overweight 40 y/o will try snowboarding
 

Just wondering if anyone else fitting that description on this board is going to try snowboarding this season. I've been thinking about it and since the season is starting early, I thought I'd ask what I should do to get in shape for it. I know I should have began this a while ago but there's still time to get ready and the season may be a long one. So what exercises would you recommend for this donut lover?

Actually snowboarding involves ALOT of falling on your a$$ on the first couple days. I would suggest intensifying the donut diet to lay down a little more padding :)

Makes me think we should start a poll.

Guess the first fracture;

1) Radius/ulna
2) Sacrum
3) Ribs
4) Tibia/Fibula

Happy boarding, shredder! ;)

Start in fresh, soft snow.

I'll pick ribs.

Moses, are you an Orthopedic Surgeon?

First fracture...ego
Second...well, I don't want to jinx myself.

I started when I was 26 - oh so long ago. And I structed for a couple of years in my Ski Club.

#1. get knee pads. Buy skateboard ones which you can fit on the outside of your ski pants. One of the "natural" rest positions is kneeling.

#2. Take lessons. The balance is "forward/backward", not side to side like skiing.

#3. It is _less_ dangerous than skiing, despite what the others say.

Exercises. Similar to skiiing. Deep knee bends. for sure.

Practice rolling from the balls of your feet to standing on "tip toe". Do this in sneakers. As you move to your toes, scrunch your toes into your foot (Like making a fist with your foot). When you roll on your heel, stretch your foot out like you are stretching and spreading your fingers.

Are you right handed or left handed?

Excellent advise there, red-beard.

I started boarding around 22-23. Got so good I broke my leg BIG TIME! I spent six month total in a combination of casts and braces!

Some more pointers:

- Don't force the board - read the mountain and go with it. If you hit a patch of ice, try not to change whatever you're doing - go through the patch BEFORE you try to turn or slow down!

- Look down the mountain, not down at your feet!

- Knee pads, as mentioned above, are vital.

- So is waterproof clothes!

- LEAN FORWARD! This stablizes the front of the board and will prevent face plants! (You turn with the edges on the back of the board, not by the front edges!)

- Once you figure out if you ride regular (left foot forward) or goofy (right foot forward), I recommend you learn on a race board. Why? Because the back edge of race boards are flat and that will prevent you from constantly spinning down the mountain, which is a typical 'newbie' method of surviving the bunny hill! :eek:

Good luck!
-Z-man.

Bankart lesion.

Well, I would recommend a ton of stretching, beginning a few weeks before the scheduled activity. And take some NSAIDS (Advil, etc.) the morning of.

sonny bono recommends a helmet.

Do your cardio.
Do lots of stretching.

Get and use wrist guards.

A couple years ago my friend ended up in the hospital in Mammoth from a snow boarding accident. At the hospital the waiting room was filled with no less than 10-12 broken wrists, all from snowboarding. this was in a matter of 2 hours during the not so busy season. I bet on the wrist fracture.

I don't think anyone mentioned wrist and elbow guards, but you should probably wear those, too... You'll be catching yourself a lot on outstretched arms when you fall.

JCM

EDIT: Paul mentioned the wrist guards

From www.ski-injury.com

"Of concern is the fact that injured snowboarders are twice as likely (28% vs 14%) to sustain a fracture compared to skiers. Most of these involve the wrist."

That doesn't necessarily mean its more dangerous. Of more interest would be the overall frequency of injuries.

A fractured wrist will heal better than a torn ACL.

IMHO, snowboarders are more likely to break bones, while skier are more likely to tear ligaments and tendons. While it may take longer for a broken bone to heal, it will heal to 100% (or more) vs. torns stuff.

-Z.

The overall injury rate is about the same.

This is how I spent most of my first day boarding;

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1098892414.jpg

ouch- I remember that experience.

Get a helmet!!!

Practicing "toes" will send you falling back and slamming your head onto the ground HARD.

Knee pads and wrist guards also important.

Wrist guards for sure. Having the board slide out from underneath you is one thing... and you land on your butt + wrists too.

