Snowboard holiday fitness tips with a dash of my coaching philosophy
by James Streater @maverixsnow
As a longtime coach if I had to identify one key element that holds back most snowboarders it would be their agility on the board.
When you think back to learning turning, you had a number of simple movements to learn. Those movements were slow and controlled and required you in the most part to be centred on the board.
Most riders are taught to rise up to initiate a turn and sink down to finish. The board stays glued to the snow and the most aggressive movement might be a swing of the hips or arms to initiate a turn if their weight shifts to the back foot too much.
“I want to develop a riders strength, agility and creativity on a board.”
This is what I class as Level 1 snowboarding. Think of a OAP with a zimmer frame. They’re slow, controlled and balanced. They get where they want to be in one piece, but their journey is pretty boring, takes ages and looks laboured.
What I aim to do is develop riders who look relaxed, strong and inspire others. This means developing a riders strength, agility and creativity. If they have a freedom of movement they can tackle any terrain with confidence and be able to develop a creative and safe approach to tackling the snow. They’ll begin to appreciate how much more snowboarding can offer as they benefit from an expanded skills set and a better understanding of how to manipulate a snowboard.
The only issue in developing this agility is that it takes time. Todays riders want results quickly. They want to turn up to a freestyle course and be busting out 360’s, but if they cannot hold a clean carved edge in a balanced and strong posture or pre-rotate their upper body without influencing the board they will struggle to achieve those goals. Yet if they took a step back and really worked on their riding or physical foundations those tricks would come so much more easily.
“I break a persons riding down to the very foundations and rebuilt it bit by bit.”
As a coach I re-build riders. I have to iron out bad habits and blocks so people can achieve their goals. For those riders in it for the long-term I break their riding down to its very foundations and rebuilt it bit by bit. I have to change the very way they turn and the way they move on a board.
Its tough as most riders do not want to commit to this degree of change. They’re happy with the A to B approach, which is cool. They’re in the dome or mountains living the dream. However, I want riders to look beyond the crowded piste and be able to shred confidently in the park or off-piste, so their true potential as a rider can be realised and no area of the mountain is off limits.
Every rider is an individual, and I want to offer bespoke coaching experience.
This has led me to focus more on my private coaching and the expanded horizons of the real mountains on my winter camps. Every rider is an individual, and I want to offer a more bespoke coaching experience. I want to help them become inspiring riders to others and feel that awesome sense of achievement when they can play on a board. Treat it as a toy, rather than a plank of wood.
Off Snow Training to boost your on slope experience
Adjusting your riding is only one element of boosting your skills. If you’re able to do some off snow training as part of a normal fitness regime you will dramatically improve your chances of lasting through a whole holiday without feeling like death and be stronger and more confident so you can make the most of your on snow experience.
I’m by no means a fitness fanatic, but I’ve tried various things to help develop my riding as I completed various examinations and built towards particular tricks. Here is a short list of what I’ve worked on and how it might help you.
Spinning or Uphill MTB for All Mountain Riders
Great for building cardio and endurance. If you plan to do some splitboarding or general hiking around as well and prepare the legs for a more active winter holiday then one of these is well worth doing.
Body pump for All Mountain Riders
This is a low level weights programme. An awesome way to start a fitness journey and develop muscular endurance for all mountain shredding.
Trampolining for Freestyle Riders
A great way to work on your grabs and basic spins. You don’t need a board. Many local gyms will run an adult open session where you can go and have a play. I work my basic spins and grabs at home and have spent some time with a coach to start working on flips.
Insanity & Insanity Asylum by Beach Body for Freestyle Riders
If you want to slim down for the mountain and start working on your overall conditioning then this can be great. I’ve found the Asylum programme great for working a number of plyometric movements combined with various strength and conditioning exercises that will work you for the mountain as well as the park. Just make sure you’re ready for this type of programme. As the name suggests it can get wild and if you’re not physically ready then injuries are common. You can find a local class or do it at home. Just make sure you warm up right and aim for the right posture in the moves to avoid injury.
Parkour/Freerunning for All Mountain & Park Freestyle Riders
Although you might think its about jumping off roof tops this is 99% indoors surrounded by foam and suitably soft matting.
I consider it a more entertaining gym session that works a lot of areas of general fitness, including strength, conditioning and flexibility as well as developing transferable skills for freestyle snowboarding as you work on self generated power moves including various jumps, spins and flips. This has also developed my focused aggression. Due to the power required for certain movements you begin to develop the ‘in the zone’ mind set. This has really helped my normal riding as I’m able to clear my mind more easily, blocking out negative thoughts and achieving a higher success rate. There are a few parkour gyms around. You have Paramount Parkour in Milton Keynes and 3 Run Evolution in Basingstoke. These centres run adult classes so you do not have to mix it with the kids.
In Summary
The key thing is think about is what you want to achieve with your riding and set realistic goals for yourself, both on and off snow. Do you want to chill, enjoy the mountains and soak up the après, or are you looking for an extra challenge and keep progressing?
If you want to push it then don’t put too much pressure on yourself to change too quickly and don’t start a massive fitness routine 1 week before your holiday. Becoming a solid snowboarder combined with some base level fitness takes time, but it’s an awesome journey that will deliver so many unforeseen benefits way beyond looking and feeling great on a snowboard.
James Streater is the head coach and owner of Maverix Snow Ltd, providing year round snowboard instruction, coaching and personal development. He is part of a select group of professionals who hold the worlds highest snowsport qualification ISTD. Follow him on Instagram @maverixsnow
