Presenter: Paula Terra Navarro
We started with a warm-up run in which we brought awareness to our breathing and then concentrated on the timing of our breath while riding. Are you aware of your breathing when snowboarding? Maybe you can think about this next time you’re out riding.
We then did an exercise to identify when we felt our strongest on inhale, or exhale. The exercise entailed breathing normally for three breaths and then on the inhale holding your thumb and index together as tightly as possible while a partner tried to pull apart your fingers. This was then repeated on exhale. We then took the results and did a variety of exercises to transmit how breathing can affect the way we perform our turns, from the most elemental technique to the most advanced.
We experimented inhaling and exhaling on the landing of an ollie, on the push while skating, at the end of short and long turns, over the rollers in the boardercross course, and then a high intensity zipper line down the bumps. I quickly learned that my preference and when I felt strongest was exhaling at the end of the turn through the completion phase. It is important to note that there were other attendees that were the opposite.
Using effective breathing helps bring oxygen to the brain, relax the rider, and a technique utilised to make us stronger and more powerful within our riding.
Written by Claire Dooney