Planning to spend a couple of days on a winter sport-orientated holiday this year? Follow our five-step plan for active bliss
Whether your winter getaway includes skiing, snowboarding, running or trekking, planning ahead is the key to enjoying yourself and preventing injury. A progressive fitness regime of cardiovascular work and strength and flexibility training, three to five days a week for around two months before your holiday, will help you make the most of your sporting excursion. We’d recommend a few sessions with a qualified trainer to help kick start your motivation, and make sure you’re doing the exercises correctly.
A few months before your hols, start fine-tuning your diet so you have the energy to train efficiently. This will also give you the time to recover from your workouts, and progress towards the goals you have set. If you’ve been eating doughnuts and fry-ups, switch to lean proteins and lots of fruits and vegetables. You are what you eat, so make sure you support your fitness regime properly.
If you have any back, knee or neck problems, see your chartered physio or registered osteopath. By treating them now, you’ll prevent your sports holiday from turning into a disaster when you’re using those muscles more than usual.
Lastly, keep in mind that you may be repeating activities day in and day out, so warming up and cooling down are essential, to prevent injury. A good massage may help ease sore muscles, and drinking two litres of water a day is recommended to help you stay hydrated even in cool weather. A day of less intense physical exercise, like sightseeing or strolling around, is recommended to let your body rejuvenate. Remember, as with all things in life, it’s the quality of what you do that will bring the most enjoyable and safest results, not the quantity.
Next page: Your five-step winter workout plan
Your five-step winter workout prep plan:
Do a cardiovascular workout such as running, walking, cycling or aerobics, three times a week for at least 20 minutes.
Aim for a full body resistance workout two to three times a week. Start by pre-stretching your quadriceps, hamstrings, calves as well as your triceps and shoulder muscles. Warm up with either a 10-minute bike ride or brisk walk before you move to the weight machines.
Work your largest muscles first by doing squats, lunges, abductor and adductor (inner and outer thigh), hamstring curls and leg extension exercises. Start with two sets of 12 repetitions for each move, then progress up to 15 repetitions. When this gets easy, move up to three sets. If your holiday involves skiing or trekking, you’ll need to work your upper and lower body equally. Make sure you give your back, chest, shoulders, biceps and triceps equal attention by doing two sets of 12-15 repetitions of chest flies, bicep curls, lat pull-downs and triceps extensions.
Always work your abdominal muscles at the end of your workout, doing up to 25 crunches or, if you’re feeling really strong, up to 50. Remember that rest and recovery are essential to make your muscles stronger, so don’t repeat full body workouts more than every other day.
Finish your training session with a five to ten-minute cool down and stretch for all your major muscles.