Building up your snowboarding specific muscles will reduce the risk of injury and maximize your performance when you are out on the slopes. In this post you will learn which muscles to target and the best workouts for snowboarders.
By Bekah Whitney
When you watch an expert snowboarder ride, they seem to sail down the slopes with little to no effort. This is because they have been training their muscles to perform specific tasks over and over again. Beginner snowboarders consistently share with me their surprise at how hard their muscles are working and how sore they are the next day. To help you beat some of the next day’s soreness, last longer on the slopes, and prevent injuries I have curated my favorite workouts for snowboarders. These are designed for pre-season preparation as well as beginners who want to make the most of their days learning.
Did you know that the body has over 650 named skeletal muscles? Luckily, many exercises will hit multiple of these groups, so I won’t be asking you to do 650 different exercises. So which of these 650 do we use?
The Glute max & Glute medius are heavily used in snowboarding to balance and stabilize ourselves as well as helping us initiate our turns.
The External rotators are small muscles that stabilize your hips and glutes as your leg rotates. For the opposite function, the Internal rotators rotate your femur inwards.
The Quads are made up of four large muscles that all control knee extension. These are the first muscles you will feel “burning” when riding.
The Tibialis anterior is the muscle that runs down your shin. This muscle pulls your foot up to help you turn on your heel edge.
The Calves are made up of two main muscles that pull your foot down to engage your toe edge as well as maintain balance.
Strengthening these muscles can alleviate torsion and overuse at the knee as well as help performance.
Although you may not notice these muscles working during the day of riding, you will most likely feel some soreness a day or two after. While riding we engage our cores to help keep us upright while changing positions on the hill.
Although you may not use certain muscles while you are actively riding, making sure you evenly work out adjacent muscles is very important for injury prevention. Two areas that I add in the workouts for snowboarders of muscle groups not listed above are hamstrings and shoulders.
Hamstrings are an often overlooked muscle group for new riders and must be incorporated into workouts to even out the quads.
Shoulder dislocation is also a common injury for snowboarders. Adding some upper body exercises in your routine can help stabilization of the shoulder.
These workouts are set up to be done three days a week, with a rest day in between each workout. Do each set 3 times and start with lower reps. If the exercises need to be intensified, up the reps, add free weights, or find machines in the gym that work similar muscle groups.
Squats x 15 (top left)
Calf Lifts x 15 (top right)
Bridge Lifts x 15 (bottom left)
Donkey Kicks (bottom right) Fire Hydrants (very bottom) x 10 each leg
Repeat for a total of 3 sets.
Bicycle Kicks x 30 (top left)
Ankle Taps x 15 each side (top right)
Leg Lifts x 15 (bottom left)
Super Mans x 10 (bottom right)
Repeat for a total of 3 sets.
Lunges x 10 each leg
Push-ups x 10
Crunches x 30
Plank – 30 seconds
Repeat for a total of 3 sets.
Many of these exercises can be modified by adding dumbbells or ankle weights. The goal of these exercises is to build your existing muscle and become stronger. To do this you are aiming to hit higher weights with less reps, in the above workouts 3 sets of 10 reps per exercise. If after all the sets you could add an entire extra set, it’s time to add some extra resistance.
To intensify the core exercises, I do suggest racking up the reps before adding ankle weights. Try setting a timer and seeing how many reps you can do in that amount of time. Start with 30 seconds and increase by 15 seconds until you can keep up your faster pace for a total of 90 seconds for all 3 sets. Once you reach that length, start adding weights and see how that affects how long you can do each exercise. Remember you should be able to work the entire time without needing a rest during the rep.
If you are maxing out with your equipment at home, joining a gym to use their machines might be the next step in your workout routine. Though this is not necessarily the goal, you can always do these exercises without weights and you will still notice a drastic difference in your riding. How much you want to push yourself is completely up to you and what you find works for your body.
These workouts work best if you start them at least one month before you start riding. If you are a beginner, make sure to give yourself ample time to rest and recover before getting on the hill. Nothing ruins a day on the slopes like an intense leg day before a day of snowboarding. Remember that stretching is just as important to preventing injuries as muscle toning and strengthening.
Let me know if you enjoyed these workouts and if they helped your stamina on the hill! Remember to share with your friends that want to get on the slopes too!
A training guide for skiing and snowboarding by Strong Links Fitness
https://stronglinksfitness.com/a-training-guide-for-skiing-and-snowboarding/
Hi! I’m Bekah, but you can call me Beks, all my friends do! I travel full-time in a tiny home on wheels that my partner, Sawyer, and I built from a cargo trailer shell in 2019. We started out in beautiful Colorado and have been all over the United States over the years. This space is designed to inspire and guide the nature obsessed nomad, weekend warrior, and future roadlifer. I’m so excited you’re here!
Get my incredible FREE guide to get yourself prepared for Vanlife!
I love these boots for day hiking with a light pack. Their thick sole, arch support, and squishy insoles are perfect for hiking in extreme conditions.
If you have never owned a pair of Teva’s before I would suggest going to try some on, as I feel they run large. I have gone down half a size on these hiking boots as well as my sandals.
If someone tells you the type of socks you hike in are unimportant, they are dead wrong.
Wool socks help keep your foot dry and able to breathe. Hiking specific socks provide cushioning in areas that are susceptible to rubbing.
If you ever see me hiking in socks other than SmartWool, it’s because I need to do laundry soon as they are my absolute favorite and are already dirty.
Sawyer turned me onto Osprey packs a long time ago. There is literally a perfect size for every activity out there!
The reason I love this pack is the awesome waist strap with pockets, the compact size, and how light it feels when I put it on!
Be the First To Comment on Workouts for Snowboarders to Immediately Boost Performance on the Slopes