How to Prevent Winter Sports Injuries

Despite chilly temperatures and shorter days, winter is the favorite time of year for many sports enthusiasts. No matter how skilled at skiing, snow mobile riding, ice-skating or hiking, you may be at risk for serious injuries while performing your favorite activities. Whether you hit the slopes every weekend or spend most of the winter season curled up by a roaring fire, there are tips you can use to stay fit, healthy and free of injury when you venture outside for some winter fun.

Do You Know the Risks?

Winter is a wonderful time to participate in sports. During the colder months, many of us spend long hours indoors. We may choose to eat lunch at our desks rather than venturing out, or spend a weeknight watching TV instead of going to the gym. Taking part in outdoor physical activities, even if it is only on the weekend, is an effective means of preventing feelings of melancholy that often surface when we can’t spend a lot of time outdoors.

I encourage all of my healthy patients to participate in sports and other activities during the winter, as long as they are aware of the risks. For example, in 2007, snowboarding was the leading cause of winter sports injuries, sending over 149,000 people to emergency rooms and other treatment centers. Many veteran skiers think their sport is less dangerous than snowboarding. On the contrary, skiing was a close second to snowboarding when it came to injuries. Over 131,000 skiers sought medical care in 2007 due to mishaps on the slopes.

While awareness of these risks is crucial, you should not hesitate to take part in the winter sports you enjoy. There are a number of simple steps you can take to reduce your risk of injury and have your best winter sports season to date. Try the following tips and remember that in order to play hard, you also need to play smart.

6 Tips to Prevent Winter Sports Injuries

1) Don’t strain if you haven’t trained – If you haven’t been on skis for 8 months, don’t start taking on black diamonds right out of the gate. Your muscles are more prone to injury after a long break. Prepare for your first day of snow-shoeing or ice hockey by lifting weights and stretching your muscles during the off season. You can also stay conditioned with video games, such as those for the Nintendo Wii, which simulate various sports like snowboarding.

2) Extend your warm up – Most fitness experts recommend a five to ten minute warm up, but that may not be enough during the winter. Low temperatures mean it may take longer to ease your muscles into an activity. Double your warm up time and don’t push yourself until you feel loose and relaxed.

3) Check your gear twice – When it comes to winter sports, the right gear is more important than ever. Snowboarding without a helmet or sledding without water-resistant footwear will not only make the activity less enjoyable, but it may leave you vulnerable to injury. Make sure all equipment is in excellent working order, and don’t leave home without the proper clothing and gear you need to enjoy your day.

4) Drink up – One of the biggest winter sports mistakes is not staying adequately hydrated. No matter what your sport, you need to drink water or sports beverages every hour or so to provide enough fluids and electrolytes for your body to function. We often don’t realize we are sweating because perspiration evaporates almost instantly in the cold, dry air. Drink even if you aren’t thirsty and you will perform better and prevent muscle cramps and weakness.

5) Dress for the chill…or the sun – When you do winter activities, your body temperature undergoes extreme shifts. Wear layers of light, moisture-resistant, breathable clothing so you can adjust to any condition. For skiers and hikers in particular, sun protection is just as important as preparing for the cold. Snow reflects damaging UV rays back to your face, so wear sunscreen and sunglasses at all times.

6) Know the terrain – When hiking or snow shoeing, stay on marked trails. To prevent surprises, familiarize yourself with the terrain ahead of time and ask about any unexpected obstructions like ice or snow drifts. Mapping out your route beforehand and incorporating the latest information will prevent surprises.

Winter Sports Travel Insurance: Is It a Good Investment?

Skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, sledding, snowmobiling and any other winter sports seem to become more fun and enjoyable whenever winter sports travel insurance policy is purchased. If you wish to bring out your adventurous side during the winter season by travelling and trying out the many winter sports, then you have to make sure that you purchase an insurance policy.

The reason behind this is that the sports are considered to be quite risky. It is important for you to prepare yourself for emergencies as these usually strike when you least expected. With the sports travel insurance around, you will no longer worry about being unable to pay for medical expenses if you get injured during your trip. You can also ask for claims for lost and damaged items.

By their nature, most winter sports are dangerous. However, people including you may find these sports extremely fun because of the kind of excitement that these arouse in you. Because of the dangers that can be linked to them, it is no longer surprising why there are several accidents that occur each winter season. No matter how experienced a person is in a particular sport, there is still a great possibility that he will face an accident. To ensure that you are able to easily cope with accidents, you have to start familiarizing yourself about the different sports travel insurance policies in your area and try to pick the best choice.

When conducting your research about the different winter sports travel insurance options, you have to make sure that you check out the features of each of your choices. One of the most essential features that should be included in a specific policy is the injury cover. Even if you are an expert in a particular winter sport, you do not have the power to stop accidents from attacking you. To ensure that you are able to cope up with injuries, your insurance policy must cover high costs of medical bills. It is important for you to check out this coverage so as to provide you a guarantee that you will be able to handle all of the medical expenses that you may incur.

