Ski season is fast approaching so now may be time to prepare your muscles and joints for the rigours of the slopes. Skiing places significant demands on your muscles particularly around the knee and core so many skiers look to incorporate a strength regime to target these areas. Introducing a specific exercise repertoire may help to improve your technique, assist in injury prevention and enhance your endurance for a long day on the slopes.
Prevention is better than cure. If you have had a previous injury particularly to your lower limb or knee you may have an underlying imbalance which could affect your performance or injury risk. We offer Kinvent testing which is a targeted muscle strength testing procedure designed to evaluate your lower limb strength and performance on functional movements. Highlighting any strength asymmetries can help you focus on the specific exercises to incorporate into your injury prevention or rehabilitation regime leaving more time to enjoy the prep for the slopes!
Did you know we are a Enovis Bracing centre?
As an official Enovis Fitting Centre, we are part of a select network of private clinics trained specifically in the prescription and fitting of the Enovis range of products. This ensures that you receive expert advice and a professional fitting for maximum safety and comfort.
Knee injuries account for around 1/3 of all injuries associated with skiing with particularly risk to the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), MCL (medial collateral ligament) and meniscus. Whilst bracing is not a substitute for strengthening exercises and rehabilitation it can be useful when returning from injury or preventative if doing a higher-level multidirectional sport such as skiing.
Benefits of bracing:
Increased stability – the lateral movements and sudden deceleration forces involved in skiing can put extra strain on the structures of the knee.
Bracing can assist with proprioception (your body’s awareness of the knees position) which can enhance balance and stability.
Furthermore specialised braces such as DonJoy’s Armour Fource Point have the technology and design to take the strain off the ligaments and reduce the time the knee is in the “at risk” positions during higher level activities.
Increase confidence: having the protection offered by a stability brace can help those on the slopes have the confidence to push their limits with more reassurance leading to a more enjoyable experience
Preventative: bracing can offer a proactive layer of defence for the structures of the knee particularly with more bespoke offloading type braces.
Pain relief: the compression and support offered by braces can help skiers with existing injuries or long-term issues such as arthritis to reduce the overall pressure on knee structures leading to less pain and inflammation. This in turn makes for a more comfortable on slope experience and perhaps a faster recovery from a day on the slopes
Ready to Protect Your Knees?
If you are interested in knee braces or want to ensure your body is ready for the season, we invite you to come into the clinic and speak with our team.
