Winter is the time when you can show your sports imagination and choose new interesting options for physical development. Walking and skiing will help not only diversify your leisure time, but also significantly improve your health, while having a positive effect on the condition of the muscles and the figure in general.
Walking and skiing: features of the sport
Despite the apparent simplicity of skiing, here you can be offered various options for strengthening the body and its endurance. Walking and running are just the base of actions aimed at increasing the cardio load. Descents, turns, ascents are added to them, which in turn also differ in principle and pace of execution. This gives you the opportunity to improvise and create an individual program of physical training on the track.
The indisputable advantage of walking and skiing is the absence of intense shock load. With the same manipulations on ordinary soil or asphalt, the joints are forced to resist it, but not everyone can afford it.
So, people with diseases of the joints and spine, including those with serious pathologies in the musculoskeletal system, are strictly not recommended to run and jump. Cross-country skiing becomes an alternative in this case, because it softens the load on the joints and can be performed with less intensity, that is, the training is adjusted directly for the skier with special needs.
But, you must remember that there are categories of people who definitely need to consult with their doctor before training:
disabled people with severe forms of illness;
people with pathologies of the musculoskeletal system, including those of an age-related nature;
children under 10-13 years old and adults over 50;
people with abnormalities in the work of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems;
pregnant women;
immunocompromised people with a reactive skin response to sunlight.
In the latter case, we are talking about those who would like to go to a ski resort or go skiing in bright sunny weather, but usually avoid the sun due to skin characteristics, allergies or a lack of protective melanin. Remember that the winter sun, which is reflected from the snow crust, has the strongest penetrating ability!
Subject to all caution, walking and skiing can be a real winter miracle for you, both for physical health and for mental health. What are the winter landscapes and frosty air alone worth, which involuntarily refresh the mind and encourage them to achieve their great goals.
For fruitful training you will need:
time – three times a week, at least one hour;
warm clothes: socks, hat, special jacket;
good skis and sticks – modern equipment makes sports even more productive;
first aid products if you travel to the area (alcohol or fat to rub frostbite, hot tea in a thermos to keep warm, etc.);
good instructor if you are a beginner.
Safety is first of all, therefore it is worth starting the first trainings at special stadiums, and go out into the wilderness only accompanied by experienced groups and an instructor.
Benefits of skiing and running
1. Comprehensive hardening of the body. Sunlight, cool air, winter freshness, clean countryside environment and active physical work – the perfect combination to improve health and improve immunity. With regular exercise, you become less sensitive to seasonal diseases and more easily tolerate other ailments. The gentle impact on the joints during walking and skiing hardens and strengthens them, increasing the possible amplitude of rotation, making your movements more precise and easier.
2. An intensive change in the position of the arms and legs, the alternation of descents and ascents, the pace of speed contributes to the acceleration of blood circulation. The heart muscle adapts to the load and begins to work more economically, spending less oxygen entering the bloodstream and thereby increasing your endurance. Ski walking and running, thanks to this, is an excellent prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
3. Due to the active blood supply to muscle tissues, muscle fibers are carefully worked out and grow, forming the relief of the body and increasing the level of strength capabilities. Subsequently, this will allow you to increase the average load during the workout.
4. During skiing and running, the metabolism is accelerated, which contributes to the fat burning effect.
5. The volume of the lungs increases, the processes of supplying tissues with oxygen improve, due to which the degree of oxidative reactions in the body increases, and the body is more active processed products and harmful substances are emitted. This also happens with active exhalation.
6. Trying to adapt to the track, maintaining balance, you coordinate the work of your vestibular apparatus, increase the level of dexterity and attention. The field of view is increased due to the need to constantly monitor the track and select the necessary movements.
What muscles are worked out by walking and skiing
For the greatest effect in working out the muscles, it is best to use a combination of basic styles of walking and skiing: skating, traditional and classic. The muscles of the arms are especially actively strengthened, including the hands, the shoulder girdle, since in some areas you literally carry all your weight on your arms alone. Thanks to the rhythmic movement of the legs, the muscles of the legs, the front and back of the thighs quickly work.
To increase the load on the inner thighs and buttocks, lower back and back, do not forget to perform hill climbs and step descents without slipping. The more often you alternate descents and ascents, the more actively the muscles will be worked out and the relief will form.
Walking and skiing is great for building large muscles in the chest, arms, thighs, and buttocks. Of course, other muscle groups are also involved during training. They are kept in good shape throughout the training and after it.
Slimming on the ski
For weight loss, running and skiing has two main benefits.
1. Active fat burning process combined with health promotion and endurance.
2. Fast and deep muscle work.
During training on the ski track, in one hour, you can burn up to six hundred calories! This is possible due to the strong acceleration of metabolism and improved blood supply to all tissues of the body. If at the same time you regularly alternate the degree of intensity of classes and follow a diet, then stunning results will not keep you waiting.
By not only burning fat, but also building muscle on the track, you avoid the unpleasant consequences of sagging skin and loss of attractive body curves, which usually occurs with simple weight loss without exercise.
A few rules for walking and skiing to become effective methods of losing weight:
Classes must be held at least three times per a week;
the duration of the lesson is at least an hour, but no more than two, if you still do not feel confident on the ski track and spend a lot of energy;
eat two hours before training – this is necessary to maintain heat transfer in the body;
after training, allow yourself a low-calorie snack, and two hours after training, eat a full meal;
be sure to purchase the right clothing and equipment so that nothing distracts you from your classes and does not pose a threat to your health;
to increase the fat-burning effect, use corrective creams that need to be applied before training, but use formulations without a warming or cooling effect;
hot sugar or a small piece of dark chocolate will help increase metabolism even more during training, but it is better to resort to this tool at least half an hour before the end of training.