DENVER — With the snow starting to build and excitement for winter sports beginning to grow, it's important that we take time to get our bodies in shape to make sure we can prevent injury, perform at our best and also minimize next day soreness that comes from getting back on the mountain!
9NEWS fitness expert and Denver personal trainer Jamie Atlas lists his best exercises for getting in shape for snowboarding before you strap on the board.
Squat with 1 arm dumbbell hold
This is a great way to build strength in your legs while challenging the core. Be sure to keep your heels on the ground and your chest tall with one dumbbell held close to your ear as you drop down.
Bench dips
In snowboarding, it's important to have strong arms to be able to catch yourself if you fall forward, but in snowboarding the real accidents happen when you fall backward, jamming your shoulders and possibly hurting your wrists.
Help prevent injuries by working these muscles and developing awareness and flexibility as you become stronger through this movement. Be sure you keep your chest tall and develop slowly, not pushing too hard too early.
Board balance with side jump
This is the most challenging, but also the most rewarding. Taking a balance board and placing it on a non-slip surface, jump onto it from the side so that the challenge is in a front-back balance.
This not only helps develop leg strength and power, but also helps activate the balance and awareness required for front and back edge control while snowboarding.
Jamie Atlas is an award-winning personal trainer (voted 6x best personal trainer) and owner of Jamie Atlas Fitness, a fitness studio in downtown Denver.
You can contact him with questions on jamie@jamieatlas.com or go to www.jamieatlas.com
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