According to the Mayo Clinic, participating in winter sports activities cures your cabin fever and winter blues, boosts your energy and supports your immune system. There are numerous winter sports activities to choose from, and many of these activities are fun and cost-effective. Consider trying something new this winter, or revisit winter activities from your youth to bolster your fitness, enhance your mood and experience significant health benefits.
Backcountry Skiing
According to the Dartmouth Outing Club, backcountry skiing is an enjoyable winter sports activity that involves exploration, physical fitness and knowledge about winter conditions. While many backcountry skiers have their own equipment, are trained for outdoor situations and emergencies and possess the relevant mountain skills to enjoy an outing in the wilderness, backcountry skiing is still accessible for beginners. Outing clubs often rent backcountry ski equipment and may even offer guided outings.
Although some individuals prefer skiing by themselves and the solitude of nature, you should always ski with at least two or three other people. Should one member of your party experience an injury in the backcountry, you'll have enough group members to carry out the appropriate rescue procedures. If you're interested in backcountry skiing, consider taking a backcountry skiing course and wilderness first responder course.
Snowshoeing
According to Sean Coster at Walk About Magazine, snowshoeing is an ideal cross-training activity for walkers, an effective form of aerobic exercise and helps you develop strength in your upper and lower body. Although walking and snowshoeing share many similarities, walking on snow and rolling terrain boosts your exercise intensity, causing you to burn up to twice the number of calories as walking at the same speed, says University of Vermont's Declan Connolly, an associate professor of Physical Education.
Because snowshoes allow you to wander off groomed trails and explore surrounding areas, you can vary your terrain to get the workout you desire. Snowshoeing helps you develop your major lower body muscle groups---such as your quadriceps, hip flexors and hip extensors---and build your cardiovascular endurance. You can also incorporate ski poles to enhance your stability and tone your upper body muscles.
Ice Skating
The Skating Fitness website states that ice skating is an exhilarating and cost-effective winter sports activity that yields significant health benefits and can be a source of entertainment for your entire family. Ice skating means different things to different people. Figure skating is a form of ice skating, as is speed skating. You ice skate when you play sports such as ice hockey or ringette. You can ice skate at an indoor rink or outdoors, on a frozen pond or lake.
Ice skating can be as intense or as relaxed as you desire. It helps you achieve cardiovascular health and fitness, regulates your weight, tones your muscles and enhances your mood and mental fitness. If you have never skated but you're interested in trying ice skating for fitness and fun, consider taking a lesson from a qualified instructor who can teach you the basics.
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