Ski & Snowboard Conditioning Class: West Kennewick Physical Therapy

Are you ready for snow?

Get ready for the ski and snowboarding season while preventing injury. West Kennewick Physical Therapy now offers an ongoing 4-week conditioning class for skiers and snowboarders. Each class will be developed and taught by either a licensed physical therapist, PTA, or an ACE Personal Trainer with a BS in Kinesiology and a focus on sport-specific strengthening, balance/proprioceptive training, plyometrics, and core training. Participants will also learn an independent conditioning program that they can use to remain injury-free throughout the season.

• A 4-week conditioning program developed and instructed by a Physical Therapist, PTA, or ACE Personal Trainer with a BS in Kinesiology
• Learn proper knee alignment through training, functional balance, and plyometrics
• Understand the role of core strength during snow sports
• Learn a stretching and strengthening program to stay injury-free throughout the season

Establishing a Proper Stretching Routine

As Physical Therapists, we often treat winter sports enthusiasts. Skiing and snowboarding are dynamic activities that recruit multiple muscle groups. These activities are carried out on even and uneven surfaces and place high levels of stress on muscles and joints. Due to this stress we commonly see strained, pulled, or torn muscles, ligamentous tears, and sprained joints. When treating these clients, we stress proper stretching before and after activity to promote injury prevention and performance enhancement.

We employ two types of stretching - Static and Dynamic.

• Dynamic Stretching consists of functional-based exercises which use sport-specific movements to prepare the body for movement. This method of stretching requires short stretches to specific muscles while moving, holding for 2-3 seconds. These are controlled leg and arm swings that take you (gently!) to the limits of your range of motion.
• Static Stretching involves gradually easing into the stretch position and holding the position. In order to effectively change the length of a muscle, we recommend (and research supports) holding a stretch for at least 30 seconds without bouncing.

Check out specific stretches and a sample conditioning program for Skiing and Snowboarding by clicking the images below.

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