Snowboarding vs Skiing – What Muscles Do We Stress For Each

Are you a snowboarding or skiing fan? Snowboarding vs Skiing – do you know what muscles are heavily used for each?

It has been proved that anybody who is interested in learning how to practice snowboarding, must also understand and know all the primary muscles that are important when snowboarding. This is very important because it will help you have good knowledge during training, prevent any injury and also to will help you become a good boarder.

Here are the primary muscles that are mostly used when enjoying snowboarding:

1. The core muscles are heavily used when snowboarding

Your core muscles will be in use constantly when boarding because you require a lot of balance when snowboarding. These include the middle and lower back muscle and the abdomen muscles.

2. Ankle and foot muscles

Being that your feet are connected to the board, you will need your ankle and feet to make good turns. The foot has many muscle, ligaments and tendons which must be strong for you to be good in snowboarding.

3. Muscles of the upper leg

These include both the quadriceps and the hamstrings which are very important when it comes to snowboarding. These are the muscles that are used mostly when you are boarding downhill.

4. Gluteal and hip muscles

These are used to help in steering carves and you need to make sure you work out these muscles in the gym before you start boarding. This is important because it will prevent any soreness which is not necessary.

When it comes to skiing then there will be a very complex interaction between the lower body muscles, the central nervous system and the upper body muscles. The muscles are used to maintain good balance, add pressure, in edging movements and rotational movement. The central nervous is used in controlling how the muscles are used.

The following muscles are used in skiing:

1. The core

This will help you maintain balance which is the most important thing when skiing. All the core muscles work as a group to make sure your pelvis and spine are stable. They also maintain upright posture even when moving down a slope.

2. Ankle and foot group

These are very important and take responsibility of pressure, edging and rotational movements. The intrinsic muscles of the foot will be used to point your toes towards your shin and also to the ground. The dorsiflexion which is important in skiing is used in keeping the shins pressed into the tongue of your boots.

3. Lower leg

A large difference when analysis snowboarding vs skiing – we have extrinsic muscles in the lower leg divided into three and is very important in skiing. The anterior one helps in dorsi flexion, the lateral are important in controlling eversion while the posterior compartment helps in plantar flexion.

4. Flexors and extensors of the knee

These are used in straightening and bending the legs hence they are very important in absorbing the impact forces during skiing and also controls pressure. The hamstrings are used to bend the knee while the quadriceps straightens the legs.

5. Gluteal muscles

The gluteal complex is very important and essential when it comes to skiing. They help in extension and flexion and also act as stabilizers. These muscles also help in performing the rotational movement and assist in leg rotation.

So, snowboarding vs skiing, there’s actually quite a huge difference between them in terms of muscles stressed …and also the sensations 🙂