Old Man Army Boot Camp

Look at the following image

<>If you notice , the muscles of the gluteus do not run straight up and down the bodyline but in fact sweep around from side of the legs, as well as sweeping out towards the hips. Snowboarding, whether initiating the first turn or cranking through a corked 900, involves working these muscles in a twisting or torqueing motion. Factor these two concepts together and it is easy to see that traditional squat and linear leg exercises do not fully address the muscular training needs of snowboarding. The following exercises are designed to work these muscles in the full range of snowboard movements to help strengthen and develop flexibity and explosiveness from the dynamic and flowing positions called upon with every snowboard run.

Again, after a warmup of all the major muscle groups for about 5-10 minutes, perform the following

For 16 minutes without stopping

1. 10 twisting squats (either with hands on head or with a weight hugged at chest height, slowly rotate torso from side to side while squatting down to 90 degrees or more. Should aim for two or three rotations before reaching bottom of squat)
2. 20 skate lunges (touch hand to opposite foot while allowing same side back leg to slide behind past bodyline centre – imagine a speedskater stride while touching low)
3. 30 glute flexes (lying on the floor on your back while looking to the ceiling, place feet shoulder width close to buttocks and keeping a firm and straight back, elevate hips towards the ceiling , flexing glutes at apex of motion)

continue to repeat until time limit has expired.

In the next article we will look at core exercises and stretches to help minimize injuries and create a good stable foundation for the season.