When you catch the front edge of the board on some snow (front meaning where you are facing, not front of the board) you will be very quickly launched onto your face... which means you will have many hard landings on your wrists.

I used to skateboard and thought I'd be the "hot ****" on a snowboard, but it wasn't that way. I mainly remember my wrists taking most of the beating. One other major difference from a skateboard... when you're about to crash you could bail out and jump off the board. W/ the snowboard, you and the board share the same fate.

}{arlequin is right on the money...I had two-planked it all my life, but when my kids started skiing at 5, neither of them would ski, they HAD to snowboard.
I figured with my skill and daring at skiing, my overall athletic prowess and sierra hotel attitude (sarcasm, folks, I was 41 at the time!) that I'd have the SB thing licked by noon and instructing my kids by 1300.
Oops...it can be done safely, but be patient and get wrist guards. Also prepare to reaquaint yourself with the more gentle slopes for a few days.
Good luck!

Chris-

RIDE A SKATEBOARD FIRST

Skate down the street, get a feel for carving and the movement of turning and swaying back and forth. Its the exact same motion that you'll be doing on the snowboard. Trust me, it comes a lot easier when you have an idea of what is "supposed" to be happening. I was boarding without problems after about an hour of riding, it was a cake walk.

Oh yeah, and strap a pillow to your ass ;)

Yeap, if you can't skateboard down the street you'll have a hell of a time trying to snowboard. Guarenteed to catch you heel edge and slam your noggin. If you're from the ski world, it can be easier to learn on alpine snowboarding equipment. This looks like ski boots and a race board but isn't, it's specail hard snowboard boots, and a board meant to glide and turn, not 'rip fat air, yo.' Check out www.bomberonline.com . They have a good forum, too.

haha chris, my vote is the clavicle or your wrist. i tried it for the first time last season. i ski pretty good and i thought to myself, WTF? how hard can it be? IT WAS A BIITTCH!. i am a professional mountian bike crasher, so i know how to fall. for some reason, repeated body slammings on the mountian hurts like nothing i have ever felt before. i took lessons, and more than once after the instructor tells you to try something, i think, "you want be to do what?!!!" heel slide, toe slide....whatever. i will try again, but i am wearing a helmet, and medievel knight armor.....

will the armor be SC style, galvanized?

seriously, get a skateboard, it'll make all the difference

I think snowboarding is more like surfing than skateboarding. The weight distribution in skateboarding is more different than surfing. Skateboarding will give you a good idea of what to expect nonethless.

Wear a helmet and wrist guards. I wear a guard that provides thumb support as well. Of course that was after a shattered my thumb (four fractures, two dislocations). I have some yucky pics, but not here.

Snowboarders have fewer knee injuries (ie. ACL) but more upper body injuries (ie. wrist).

Falling hurts. Make your first few days "soft snow days". You will fall A LOT.

I know several 40+ year olds who started and have done great. Just get through the first few days and you'll enjoy it a lot. Don't allow frustration to get the best of you!

Enjoy!
Jon

PS The ideal thing in my opinion is to ski on harder snow days and board when there's powder. Nothing like it.

I tried snowboarding when I was about 30, and an advanced skier. I'd done a lot of skateboarding in college as well.

The thing that surprised me the most? How much my back got twisted and hurt.

What would happen was, I'd be turning, over-lean, fall on my butt, slide along on my back with my left side leading, then the leading end of my board would catch in the snow, the board would dig in and rotate, my lower body would rotate, and my back would take all the twisting stress as my upper body was forced to follow. Ouch.

Eventually I learned to turn myself while sliding, so that this didn't happen. But I decided against doing any more snowboarding.

Leave it to Porsche guys to jump right into the technical stuff and skip the most important, basic advice.

Carry your booze in one of those soft, squishy plastic flasks, or a wine skin. Metal and glass are not a good idea.

JP

5) Coccyx

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll try not to break anything by taking all the precautions you wrote about. I think I'm gonna be the goofiest looking guy out there with a pillow strapped to my a$$, wrist guards and helmet. By the way, I used to skateboard as a kid but was never any good. Wish me luck!