Know your snow limits, use common sense
Oh, the moans and groans from adults as they face Mondays after a weekend of strenuous snow play. MThere is a reason children are built close to the ground, says neuromuscular therapist Robert Spaulding. Almost a taunt to their elders, at the least, it is a reminder of the fleeting elasticity of youth.
“They have no fear. And they can bend. Adults don’t have that much ‘give,’ ” explained Spaulding of Neuromuscular Therapy Associates on Fulton Drive NW.
When the snow flies, Spaulding is assured of receiving telephone calls from those above voting age whose outdoor exploits made them casualties.
Whether it is cross-country or downhill skiing, snowboarding or a seemingly simple sled ride, anyone can fall victim to the slippery stuff, he said. Minimal advance preparation, though, can ward off many injuries.
Proper warm-up, stretching every major muscle group in the body, Spaulding explained, is a must.
“Cross-country skiing, for example, uses all the major muscle groups. The biggest thing, just as with runners, is to slowly get warmed up,” he said.
Spaulding, a Plain Township resident who once owned a local cross-country ski shop and provided instruction in the aerobic activity, competed in distance cross-country ski events in the late 1970s and early ’80s.
Beginners often topple over, he said, until they establish balance by putting their weight forward on their skis. Those falls are simply a function of learning and rarely result in injury.
“When people start out, everybody is shuffling. They find themselves walking on skis until they learn to shift their weight,” he said.
One of the greatest concerns in cross-country skiing, Spaulding continued, is the effective layering of clothing, preferably choosing long underwear that wicks perspiration away from the body.
“And it doesn’t hurt to walk afterward to get the lactic acid back out of the muscles. That helps,” he said.
These days, he and wife Betsy and their twin sons, Eric and Andy, freshmen at Ashland College, focus on downhill skiing, often spending winter afternoons at Peek’n Peak in western New York.
Though helmets are not required for children who choose to ski or snowboard on the slopes of many resorts, Spaulding is a proponent.
“Kids are fearless and they literally bounce when they fall. Helmets are a good development,” he said.
Novice or pre-intermediate downhill skiers, whose sophisticated equipment may eclipse their abilities, are a concern, he said.
“The new parabolic (curved) skis do much of the work for them, so they may think they are advancing faster than they are,” Spaulding explained. Luckily, breakthroughs in heel-release bindings have eliminated many of the spiral-type twisting fractures that occurred when boots stayed fast to the ski during falls.
Calls often come from those who overestimated their abilities, trying the mogul runs or black-diamond (difficult) slopes without the ability to stop or turn suddenly.
“That’s when you get them running into trees or somebody else. You get the knee, hip, lower back and shoulders, wrists involved in injuries,” he said.
Snowboaders generally fall on their sides, he added, opening to injury shoulders, wrists and hands.
David Norman, also an experienced downhill skier, last week began teaching a cross-country class at the Louisville YMCA. The 15 men and women in his six-session class range in age from 20s to 60s.
Though advance physical preparation including rope jumping, walking or jogging is a good idea, Norman, a physical education teacher at St. Joseph’s and St. Peter’s schools, said cross-country skiers can choose their own pace.
“There are simple basics. I warn them never to try cross country on ice. Dress appropriately. And then be sure to adapt their routine to their physical status,” he said. “Go where you know the terrain. And enjoy. Besides being recreational, cross country is a great aerobic activity.”
Both men, recalling the sledding risks they took as boys, agreed that in many instances, safe sledding is an oxymoron.
Kid-built ramps of snow worry him, Norman said. “There’s no way to say you’re sledding under control when you’re on them.”
“I see kids jumping on sleds head first and I worry about jammed necks,” Spaulding said. “Over at Malone College, they run right up to the fence. That’s really dangerous.”
Even if the kids don’t feel it the next day, most adults will have sore muscles following a weekend frolicking in the snow.
Warming down is just as important as warming up, Spaulding advises.
“The body needs that to help it heal tissue and to bring itself back to a resting state. Jumping in the hot tub,” Spaulding warned, “is no substitute for a warmdown. It gives a false impression.”
Related Articles:
Loading ...
