Variety is a vital part of any health and fitness routine. Especially during the long winter months, finding exciting outdoor activities can spark your regimen. Canada offers one of the most intense and enjoyable outdoor sports — skiing. In this article, Winnipeg health coach Gabriel Patterson shares five outstanding health benefits that skiing provides.
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Skiing Promotes Excellent Cardiovascular Health and Endurance
Skiing involves nearly constant full-body motion and develops aerobic strength and endurance as well as virtually any outdoor activity. Lungs get a thorough workout while skiing, as the body’s oxygen demands stay at consistently high levels. Skiing is an excellent form of interval training, with periods of intense activity balanced with periods of rest while riding back up on a lift. Some slopes also provide the opportunity to walk back up slopes rather than riding a lift, which of course means an even more powerful cardio workout.
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Skiing Is an Intense Lower Body Workout
Skiing places the body in a squat position at all times, and thoroughly works thighs, quads, and glutes. The form and motion involved in each ski run will naturally put your legs in constant motion and will provide resistance while you are busy maintaining balance and control of your body. The quality of the workout comes from this continuous motion rather than any single intense lower body stress.
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Skiing Conditions and Strengthens Bones and Joints
The tension and weight applied from the motion of the body shifting and balancing while skiing strengthens the knees. Bones have the direct benefit of the weight distribution through the legs; hip and ankle joints also receive fantastic endurance and strength training. The range of motion involved in skiing promotes high flexibility and supple joints while making knees especially more resistant to injury.
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Skiing Promotes Athleticism and Overall Proprioception
The sport of skiing requires regular training and practice to sustain an enjoyable performance level. Overall balance and coordination are highly tuned during regular skiing, and the entire body must work together to facilitate the overall skiing motion. Proprioception relates to the ability to sense the body’s core and extremities while in action and describes your ability to feel and control multiple body parts without direct eye contact. Hand-eye coordination and proprioception naturally decrease with age, and regular skiing helps keep these skills sharp and in tune as we get older.
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Skiing Promotes Weight Loss, Healthy Appetite, and Quality Sleep
Skiing is a very active sport, and many people burn over 3,000 calories per day with even moderate amounts of skiing. Many people lose several pounds over a few days of skiing while adding muscle tone and improving flexibility. Almost everyone enjoys a hearty appetite while on a skiing trip, and the powerful workout typically leads to deep and restorative sleep. Skiing provides an all-around workout to your entire metabolism and gets your body running at a high level.
About Gabriel Patterson
Gabriel Patterson is a Winnipeg native and certified fitness trainer and health coach who advocates a balanced and healthy lifestyle for his clients. Gabriel’s passion for an active and productive lifestyle has led him to the mission of helping and educating his clients as they discover new health and fitness routines. He emphasizes a nutritious diet for his clients as they recover from sports injuries or seek solid health foundations. As a lifelong athlete, Gabriel developed a keen interest in physics and advanced training as a competitive swimmer. As the founder of Peterson Training, he has gained experience as a personal trainer in the business world. Gabriel has a strong reputation with his clients because of his positive and supportive attitude and his intelligence and transparent approach to coaching and guiding everyone as an individual.
