Did you know that regular exercise lowers the risk of heart disease and stroke by 35%? It can also lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by almost 50%!
Participating in physical activity on a regular basis can lower the risk of developing colon cancer by 50%. The chance of early death lowers by 30% with exercise.
This is important to take into consideration as most adults spend 7 hours or more sitting down per day. Staying active is important for your health and there are many ways to make it fun.
Skiing is a great choice. The benefits of skiing are also varied and plentiful. Keep reading to learn what they are.
1. You’ll Burn Calories
The great thing about staying active is that most physical activity will help you burn the calories you gain from eating. When it comes to skiing and burning calories, it works the same way. A great health benefit of skiing as a form of exercise is that the activity will help you burn the necessary calories for the day.
You’ll burn more than enough calories by skiing downhill but if you want to burn even more than try climbing up the slope, you’ll be skiing rather than taking the lift. The steeper the slope, the more you’ll burn because you’ll have to work harder during the descend.
2. You’ll Improve Your Proprioception
Did you know that skiing improves your proprioception? This is basically having a sense of how your body moves and its position. This is important because to improve as a skier and keep yourself from suffering falls, you need to be aware of how your body moves.
With this improved awareness of your body, your coordination will also improve, and this is crucial to skiing well and preventing accidents as well. This greater sense of the space around you is beneficial to your health and keeping your mind alert to anything that might go wrong.
3. Gain Stronger Joints and Bones
The older you get the more important it is for you to strengthen your joints and bones to prevent damage, breaks, and the effects of osteoporosis.
Skiing is a great way to do this. Since it’s an activity that requires you to push down on your knees to keep your body balanced as it moves down the slope, regular skiing can strengthen your bones and joints over time.
Strong joints and bones will also reduce pain in those areas, another added benefit of participating in the sport.
4. Skiing Is a Great Cardio Workout
Is skiing good exercise? It provides a great cardio workout, so yes! The importance of heart health has already been discussed so getting in some type of cardio in your exercise routine is crucial.
Skiing will get your heart pumping as you push your body to maneuver the slopes around you, this is a great form of cardio. Skiing will improve your endurance and can lower your risk of developing chronic illnesses related to the heart.
5. Get Your Leg Workout
While any physical activity is great, you want to make sure that you’re targeting every area of your body when working out. A great benefit when it comes to skiing is that it’ll help you work on strengthening those muscles in your legs and lower body.
Instead of having to spend a boring leg day at the gym, you can get to work on gaining those muscles on the slopes. Since you need to use your feet and legs to navigate down a slope while skiing, you’ll find that your body stays in a squatted position. This stance helps strengthen those lower body muscles including the calves and the hamstrings.
6. You’ll Be a Happier Person
When you think about the health benefits of exercise or participating in a sport, the focus tends to be on the physical benefits. Skiing helps improve mental health as well and that is a great benefit of practicing the sport.
Skiing will improve your mood and leave you feeling happier since you’ll be spending time outdoors taking in some beautiful views while exercising.
A lot of skiing is usually done while on a vacation and that always helps put people in a better mood. Being in a beautiful new town with all the accommodations would improve anyone’s mental health.
If you’re thinking of turning your next vacation into a ski trip, check out the best ski resorts to choose from and start planning today!
7. It Helps You Maintain a Healthy Weight
If you’re thinking of doing some skiing for exercise and to help you lose weight, then you’ve come to the right conclusion. A great health benefit of skiing is that doing it regularly can help you maintain a healthy weight.
The amount of energy you burn during a ski session depends on your weight but doing it often will start to melt the pounds away and keep you at your desired weight. Keeping a healthy weight comes with a host of other benefits like decreasing the risk of heart disease, preventing weakened bones and joints, and increased energy throughout the day.
8. Skiing Strengthens Your Core
Maintaining balance is crucial to improving as a skier and when you’re constantly working to do this you’re using and strengthening your core in the process. Strengthening your core improves your balance and comes with other benefits that improve health and well-being.
Core strength leads to better posture and fewer back injuries which can prevent back pain. You’ll also improve your ability to practice other sports and activities you enjoy by strengthening your core.
9. You’ll Become More Flexible
Flexibility is an important part of general health and skiing on a regular basis can improve your flexibility. Since the sport requires you to maintain balance while using your core and lower leg muscles, you’ll become more flexible in the process.
Since skiing helps you become more aware of your body and teaches you to move and navigate a tricky terrain, you’ll naturally become more flexible. A benefit of improved flexibility is reduced pain and injury in your muscles.
10. Improved Sleep Patterns
When you think about an adrenaline-packed day spent skiing, sleep isn’t the first thing that pops into your mind. Skiing can improve your sleep patterns, however. If you often have trouble falling asleep and you spend most of your night tossing and turning, skiing often can help correct that.
Since skiing requires so much effort, it tires your body and allows you to fall asleep instantly after a day on the slopes. Getting better sleep is an important part of a healthy life, as resting and recharging your body is necessary to be able to tackle each day successfully.
11. It’ll Lead You to Make Healthier Food Choices
A well-balanced diet is crucial for living a healthy life. It helps you maintain a healthy weight and reduces the risk of developing chronic illnesses. You can do the most rigorous exercise but if you go home and only eat junk food, your health will never improve.
Skiing often leads those who practice it to make healthier food choices. Since you’ll be burning so much energy, replenishing your body is important.
Skiers know that consuming more healthy proteins, fruits, and vegetables will not weigh them down and give them the energy they need to continue skiing. So, if you ski regularly, you’re bound to think about the type of food you put into your body more often than not.
12. You’ll Get the Necessary Vitamin D
There are many health benefits of skiing but one of the best is that you’ll get the necessary vitamin D in the most natural way. Many people tend to spend their workday indoors and then go home and stay inside as well.
Spending time out in the sun isn’t just great for your mood but it can provide you with natural vitamin D from the sun. With so many people suffering from vitamin D deficiencies and needing to take supplements, finding a natural way of getting this important nutrient is a huge benefit.
Vitamin D is an important nutrient because it helps to ward off illness and is known to reduce the risk of depression.
13. Improved Focus
Another health benefit of skiing that most people don’t think of is how it helps improve focus. Improving your health requires you to make a physical and mental change and skiing helps exercise your mind just as much as it exercises your body.
Skiing requires a lot of mental clarity, awareness of everything around you, and the ability to make quick decisions about how to move to prevent from falling. This will help improve your focus and will keep your mind sharp as a skier and in other areas that require mental focus.
The Benefits of Skiing and Why You Should Try It
There are many health benefits of skiing. Some of the best ones are listed above.
If you want to improve your health and exercise in a fun way, skiing is a great option. Make sure you check out some of the other blogs on our site to learn more.
