After a long winter and over 100 days on a snowboard, there's nothing better than stretching the legs on a gorgeous hike. The benefits of walking are truly wonderful for your body. It’s a must for your lifestyle in the off-season, as its a great change of pace and a low impact activity for your joints. Get outdoors, see beautiful views and use your body just like snowboarding… it’s also free!

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If you can put in the effort to train and develop your body in the off-season, you will reap the benefits when you strap into your snowboard come the wintertime. Improving your balance, flexibility and strength during the summer months will allow you to be able to perform better, move freely and feel more comfortable on top of your snowboard.

As you develop your body awareness and proprioception you will be able to prevent injury, effortlessly acquire new skills and easily make adjustments to your technique. The more you work with and get to know your body the easier it will be to give yourself feedback and analyse your own performance.

Improve Your Posture And Boost Body Awareness By Walking 

Walking For Snowboard Health

When you spend all day outdoors in the snow during the winter, it's incredible to reconnect with nature in a different season. An activity like walking is a perfect way to do it in the summer, keeping you fit and healthy. Check out these 8 benefits that will help power up your body, so that the next time you ride you feel like you haven't had any time off the snow.

1. Promotes healthy joints

Walking is a low impact activity making it relativity stress-free on your joints. Regular walking actually maintains and encourages healthy joints in the body and can prevent arthritis. It bolsters bone density as weight-bearing strengths and stimulates the bones. It's an awesome way to ease your body back into exercise, especially after beating it up over a season! Even try throwing in some yoga to your routine. 

2. Tone up bum, tum, legs and arms.

Hiking, especially with a challenging uphill, is amazing for strengthening your legs. It tones quads, calves, hips, hamstrings and helps to give you a perky butt! If you bring awareness to your core and posture as you walk, you can turn it into a great ab work out too. Hillwalking is an incredible cardio workout that will give you the endurance and conditioning you need for snowboarding. Power forward with your arms to help tone and build the upper back, shoulders, and arms. 

Let Your Body Flower In The Summer By Walking

3. Charge up Vitamin D levels.

After long dark days in the winter, the body can crave sunlight! Regular activity in nature during the off-season gives crucial exposure to sunlight and delivers the essential nutrient vitamin D. If the body does not receive enough vitamin D, it damages the immune system and bone health. Make sure you are careful with sun exposure to avoid burning, as your skin can be sensitive from being covered up all winter!

4. Evolves creativity and raises energy levels.

Walking fires up your internal systems, increasing circulation and boosting oxygen levels throughout all cells in the body. It awakens the mind and has been proven to increase creativity. Are you feeling sluggish? If so go take a walk! Walking can ease tense muscles and lube up stiff joints. Wake up your body and deliver an incredible natural energy boost.

5. Protects and powers-up the heart.

When walking is part of your lifestyle it has been proven to lower your chance of heart disease and stroke. It boosts the levels of good cholesterol (HDL) while lowering bad cholesterol (LDL). This helps maintain healthy blood pressure. Try and reduce blood pressure naturally by walking. It has been shown to reduce the risk of stroke by over 25%. 

It's Easy And It's Free To Put One Foot In Front Of The Other

6. Relieves depression & lowers disease risk.

It’s easy to get a little down after long cloudy days and no sun. Exercise really is the best mood enhancer. By making sure walking is a daily activity, it can not only battle heart disease but also fights off type 2 diabetes, certain cancers and asthma. People who are regularly active are known to have up to 20% less chance of developing breast, colon and womb cancer. It also provides another solution to ease depression.

Walking frees your mind, especially when outdoors in nature. It helps to bring stillness to the mind and reduce stress. Mood-boosting endorphins are released in the brain and pump round the body, as you get active. This dramatically reduces stress and relieves anxiety. Exercise can often offer a perspective shift and allow for time to think. Walking in green spaces with friends is scientifically known to uplift mood and blast away feelings of loneliness or boredom.

7. Walking to lose weight.

Walking is a great calorie burner! When walking the heart beats faster and puts the body into fat-burning mode. Walking is a simple and free way to burn more calories than you eat. Walking to lose weight is perfect as it is a low impact, easily assessable activity no matter what budget you are on. It also boosts muscle mass and helps to speed up metabolism.

Walk Your Way To Better Performance On A Snowboard

8. Helps with memory and to prevent dementia. 

Dementia impacts many people’s lives (as much as 1 in 6 for people over 80). It's proven through research that regular exercise delivers a protective effect on the brain and helps maintain its function. The benefits of walking and regular exercise help lower the risk of developing dementia by over 35%. A study by Age UK showed that those who walked around 6 miles or more per week could ward off memory problems and brain shrinkage.

Put some miles on your legs this summer and feel the benefits when you strap back into your snowboard after a few months off. Spend time in the off-season developing your body, balance and proprioception to improve your control on the snowboard. Walking is easy and free, so next time you leave the house, instead of taking the car, go for human-powered transport and use your legs!