Flexibility Training for Snowboarding

When you refer to flexibility training, its all about the amount and range of motion that your body joints can manage when undergoing exercise. This involves not only your muscles, but your tendons and ligaments also.

Why Do You Need Flexibility?

Natural flexibility training is pretty pointless for Darts, but for a sport like snowboarding, snowboarders would be foolish to ignore their flexibility and you will soon know when yours is not up to scratch! For boarding, you will be tending to use muscles like the hip rotators, your abs and torso and low back extenders and flexors. So the stretching you need to do will help to increase your flexibility - alongside your strength workout to help build your overall strength.

Our Suggestion for a Workout

If you're reading this, then we're obviously tempting you to get yourself in shape before you get onthe plane. That's a great start.

Times Per Week

To start out, we suggest you train every other day and depending on your experience (beginner, intermediate or advanced) the duration of your flexibility training will vary.

Once you have been doing for 4 - 6 weeks, then in the run up to your holiday try to do some flexibility training every day - as on the slopes you'll be putting your body through it every day presumably.

How Long to Train?

Your workout routine should at the outset take about 10-15 minutes. As you progress through your weeks, you can increase the intensity and add in more exercises to build strength and flexibility.

How to Exercise

When stretching, make sure you stretch to the point of tightness, but not to pain. Do not 'bounce' to increase the stretch further and when you feel tension in your stretch simply hold 15-20 seconds

Example Exercises

Piriformis stretch

• Lie flat on your back, with hands behind head.
• Keep your right foot on the floor and rest your left foot on your now bent right knee.
• Then slowly lift your right leg up.
• Stop and hold for between 15 and 20 seconds once you feel a tightness in your hip muscles.
• Then lower and repeat.

Finally, switch legs and do the same number of reps with the other leg

Seated Twist

• Sit down on the floor
• Cross your bent knee over the straight leg
• Place your opposite arm on your bent knee
• Push gently until you feel the strain
• Hold for 30 secs
• Then rotate the upper body to work on the other side holding for 30 seconds again.

Finally, switch legs and then repeat exercise.

Hip Stretch (Front of hips)

• Stand up
• Take a step back with one leg
• Then bend the knee of the other leg
• Keeping your back leg straight, bend forward until you can feel your hip muscle stretch.
• Hold for 15-20 secs and then relax.

Repeat and then switch legs for the same number of reps.

Quad Stretch

• Whilst standing find a chair or wall for balance
• Then lift one leg behind you and grasp your ankle with your hand
• Then pull your leg up towards your bum keeping your knees together until you feel a stretch up the front of your leg
• Hold for 20-30 secs, then relax.
• Repeat 5 times.

Finally, switch legs and repeat.

By Will Smith