5 Reasons to Keep Training Throughout the Winter Season

By Coach Keller

We are approaching the end of our 8-week winter training program and Mt. Baker is open for business! You may think it’s time to trade the dumbbells for ski poles and call it good, but continued training will help you throughout the season in more ways than you might realize.

Here are five good reasons to turn your pre-season training into an all-winter regimen. 

1. Injury Prevention
   
   ACL and MCL tears are the number one ski and snowboard injury, followed by shoulder and ankle injuries. Be honest, how often do you get out those bands and work on mobility at home? Maintaining shoulder, hip, and ankle mobility will keep your joints working smoothly. Exercises such as presses, squats, and single leg balances are all ways to maintain healthy joints. In addition to mobility, we should continue to strengthen our stabilizing muscles. These are the muscles that hold our joints in place while we move and protect them from impacts and irregular movements (like overshooting that jump or hitting an early-season rock). Exercises that activate our glutes, shoulders, and core are all important in building our stabilizing muscles. Better mobility, stronger muscles, less injuries!
   

2. Endurance
   
   You may already notice an improvement in your endurance compared to last year after completing the 8-week winter training. High-intensity interval training, like our metcons, builds both cardiorespiratory capacity and muscle endurance. Studies have shown that a 12 minute high-intensity workout can build more muscle and aerobic capacity than a 45 minute aerobic workout. This means you get in more turns, more powder, and, yes, probably asked to break trail more often once your friends realize you don’t get as tired as they do. 
   

3. Core Strength
   
   Core is king. Continuing to build core strength keeps everything else in line. Our core, which is not just a nice 6-pack, but also the obliques, erectors, glutes, pelvic floor, and even our lats and traps, are critical in supporting our spine from impacts. Core exercises are plentiful, but some overlooked ones are movements such as superman raises, deadlifts, and side planks. A strong core is like a built-in back brace, so keep making time for those movements.
   

4. Variability
   
   Sure, you are getting a workout while skiing and snowboarding. You might be sweating, you’re out of breath, but you are also only targeting a few major muscles. Our winter activities tend to be lower body dominant, with our quads doing the majority of the work. By continuing to add a variety of movements into your fitness program, you won’t neglect your upper body and posterior chain. Variability is strongly tied to injury-prevention as well –the more you move your body in different ways, under different loads, the more time you will spend having fun instead of limping around the house. Our workouts, when done consistently, will target every muscle group and type of movement.
   

5. Progress
   

   You put in hard work to get ready for the winter season. True, maybe the only reason you were in the gym is because it hadn’t started snowing yet. But whether you are just starting your fitness journey or you are a gym regular, you have made progress in your strength, endurance, power, agility, and much more. Don’t let that work go to waste! Maintain your momentum and keep hitting those gains. 

Strength and conditioning is key to injury prevention, building endurance, maintaining core strength, adding variability to your movement patterns, and getting stronger every day. So keep showing up, your body will thank you!