Given the physical demands and skills required in winter sports, it’s no wonder that balance and stability are two types of training winter athletes focus on. But these factors aren’t just important for doing well on the field or rink. They also play a major role in preventing the kinds of injuries that could cut your season short. With all this in mind, one of the best methods of winter sports training is targeted exercises under the advice of a skilled physical therapist.
At JAG Physical Therapy, athletes at all levels of play across NJ, NY, and PA have long trusted us to keep them healthy and playing their best. Our athletic training services are available to teams who want to hone the tools they need to achieve the next level of success. Book your appointment today, contact us for more info on athletic training, or read further below on the best stability and balance exercises for winter athletes.
Why is Balance Crucial for Winter Sports Performance?
Balance is our ability to keep ourselves upright even with uneven footing, such as slippery ground or having one leg in the air. The feeling of balance is part of the internal sense called proprioception, which is our knowledge about our body position and movement. It’s easy to see why this is so important in winter sports. Good balance can help a hockey player make a quick turn to steal the puck, a figure skater keep rigid body control in order to have a perfect routine, or a skier avoid wiping out on a difficult slope.
As with other aspects of internal senses and self-knowledge, balance can be consciously trained. However, balance exercises don’t necessarily give you the best results when you push yourself, but instead when you pay attention and become more aware of yourself. It’s a good idea, therefore, to integrate balance-based exercises at either the very beginning or very end of your daily winter sports training.
What Are the Best Exercises to Improve Balance for Winter Sports?
Because all of our limbs and our internal perception have roles to play in keeping balance, the types of exercises you should do for balance are diverse. Here are some of the best ones for winter athletes:
- Single Leg Stands: The most basic balance exercise can be undertaken almost anywhere and without any equipment. When you perform single leg stands, you should note the time you spend on one foot and alternate legs so that you balance equally on your right and left foot. Beyond simply trying to stand for longer, one way to make this exercise more advanced is to keep your hands at your sides so that you can’t use them to maintain balance and have to rely on your legs.
- Bird Dog: A floor exercise, the bird dog engages both the arms and legs to improve their balancing ability and also enhances coordination with opposite-directional movements. Start by getting on all fours – back straight, shoulders over your wrists, and hips over your knees. Flex your abdominal muscles while slowly lifting and then extending your right arm and left leg, using your planted arm and leg and your core muscles to keep balance. Make sure to keep your back from moving. Slowly return to starting position, alternate sides, and repeat.
- Warrior Pose: The iconic lunging yoga pose, called Virabhadrasana in the original Sanskrit, has three increasingly difficult variations for a true test of balance. For the first type, step the feet wide apart, hips turned to face the front foot which is turned forward, with the back foot turned halfway inward and arms raised above the head. The front leg should be bent at a right angle while the back leg stays straight. The second type involves a deeper lunge with arms extended straight out back and front. Finally, the extremely difficult third pose has the arms and torso extended straight forwards, balancing on one straight leg while the other leg is extended all the way backwards parallel to the torso.
How Can Stability Exercises Enhance Your Winter Sports Performance?
Stability is a concept related to but distinct from balance. While stability can also enable you to avoid slipping and falling, it refers to physical rather than mental acuity. In this instance, stability is the capacity for the musculoskeletal system to resist movement due to outside forces. A stable muscle group can remain flexed for longer, and a stable joint is less likely to buckle under weight.
Some of the top stability exercises for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports are the following:
- Planks: The basic plank, or abdominal bridge, is a key core strengthening exercise that can be used in all forms of stability training. In essence, a regular plank is performed by maintaining a push-up-like position, keeping the body off the ground on the toes of both feet and forearms of both arms. Many more advanced planks are possible for those who are more experienced, such as a decline plank (using an object or piece of furniture to raise the level of your feet relative to your torso), side plank, or bear plank (holding the bear crawl position of hands and toes on the ground with knees slightly lifted).
- Dead Bug: Amusing name aside, this exercise is simple but challenging – while lying with your back flat and palms on the ground at your sides, bring your legs up with your knees at right angles, then slowly extend one leg while bracing your core and bring it back to the first position, then alternate and repeat.
- Partial Sit-Ups: Holding a mid-way position makes this exercise perhaps more daunting than full sit-ups. You should stay halfway sat-up for about two seconds per repetition, keeping your head and neck neutral, and once you master the original version, you can make this exercise more challenging still by doing it with crossed arms.
What Role Does Physical Therapy Play in Preparing for Winter Sports?
Above all, a targeted exercise routine, such as one focused on balance and stability for winter athletics, is best started by utilizing the advice and feedback of a physical therapist. At JAG Physical Therapy, we aim to help you understand the unique way your body moves with techniques such as gait analysis, then put a custom routine into practice that will get you the best possible results. We focus not only on exercise, but on injury prevention, allowing you to enjoy sports all winter in top musculoskeletal health.
Schedule a Winter Sports Training Session with JAG Physical Therapy
If you’re a winter athlete looking to maximize your performance while avoiding injuries, whether your passion is snowboarding, ice dance, hockey, or anything else, the JAG PT team is here for you. We’re just as enthusiastic about helping athletes succeed as you are about your chosen sport, and our clinics are conveniently located throughout the New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania area. Schedule an appointment now to begin honing your balance, stability, and overall skill with the guidance of our physical therapy professionals.