Training: Get Your Snow Legs

Fuel Your Body
It doesn’t matter how catchy the slogans and jingles are for the fast food commercials- that is not the grub you want to grind if you plan to board at your highest potential all day (and the following day!) Your best bet is to hit the produce section at your local grocery store. Eating fresh foods such as fruits, veggies, herbs and whole grains will make you feel better than you ever imagined. Taking multivitamins daily, as well as calcium, will help you maintain your strength and endurance throughout the day. And of course, don’t forget to hydrate! Strap on a Camelbak to take a couple liters of H2O on the run with you.

Cross- Train
While nothing can compare to time on the slopes with a board strapped to your feet, don’t think that you can’t prepare elsewhere. Running, biking, and strength training in the gym will get your build muscle and strengthen your ankles and knees for long hours strapped in and digging yourself out of knee high (or even shoulder high!) pow. Also, keep a board under your feet and get your style back with surfing and skateboarding, depending on what you have access to. Leading into the next section, check out purchasing an Indo Board to keep your steeze while working on balance.

Get Balanced
No matter what crazy shenanigans you pull in the air, if you can’t stick the landing it’s no bueno. Balance is imperative in snowboarding and you can work on yours year-round. Yoga and Pilates are great ways to work on your balance while stretching your muscles. Yoga is a traditional physical and mental discipline originating in India, while Pilates was developed by Joseph Pilates in Germany, who believed his method uses the mind to control the muscles. Explore the Yoga and Pilates studios near you, also consider buying a DVD for workouts at home, or ask if free group classes are available if you have a gym membership.

“Restlessness is discontent — and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man — and I will show you a failure.” –Thomas Edison

Get in the Right Mindset
Arguably, you need as much mental strength to conquer the mountain, as you need physical strength. Sounds like advice a coach would crouch down and whisper into a grommet’s ear in a Disney movie before they beat the odds and took the trophy- maybe. But if Chanelle Sladics practices mental training, you’re not above it. Reigning from California, Sladics is a top finisher in slopestyle events across the board, including the Dew Tour, Winter X-Games and Queen of the Mountain. To get in the right mindset before taking on the world’s best she works with the Anthony Robbins coaching program for mental coaching and preparation. Robbins’ coaching focuses on achieving the right beliefs, focus, language and physiology to achieve lasting results. If professional coaching is out of your budget, try meditation. “I meditate daily,” says Leanne Pelosi, “I think mostly of snowboarding and what tricks I want to do and visualize them. Once I start, it’s easy to let my mind wander and because it’s fun, and then I am able to take it to the mountain and the tricks don’t intimidate me as much.”

Start Small and Work Your Way Up
Rome wasn’t built in a day, missy. When learning a new trick, warm up by breaking down the elements of the trick and landing smaller, related versions. For instance, if you wanted to learn a switch backside 540, first practice a switch backside 180, to work on the rotation. Once you have it dialed, move on to a frontside 360 to stick the landing. After feeling comfortable with both, combine them to attempt the switch backside 540. The key is to make the trick feel natural by having confidence in your speed and form- if you know you know it, all that’s left is to go for it!