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Benefits of Downhill Skiing By Courtney Parker, Registered Kinesiologist (BHScKin) Sports Clinic and Dale Charles Physiotherapy Welcome to the New Year! Now that we have finished eating and drinking the holidays away many of us find ourselves committing to a healthier style of living as a part of our New Year’s resolution. The pledge to regular exercise becomes increasingly difficult as we find ourselves exactly one year older than the previous New Year. Many people begin to say, “I’m getting too old to exercise”, when in fact they should be saying, “I exercise because I’m getting older”. One of the primary causes for the loss of independence as we age is muscle weakness. This muscle weakness is associated with an age-related decrease in muscle mass known in health care as “sarcopenia”. Although there can be many reasons for this loss, a decrease in physical activity contributes to the effects of sarcopenia. Specifically, in order to maintain muscle mass and strength, appropriate stresses and loads need to be applied to the muscles. Have you ever heard the cliché “use it or lose it”? If you do not challenge the muscles regularly, the muscles will begin to waste away because the body thinks they are not needed. For this reason, resistance training is an important factor in the health and wellbeing of our muscles and bones as we age. Resistance training does not have to be performed with particular exercises using certain weights, with specific sets and repetitions. This is good news for people who shy away from the gym scene. An example of resistance training outside of a gym facility is downhill skiing. Recent studies have concluded that downhill skiing 2-3 times per week for 12 weeks is an effective way to combat the age-related loss of muscle strength and size. Furthermore, the downhill nature of the activity provides the body with appropriate mechanical stimuli to produce remodeling of the muscle fibers by inducing overload to the muscles. This results in greater gains in strength and size. Along with the gains in strength and muscle size, downhill skiing also improves cardiorespiratory health, mental health and postural stability. The exertion associated with skiing can be varied by the difficulty of the run, the speed and skiing style of the skier. This makes it easy for the skier to keep the intensity at a moderate level to facilitate aerobic fitness. This is an important factor because poor aerobic fitness is correlated to increased risks for cardiovascular disease, as well as Type-2 diabetes and obesity. Downhill skiing promotes cardiac fitness as well as muscle and bone health to lower these risk factors. The dynamic environment of the ski hill forces the skier to be very attentive to changes in the snow conditions, obstacles such as trees or rocks, and the other snow enthusiasts on the run. Downhill skiing requires constant awareness of body position and places high demands on postural stability. Furthermore, the change in acceleration, snow conditions and other obstacles forces the skier to alter body position and direction frequently. This places a great demand on the strength and body awareness to balance oneself over top of the skis. This demand has been shown to cause beneficial changes in muscle control, at both a muscular and neurological level; these adaptations are important due to the increased risk of falling associated with the aging process. 250.487.1455 250.493.7343 Finally, downhill skiing has been found to be associated with elevated positive emotions and positive mood states. This means that the benefits of downhill skiing are not limited to physical fitness, but also mental wellbeing. So, if you are looking for an activity to boost your winter blues, promote cardiovascular health, and stimulate gains in muscle strength and size then look no further than Apex Mountain.