Enjoy The Slopes Without Getting Injured

We hope you’ve had a great winter sports season so far. Whether you are a novice or a veteran snowboarder, injuries can happen. Luckliy, injuries can be prevented with the right strengthening exercises and gear. Learn how you can enjoy the awesome slopes without experiencing a snowboarding injury that can end your season prematurely.

Two Most Common Snowboarding Injuries

Wrist: Wrist injuries typically occur during falls where someone either is traveling out of control or even when someone is waiting to get off or on a lift.  Wearing wrist braces have proven to most effective to prevent wrist injuries and if you choose not to wear or purchase these braces we encourage you to learn how to fall with closed fists.

Ankle: One of the top injuries to the lower extremities is “Snowboarder’s ankle”.  Studies show these ankle injuries typically occur when wearing soft boots and mechanically occur during a forced dorsiflexion with inversion. To prevent these injuries we can help you gain proper ankle mobility and shock absorption strength in your ankle, knees and hips.

Here are two mobility exercises for your hips and knee that can help you out beyond just snowboarding:

1) Deep squat ankle rotations

• At the bottom position of a squat, perform 10 clockwise rotations shifting your weight from the left foot towards the right foot making sure to keep both feet planted on the ground.
• Repeat counterclockwise.
• Do 10 reps of these.

2) Reciprocal hip flexor stretch

• Lunge forward with your left leg ensuring that your knee does not travel forward past your foot.
• Drop your right leg down to the ground extended behind you.
• Place your left elbow down to the ground on the inside of the left foot. Hold for 3-5 seconds.
• Repeat on the right side same setup. Complete 10 repetitions on each leg.

Head: These are a no brainer, falling at high speeds can lead to head injuries, and wearing a helmet decreases the forces placed upon the head and brain by 40-50%.

Staying injury free not only helps you enjoy the entire snowboarding season but allows you to enjoy other sports such as running and biking as the season changes. Come by Therapydia Portland for a sport specific pre-season screen to help to stay injury free all year long.