The majority of injuries in skiing are acute or traumatic injuries such as ligament sprains, bruises and fractures that are commonly caused by falls, which, due to the nature of skiing are often very hard to prevent. However, there are things that skiers of any ability can do to help reduce the risk of this happening.
Regular strength training and balance training will help to improve your body awareness and positioning, making you stronger and more stable on the slopes. These should contribute towards getting you fitter and stronger so that if you do fall, you will be less likely to injure yourself.
Strengthening your lower body and core is important in order for you to have a solid base to support you when continually shifting your body weight from side to side and jumping during skiing. Balance training will improve your body positioning when skiing on uneven surfaces and negotiating external distractions, so including balance-focussed exercises into your pre-ski trip workouts will prepare you for this and make you a better, more controlled skier.
Other injuries that are also common in skiing are overuse injuries as a result of muscle fatigue and muscles spasms and inflammatory injuries such as tendinopathies and joint pain. Your muscles become over-worked through continual, back to back days of ski activity, which can cause your muscles to become tight and sore. Muscular endurance is therefore important to help prevent overuse injuries, so doing activities such as running and cycling for several weeks before you travel can help improve this. Sports Massage can help to treat and prevent these injuries by:
Reducing muscle tension
Increasing circulation to muscles
Improving body awareness and positioning
Breaking down scar tissue from past injuries
Improve flexibility
Prepare your body for your active holiday by ensuring the muscles are loose and ready to function. Post-ski trip massage is also vital to relieve the muscle and joint soreness caused as a result of continual strenuous exercise. Be safe out there, ski well and enjoy.
