Through the eye of a physiotherapist: How to prepare for winter sports safely?

Every year more and more Poles decide to take an active holiday in winter. It is estimated that almost one in three Poles can ski and skiing is our favourite winter sport.[1] Skiing, snowboarding or ice skating is a way to combine intense training with fun. According to the “Physical activity of Poles” report prepared by CBOS, 76% of the respondents do winter sports because they enjoy it.[2] The additional advantage is the fact that these sports engage almost all muscle groups which allows us to burn a lot of calories. Exercising outdoors also promotes oxygenation of the body and supports the work of the lungs and the heart. Nevertheless, in the case of this type of activity proper preparation is necessary.
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– Winter sports, which are practised seasonally, are associated with a relatively high risk of injury. ​ This is due to the fact that many skiers go to the slope without proper physical preparation. Both snowboarding and skiing are disciplines that put us at risk of knee, shoulder, head, ankle joints and even spine injuries – points out Andrzej Kępczyński, a physiotherapist and expert at Zdrofit Zdrowe Miejsce.
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This should be remembered especially now, when for many people the upcoming ski season will be the first occasion to go to the slope in almost two years.
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– Due to the restrictions associated with the pandemic many people have taken a break from practising winter sports which can increase the risk of injury. Therefore, we should prepare for this thoroughly – argues Andrzej Kępczyński and points to five important aspects of preparation for safe skiing:
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1. Increase the mobility of your joints
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The most common injuries associated with winter sports are those of the joints. Therefore, preparation for winter sports should include strengthening the musculoskeletal system. In this case, static and dynamic exercises aimed at increasing the range of movements such as calm stretching and rolling exercises, exercises in full, pain-free ranges, including bends, twists, and squats, will be perfect.
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2. Improve your coordination
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Despite appearances, in skiing or snowboarding the muscles stabilising the torso, meaning the muscles surrounding the spine, shoulders, abdomen and pelvis, also play a huge role. They support the maintenance of balance and proper control of movements as well as the efficient transfer of our body’s centre of gravity from leg to leg. A very simple exercise that we can perform to strengthen them is, for example, a plank when we try to keep the body above the floor for as long as possible leaning on the forearms and toes.
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3. Improve your proprioceptive sensibility
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An important element of preparation for winter sports is also improving one’s proprioceptive sensibility which makes it easier for the body to determine its position in space and to immediately adjust the appropriate movements to this position. Training focused on proprioceptive sensibility is especially recommended in the case of practising sports characterised by frequent and rapid change of direction with the risk of falls or loss of balance. These include winter sports. During such training our body learns immediate reactions which aim at reducing the risk of injury. When a muscle is stretched, special receptors located in the muscles, tendons or joints send a signal that causes an immediate tension in the antagonistic inhibitory muscles which balance the driving force and thus protect the joints or tendons from injury. In the proprioceptive sensibility training exercises on an unstable surface such as twisting the torso, swinging, or lifting limbs with the use of a Bosu Ball can be of great help. Such exercises should be performed in the position we take while skiing, for example.
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4. Exercise regularly and use experts’ knowledge
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By leading an active lifestyle all year round, we are also better prepared to take up various seasonal sports. Nevertheless, a few weeks before the planned trip to the slope it is worth taking part in a few special training sessions dedicated to preparation for winter sports. Such workouts, developed by physiotherapists and trainers, can be easily found in fitness clubs throughout the country, including Zdrofit, Fit Fabric, Fitness Academy and My Fitness Place, as well as on the Yes2Move.com platform in the form of online training to be performed at home. By taking advantage of professionally prepared classes, we can expect that such training will cover all the key elements, starting from exercises that improve our mobility, through stabilising exercises to those that improve our proprioceptive sensibility. Additionally, if we use workouts conducted by trainers or physiotherapists, we can count on valuable tips or corrections when performing exercises which also increases our chances of developing correct movement patterns and reducing the risk of injury.
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5. Remember about safety
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In winter sports the risk of injury is particularly high. According to a report by a group of researchers from Western Michigan University, both snowboarding and skiing are among the most dangerous extreme sports. Snowboarders are particularly vulnerable: one hour of snowboarding means three times higher risk of injury than one hour of skiing.[3] It is worth remembering that in addition to proper physical preparation the right equipment, having a helmet and responsible behaviour on the ski slope are equally important. Statistically, injuries most often occur during short weekend trips, when we do not give ourselves time to get used to the conditions in the mountains and when we want to make the most of the time on the slope. We should be aware that daily most of us functions at lower altitudes so after arriving in the mountains, especially if they are high mountains, such as the Alps, we should give our body about ten hours to adjust to the new environment. We also get injured much more often when we use rented equipment as well as when we perform descents and manoeuvres with too high speed, inadequate to our capabilities.
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Good preparation for winter sports will both reduce the risk of injury and increase the pleasure of skiing or snowboarding, so it is worth taking care of our body before going to the slope.
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[1] The survey was carried out by the IBRIS Market and Social Research Institute for the Polish Cableways in October 2017; https://punkta.pl/akademia/ubezpieczenia-turystyczne/polacy-na-nartach-raport-2018/
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[2] https://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2018/K_125_18.PDF
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[3] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2325967114564358

Benefit Systems has been operating on the Polish market since 2001. It is the creator of the MultiSport Programme which enables company employees and their families to take up physical activity in sports facilities and at home. The company is also the operator of fitness clubs that belong to the following networks: Zdrofit, Fitness Academy, My Fitness Place, Fabryka Formy, StepONE, S4 Fitness, Fit Fabric, Total Fitness. The sports offer is being successfully developed by the company also in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Turkey. More information on Benefit Systems can be found at www.benefitsystems.pl.
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Zdrofit Zdrowe Miejsca are treatment facilities that provide medical services in physioprophylaxis and kinesiotherapy (movement improvement), aimed at improving health and psychophysical condition of patients. Behind the idea of Zdrofit Zdrowe Miejsce is Benefit Systems Fitness Unit, which manages Zdrofit, My Fitness Place and Fitness Academy fitness clubs.
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