Working at a snowsports company has its perks–fun people who love getting outside, equipment testing, time in the mountains, and getting our hands on the latest and greatest technologies. But with great fun comes great responsibility (that’s the saying, right?). In order to enjoy all of these things, we have to stay healthy!
We recently had the pleasure of hosting a foam rolling and stretching clinic from Seattle-based Kinetic Sports Rehab. They came in to show us how we can stay healthy at work (aka desk sitting) and on our way out the door to our hike, ski, snowboard activity.
Here is some advice on how to keep your body prepped for your snowshoe hike. If you’d like to see video of these exercises, please go to their blog. Thanks Kinetic!
Transitioning from hiking to snowshoeing is a natural progression for those looking to take outdoor adventures and sightseeing through the wintery months. And while there are definite similarities between the two outdoor activities, there are also some innate differences which call for attention.
The most impactful and obvious difference between hiking and snowshoeing is (surprise!) you wear snowshoes! But, this is actually a pretty big deal, as the platform is significantly larger in length, and more importantly width, which has big implications in terms of gait and walking mechanics.
The wider platform forces you to take wide, somewhat unbalanced steps, which forces your lateral stabilizers and core to work much harder to keep its center of gravity. Additionally, the nature of a snowshoe stride is much more of a push into hip extension with the hamstrings and glutes compared to the quadriceps-driven motion that tends to be more prevalent in hiking.
What does this mean? Well, you should consider preparing differently for snowshoeing than you might train for hiking. Don’t worry though, we’re here to help. Check out the videos below for preparation and recovery to make your snowshoeing endeavors more pleasurable.
TRAINING EXERCISES FOR SNOWSHOEING
Monster Walks – 2 x 20ft x Medium Resistance Band
Why’s It’s Important: The wide snowshoe platform forces one to take wider steps than usually taken with normal footwear. Monster Walks simulate this wide-step pattern and strengthen the lateral hip stabilizer muscles that are needed to support the less natural gait pattern.
Hip Thruster – 3 x 15
Many runners and hikers tend to rely on their quadriceps to dominate their stride, which means many under-utilize the strong muscles on the back of the leg (glutes and hamstrings) that can really drive a snowshoe step. The Hip Thruster is a great movement to ignite those powerful posterior chain muscles that will be dominating your snowshoe strides. Not only that, but they are great for learning how to push into full hip extension efficiently.
Single Leg Deadlift – 2 x 10
The snowshoe step is a series of controlled single-leg pushing motions. To best simulate the stability needed to control such a motion, the single-leg deadlift will challenge the glutes, hamstrings, and lateral hip stabilizers to drive into hip extension so you can power up any trail on the map.
Bear Crawl – 5 x 10 Steps Forward & Back
The wide snowshoe platform forces requires the rotational stabilizers (think core) to work much harder to keep center of gravity on every step. Especially on a challenging snowshoe endeavor, efficiency is the name of the game and eliminating as much side-to-side swaying motion as possible is important. The Bear Crawl is a great way to challenge your rotational stabilizers and increase trunk/pelvis awareness, so you can power forward and not waste energy in the wrong direction.