Skiing isn’t just great fun and an exhilarating adrenaline rush—it’s also good for your health. From the fresh air to the exercise, these are five reasons why you should make sure that skiing makes it onto your bucket list this winter during ski holidays flaine.
Improves Mental Health
One way to be happier, experts say, is to improve your physical health. What’s more, better mental and physical fitness can be achieved by spending time outdoors and exercising regularly. This may seem like common sense—after all, fresh air and a view of nature are proven mood boosters—but it does reinforce that old adage about taking care of your body in order to take care of your mind. Research suggests that doing both things at once—say, hiking in the alps or skiing down an alpine mountain slope—are both great ways of achieving these through improved cardiovascular fitness.
Reduces Anxiety
Skiing isn’t just a physical sport. For many, it’s an escape from everyday life and all its pressures and strains. Skiing is a great way to de-stress; whether your day was stressful or not, skiing or snowboarding will allow you to forget about what’s stressing you out, allowing your body to focus on the present moment so that your mind can relax while getting some time outdoors in fresh air and sunshine.
Burns Calories
Skiing is a great way to burn calories, since it requires your heart to pump much more blood throughout your body as you traverse hills and valleys at high speeds. While cardiovascular exercise strengthens your heart and increases blood flow, it also strengthens bones, improves cholesterol levels, regulates breathing, and reduces stress. Even if skiing isn’t feasible due to weather or physical limitations, make sure to find another mode of cardiovascular exercise like running or cycling.
Good for your joints
Although it seems counterintuitive, skiing is actually very good for your joints and can help prevent joint-related diseases like osteoarthritis. Rather than running or other impact-related sports, skiing has a gradual increase of pressure on your joints. The ease of movement is helpful too—it’s not as stressful on your joints as some other activities. And because skiing is a low-impact sport, it doesn’t involve jumping or stopping suddenly, making it easier on those cartilage discs that cushion our knees and hips. Less impact equals less stress on those joints—you may even notice an increase in mobility after spending time on skis.
Improves cardiovascular health
Hitting up a ski slope is an activity that will get your heart pumping and burn a ton of calories—similar to running but with way more fun. If you’re looking to boost your cardiovascular health, it’s hard to think of better exercise than skiing. Researchers even suggest that skiing can be just as beneficial to cardiovascular fitness as running (which makes sense considering both activities have similar metabolic demands). Plus, if you go downhill skiing, you also build upper-body strength from carrying yourself on skis! Not only does downhill skiing work on cardio and upper-body strength, but cross-country skiing works on your lower body too. Want results? Hit up those Nordic trails and make a change to your health and wellness today!