June 28, 2007

Yoga and Skiing Go Together Before, During and After the Ski Season

Tip! Closely related to your mood and mental outlook are other psychological benefits of using yoga. Very often we carry negative messages and feelings inside, and the practice of yoga helps a person better tune into the person that they are inside, increasing self awareness and self esteem.

Here it is July and you’re probably wondering, “Is this guy nuts?” I mean, dude, it’s 90 degrees outside, not a snowflake in sight and he’s focusing on skiing! Well, you do when you love to ski and want to be ready when the time comes to throw the skis in the car and head for the hills. In Colorado, that happened in the first week of November last year.

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Cross-training have become the buzzwords in sports the past couple of years, and they apply to skiing as much a cycling, baseball, basketball or snowboarding. Some cross training activities can only be done before your season begins; then focus changes to just the main activity. Yoga and skiing go together before, during and after the season.

As with cycling, yoga poses help keep your level of performance high while you reap year-round benefits. Skiing requires a lot from your body and even though a good hot tub, steam or massage can eliminate some of the sore muscles, yoga will keep you flexible and relatively pain free, if you apply it during the season.

In pre-season, as we now find ourselves, is the time to use yoga to strengthen the muscles used in skiing, and gain endurance and deeper breathing skills which will aid you when the season starts. I always laugh at the timing of articles in magazines touting: “It’s time to get into skiing shape” when the season has already started. Sure, a pre-season tune up on the body is needed, but that shouldn’t be a month after it has started; by then you are already behind the game and open yourself up for sore muscles, strains and possible injury.

Tip! Focus on both inhalation and exhalation. When I first started yoga breathing techniques, I focused almost entirely on the inhalation, making sure I was taking a truly deep breath, without focusing at all on how I was letting the air out of my body.

Cross-training during the summer and fall months is invaluable and will give you a leg up when November arrives; swim, play tennis, bicycle, run to keep you in shape and interested in fitness through variety. Then, add yoga to improve flexibility and strength. Keep it up after the season has started to stave off any injury and fatigue for those tough, but fun, double black diamond days.

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You can purchase yoga videos, take a local, weekly class or watch for special shows on cable often featured on FitTV and OLN. I like to take an occasional class and use videos, they both offer diversity, privacy and instruction.

Have a great summer; I’ll see you on the Colorado slopes in a few short months.

Keith Edwin Renninson is co-owner, along with Jeffrey Forman, of Golden Years Videos, LLC a production company dedicated to offering yoga and chair exercise videos for those over 50 or of any age who are rehabilitating from an accident or illness.

Renninson is an avid exercise and yoga enthusiast. Now in his late 50’s; he still races bicycles and regularly skis the black diamond runs in Colorado where he lives. For many years, a bona fide gym rat, Renninson still loves to lift free weights and use exercise machines.

Tip! Be Patient: Sometimes you will feel the effects of the yoga and sometimes you will not feel anything. Don’t worry about the immediate effects, continue to practice.

You can contact Renninson or read more about his company and the videos they have available at: http://www.goldenyearsvideos.com

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