Another feature that you should check out when comparing different sports travel insurance options in your area is the equipment coverage. Because winter sports equipment and gear are known to be expensive, there is a great tendency that you will lose any of them through theft. You have to make sure that the policy you purchase covers for lost equipments. This way, you will get the chance to have your lost equipment replaced with a brand new one while you are at the resort.

If you get yourself involved in an accident during your winter vacation where another person is injured, then a winter sports travel insurance which covers for liabilities can be very useful for you. This will save you from undergoing a long and expensive process once you are taken to court. Because of this, you have to make sure that you check out if any of your choices covers costs for legal proceedings and compensation payments. This will definitely lessen your burden when you are involved in accidents.

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Do You Really Need Winter Sports Travel Insurance?

Winter sports travel insurance wasn’t always the necessity it is today. Over time, insurance companies have begun to exclude certain high-risk activities, locations, and people from general insurance policies. Now people who enjoy unique activities must seek specialized coverage that takes into account those with slightly elevated risks. Fortunately, winter sports insurance is almost always fairly priced and covers all of those “what ifs” that are difficult to plan or account for. Traveler’s insurance lessens the impact of foul weather days and foul luck days alike.

There are limited situations where special sports insurance may not be necessary for even the most frequent winter travelers. If you don’t plan on leaving the country, carrying valuables, participating in dangerous activities, or otherwise violating your current travel or health insurance policy then you can spare the investment of sports travel insurance. But if you are going to be driving on dangerously icy roads or anything else out of the norm for recreation your current policies are not likely to cover any bodily, vehicular, or personal item damages. Even if you think you’re already covered by your preexisting insurance make sure you contact your agent and inform them of your activities. There may be some restrictions that weren’t properly expressed when you signed the agreement.

It’s more than just extreme winter sports fanatics that are subject to risks during winter travel. Flights may be delayed or cancelled, equipment or luggage may get stolen or become damaged, and any number of health risks could be presented during the entirety of the trip. These types of occurrences are headaches when you’re far away from home and without the necessary paperwork, but that’s why winter sports travel insurance is available. It’s nice to know that you can be anywhere: on a daring snowboarding adventure or cool winter retreat and still be able to get assistance if and when complications arise.

Some of us may need more than just your average winter sports travel insurance. There are specialized packages that suit snow bunnies to daredevils, so make sure that the policy you buy covers everything you will need. If you’re concerned about expensive camera equipment used to capture glowing family moments purchase coverage that reflects the value of your possessions. However, if more danger is presented by an inevitable “crunch” on the slopes then you may want to insure your health more than your skis. You can help to cut out unnecessary costs by trimming out the details that aren’t needed by planning your activities out beforehand.

Unwelcome interruptions to a winter excursion are not something many of us want to think while planning an adventurous snowy vacation. It’s extremely important to make some considerations about winter sports travel insurance early, so that you can make sure every bit of paperwork and medical checks are completed by the date of departure. Any changes should be immediately reported to your insurer. The only thing worse than being uninsured is paying for insurance that doesn’t cover your emergency.

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How To Get Your Body Ready For The Extreme Winter Sports

In the winter there so many things that you can do instead of just sitting around at home doing nothing. You can go snowboarding go skiing and do many other winter sports.

As you are getting your body ready for winter sports you will want to take an honest test to yourself and ask yourself how good of shape are you really in. then you just need to start running and getting ready for the winter sports because in the end when time comes for you to start your winter sport you may not even be in good enough shape to compete.

Before your winter sport even starts you will want to be able to at least walk or run for 30 minutes out in the cold winter. If you cannot do just that then you will never be ready for your winter sport. Many people can go sit in their houses all winter without doing one exercise and still be able to go do their winter sport and that is just because they are used to that routine. They probably do some type of exercise in the house where its warm instead of getting out in the cold and working out.

After you have gotten yourself into some what of good shape for your winter sports you will need to start getting your heart rate up so you can burn fat and gain muscle. You will want to be able to do at least 15 minutes of some aerobic before you start your winter sports.

You do want to take the time to congratulate yourself but you do not want to overdue it by going out drinking and getting those calories back in your body. You want to just have a nice good dinner and get good nights sleep so that you can start your routine over again the following day. If you don’t do this then you will be stuck in the body your in now and you won’t do so good in your winter sport.

You might have a specific winter sport that you compete in every winter. If you don’t have the body for it then you’re not going to be competing in anything but competing against yourself to get off the couch.

Basically for all winter sports you are going to need to get up and do something to get your heart rate up so that you can get your legs ready for the sport you are doing since in winter sports you use your legs a lot. If your legs are not in the shape in which they should be then you shouldn’t even be thinking about competing until next year when you are in good shape and so you can compete. If you think and feel that you are good shape then that is good and you should be able to compete but many people feel the same way and often struggle so be sure to get out and exercise before your sports starts.

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