Tag Archive for: stretching

Rose Marie Cleese

Have You Been Drinking? It’s Time To Start!

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Hydration and Stretching: Two Things You Must NEVER forget to do before you hit the slopes.

If you’ve taken to heart the advice in a previous seniorssking.com article of Paul Petersen, president of Bear Valley Cross-Country in California, on the best way for seniors to get in shape for skiing, you’ve developed and faithfully followed a fitness regimen focusing on balance, strength, flexibility, and cardio. But the 56-year-old certified alpine and cross-

Bear Valley Cross Country's Paul Petersen swigs water, something we should all remember to do. Credit: Paul Petersen

Bear Valley Cross Country’s Paul Petersen swigs water, something we should all remember to do.
Credit: Paul Petersen

country ski instructor will quickly tell you that this is not enough. What you do in the days before and right up to the minute that you put ski or board to snow is just as important as all the pre-season conditioning you’ve done.

One of the most overlooked factors in preparing for a day on the slopes is hydration. When your body is well-hydrated, your body temperature and heart rate are more stable, your joints and muscles function better, and you have more stamina. Conversely, if you’re dehydrated, which can happen more quickly at elevations above 5,000 feet—especially to flatlanders, you won’t be able to perform well for any length of time, you’ll tire more easily, and you may experience dizziness, headaches, or shortness of breath. Says Petersen, “When it comes to hydration, you have to think ahead. You can’t properly hydrate for athletic activities the day before; you need to begin several days beforehand. Remember, you’re not trying to hydrate your stomach, but rather your joints and muscles and that takes a while.”

If you’re a typical skier, before you head out for the slopes, you probably have a cup of piping hot coffee or tea in the lodge (this may be in addition to the glass or two of wine you had at dinner the night before). This is a total recipe for dehydration! “Any liquids with caffeine or sugar, including sodas,” says Petersen, “are NOT a net positive in the hydration department!” For every cup of coffee or other caffeinated beverage you drink in the morning or while on the mountain, Petersen insists that you drink an equivalent amount of water.

Noting that senior wintersports participants schedule longer trips and thus ski more consecutive days than the average skier, Petersen emphasizes the importance of recovery for seniors after a day on the slats and boards. “Right after you’re done on the slopes and before you hit the bar, hit the protein bar,” he strongly advises. “For me, the magic bullet is protein powder in water. Either helps you recover from that day and helps your body get ready for the next day.”

An equally important factor in ensuring a safe, fun day on the slopes is adequately stretching your muscles right before you start out. We’ve all done those cursory arms over our heads while stretching our waists and quick calf stretches, right? Not good enough per Petersen! “You can’t just touch your toes, grab your ankles, stretch your thighs, and then walk out the door,” he warns. “The night before, put aside a few minutes to stretch your hips, calves, and thighs, and again the next morning before you put your boots on, either in the parking lot or at your locker.”

In sum, make “water, stretch, go” your wintersports mantra if a perfect day “doin’ it” is what you’re after!

seniorsskiing

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Feb.19)

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Big News For Our Subscribers, Resort Reviews, Stretching Advice, Boots and a Ski-From-Home Apartment in Borat-Land.

PromotiveWe are extremely excited this week to announce a fantastic and exclusive discount deal for SeniorsSkiing.com’s subscribers.  Now you guys can sign up with Promotive.com (using a special access code you will receive shortly in a separate email), and get discounts on top brands in ski equipment, clothing and lots of stuff.  We know this is important to you because our reader surveys have revealed that discounts are critical, really.  So, there you go, have at it.  Free.  No charge for subscribing to SeniorSkiing and no charge for signing up with Promotive.com. Look for the subscribers-only email with access instructions very soon.

Stories this week include reviews of Mt. Baker, snow catcher of the Northwest, by our newest contributor John Nelson.  Great ticket deals there, seniors. There’s also a guide to skiing easy ways down Mt. Mansfield, Stowe’s magic mountain, by correspondent Tamsin Venn. We remember beautiful, long runs down the Perry Merrill, many, many years ago. Stowe is a special place in the pantheon of skiing., and Tamsin does a great job of introducing seniors to its charming, blue runs. Paul Foy also shows us some lightweight gear that might encourage you to visit the backcountry, a segment of snow sports that is really growing.

