stretched arms or by falling on the shoulder directly.
By Mike Buss | Celebrity Personal Trainer
In Part 3 we will be looking at fitness training for snow sports
Category: Fitness Advice
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