buns of steel or thighmaster ? :)

[Mike]

Hey gang !,

I am trying to get back into <i>snowboarding shape</i> for the upcoming season .. and I was wondering if there are any good <i>snowboarding or carving</i> specific exercises that you all use? (without having to join a gym …)

Right now, I’m using a balance board, which seems to help for balance and strength … is there anything else that has worked for you guys in the past ?

Thanks,

~ Mike

[Daneille]

Squats and power yoga (Baron Baptist Live Series or something by Bryan Kest).
Daneille

[Randy S.]

Snowboard Workout Program (http://together.net/~ronjav/sbtp/)

[Neil Gendzwill]

Without a gym - wall sits*, lunges, squats. If you can get some dumbells you can add resistance to your lunges and squats and also do dumbell deads.

For the old mid-section, crunches are good. Dips are also good and do stuff for your upper body as well.

Some sort of aerobic conditioning is required: whatever turns your crank - bike, run, stairs, skipping, swimming.

*Wall sit: back against the wall, thighs horizontal, shins vertical, hooooold it - if you can go 10 minutes, congratulations - you're probably on a national ski team. I can do 3 before I collapse with shaking jello thighs.

[philw]

is your friend.

Even when I'm generally very fit it still hurts for the first few days.

Othertraining: snowboarding on dry/ indoor slopes. Gym training. Swimming.

[Ken B]

In addition to moutain biking and running, I usually add ice skating to the mix to increase stamina in my quads. 2 hours of hard skating 1 to 2 times a week does wonders. I don't do any weight work and find that I begin the season in decent shape and am able to return to snowboarding shape after 2 or 3 days on the snow.

[Marilyn Cambers]

Any recommendation on balance board????

Want to get one!

Marilyn ;)

[Randy S.]

Originally posted by Marilyn Cambers
Any recommendation on balance board????


Any of them are good. If you like doing tricks (ollies, spins) then get one with a rocker that is tapered. The rocker is the roller that it travels on. If you don't care about that, then any one of them will do, including the original bongo board.

The best surface to try it on is a very firm carpet. Once you get used to riding it, you can experiment with different foot positions (like carving angles). Try holding a squat with your feet at 45* angles. It burns after a while. A great test.

If you have a job and spend a lot of time on conference calls, consider getting a headset with an extension cord. I used to do all my conference calls while on a vew-do.

BTW, I don't really consider a balance board to be exercise once you get good at it. It is good for your balance and doing exercises on it can be helpful, but just balancing doesn't take much once you get good.

[johann]

Get a swiss ball for balance and do squats on that, wall sqauts, and mid section work. Get some rubber bands and you can do some upper body work.

Or get a piece of plywood, toss some grip tape on it and velcro/glue your balance piece under it, (veritcle pice of wood or a mini circular puck).

Balance boards a expensive for what they are, build your own!

[Marilyn Cambers]

Thanks for the advice Randy & Johann! I was looking at the vee-do boards, as opposed to those round discs. Had a one-hour conf call yesterday & could have used it!

Not too sure about making my own -- not mechanically inclined in the least, but have an engineer friend who may help.

Swiss balls - I do know a man who is Swiss, and could use his! Hee hee! I generally do squats in the gym with weights, but that may be an idea for a change of pace!

Marilyn ;)

[Shred Gruumer]

Ja, ouch no, ! jawee! Leave mienen balls out of dis,

Stepping on dem, vell dat just don't feel good so! depends on how you balanz on dem. haha!

Yes Swiss Balls verk very good now!

Right Said Shred;):eek:

[Marilyn Cambers]

Not talking about stepping on balls, can't make ruin -- need to use them for balance when squatting! This is all about strength training & buns of steel.

Marilyn ;)

[Randy S.]

Wait a minute?! Is Marilyn talking about squating on Shred's Balls? :rolleyes: Too bad this site is PG or you could post the video :D

There's also a thing called a Bosu (both sides up). It looks like one of those exercise balls cut in half. You can do squats and other exercises on it. Pretty cool. Invented at Mammoth for ski team training. Bosu (http://www.bosu.com) I tried one last night at a dry-land training class. It is a good workout.

[Marilyn Cambers]

Randy - you are so intuitive!

Yes, I've got many videos, but the site is PG & then I need to get Shred sign a release! So, like I told my good friend yesterday - fantasies are great!


I did see the Bosu & looks awesome - glad to hear you can have a good workout with those - could be an option. So many toys, so little time!

Marilyn ;)