We asked Salt Lake City correspondent Harriet Wallis to investigate the stretching challenge we discovered in our recent poll.  We found that 60 percent of you do some level of stretching and 40 percent don’t.  What she found when she consulted with her physical fitness advisor and others surprised her, us and it will you, too.

Co-Publisher Jon Weisberg has a report on Muck Boots, hearty footwear for snow country. Curious how a boot originally designed for cleaning horse stalls has made its way into snow country fashion.

Finally, we have a bit of fun with a most amazing architectural design: An apartment building with a built-in ski slope. Yes, this is legit; it even won an architectural award. Think of the implications for Saturday night parties.

Preview

Because this week was so busy with our Promotive announcement, we weren’t quite able to get the Washington Birthday race story in press.  It is interesting that our queries around the ski industry into that race’s history resulted in little information.  The Washington Birthday race was a “people’s race”, like the Vassalopett in Sweden.  Everyone lines up in a giant, snow-covered field, and off you go.  Was great fun back in the 60s and 70s.  Anyone out there have memories or pictures to share?

That's what Borat says.

That’s what Borat says.

More Resort Reviews, product ideas, and ideas for making snow sports rewarding.  Remember, if you want to communicate with other readers, find people to pal up with or ask questions, use the FORUM.  Click the menu in the upper right, blue bar.

Thanks again for subscribing to SeniorsSkiing.com.  There are more of us every day, and we are not going away.

Harriet Wallis

Stretching vs Dynamic Warm-Ups

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Are you tuning or terrifying your body?

Correspondent Harriet Wallis bribed son Cal, daughter Alison, and best ski buddy Laurie to demonstrate warm ups at the top of a Deer Valley lift. Credit: Harriet Wallis

Correspondent Harriet Wallis bribed son Craig, daughter Alison, and best ski buddy Laurie to demonstrate warm ups at the top of a Deer Valley lift.
Credit: Harriet Wallis

Some experts say stretching before exercise helps performance and lessens injuries. Others say stretching can cause damage.

So what should you do?

“Skiers who stretch at the top of a lift are crazy!” says Jo Garuccio, a PSIA Examiner, Snowbird ski instructor and Triathlon World Champion. “They’ve been on a cold lift and then they’re going to stretch? That’s absolutely nuts!” she exclaims.

Really good warm ups in ski boots include swinging arms, swinging legs and marching in place, Garuccio says. Get the blood flowing.

Recent studies concur. Static stretching done cold without a warm up hurts the performance of weight lifters and competitive athletes.

Okay. Case closed. Warm up at the top of the lift before you even think about doing something else.

But when I Googled “dynamic stretching” and also “dynamic warm ups” I found – ironically – that the images were virtually the same for both. So it seems it’s your responsibility to ask your body: “Am I getting juices going, or am I straining cold muscles?”

On a humorous personal note, my best ski buddy would stand at the top of the lift and wiggle this way and that. I don’t know if she was warming up or stretching. Nevertheless, she was glued in place until she finished her routine. If it was a powder day I was frantic. “Hurry up. We’re wasting fresh snow,” I’d grumble. She finally learned that fresh powder trumps wiggles.

[Editor Note: Our recent poll revealed 60 percent of our respondents did some kind of stretching, 40 percent didn’t.  Here is an LA Times article on stretching that amplifies Harriet’s point about getting the blood flowing through an “active warm-up”, i.e., moving around a lot.  Short duration, static stretches are just an add on to the moving around part.  But experts certainly haven’t reached consensus.  For a collection of short, light stretches, look here.]

 

seniorsskiing

Poll Results: Stretching 60; Not Stretching 40

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Most Do, Many Don’t.

Here are the results of our latest poll.  We are curious about why people do and don’t.  Please let us know in the “Comments” section below.  And, we are researching an article on stretching for an upcoming issue.  There are some exercise and physical therapists who say it’s essential, and some who say maybe not so much. We shall see.

Thanks for responding.  Let us know what you think.

Poll