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During the colder months, exercising outdoors can be tough. When it’s cold, wet, or snowing heavily, your natural instinct tends to involve curling up in front of the fire. Finding the motivation to go for that three-mile run or take a swim can be difficult.
Still, this isn’t true of everyone – many people love to get out there and enjoy the brisk, biting chill. One of the most popular winter sports?
Snowboarding.
Without doubt, snowboarding is one of the coolest, most dynamic of all winter sports, a mix of skateboarding and skiing that demands considerable skill. Of course, the stunning snow-capped locations hold immense appeal, helping to attract newcomers year on year.
Always been curious to try snowboarding but unsure exactly how it benefits you?
Let’s take a look at just a few reasons you should give it a try.
Build a Tougher Body
Snowboarding looks far, far easier than it actually is. Staying on your board while traveling downhill at speed requires incredible balance, which works your entire body.
Steering your board strengthens your calves, quads, and hamstrings, while your arms and shoulders work hard to keep you steady.
Get a Cardiovascular Workout
Believe it or not, snowboarding can provide one heck of a cardio workout.
For the average person, you’ll burn anywhere from 250 to more than 600 calories per hour of snowboarding. This depends on the terrain, of course, but as very few people spend less than a few hours on their board, you’re sure to feel the burn.
Walking back uphill provides extra exercise, as does picking yourself up out of the snow (we all fall now and then).
Stay Flexible
If you’ve watched snowboarders in action, you’ll know just how often they need to twist and turn, changing direction and speed with fast movements. You need to move with the terrain and develop strong control over your body.
Over time, you’ll find you become more flexible and develop better balance.
Lighten Your Mood
Like any exercise, snowboarding makes you feel better in body and mind.
Why? It releases endorphins, those all-important neurochemicals that regulate happiness. As you work your way down the slopes, working your body, you should feel good, content, and motivated.
This goes hand-in-hand with the overall fun you can have in a snowboarding environment. If you’re lucky enough to travel to one of America’s best snowboarding destinations (such as Mount Bachelor, Mammoth Mountain, or Jackson Hole) you’ll get to enjoy amazing views.
You can also make snowboarding trips into luxurious holidays, bonding with friends and meeting new people in a unique setting. Think that will help to keep lifting your mood higher and higher?
Before you start snowboarding for the first time, it’s vital you spend time researching the best boards, the right gear, and the usual practice-methods to get you ready for your first trip.
If you plan on taking food, drink, first-aid kits, and other essentials on the slopes with you, don’t forget to take a waterproof backpack with you. Otherwise, your supplies may well get wet if you happen to fall again and again.