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PRESS RELEASE 3/01/01 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Skiing Tips For Performance, Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation With Vail Ski Instructor & Certified Advanced Rolfer®, Shari MacCallum
Skiing Tips For Performance, Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation With Vail Ski Instructor & Certified Advanced Rolfer®, Shari MacCallum Boulder, CO.....So, you're a weekend warrior but you want to gain more of a competitive advantage, prevent injuries and ski until you are 80 years old. You're not alone. Have you played hard, taken a spill and now want to speed up injury recovery from a ligament pull, torn knee or sore back? Okay, here's what the experts say you can do. "Skiing can be tough on your body", says Vail ski instructor and Certified Advanced Rolfer, Shari MacCallum. "More and more experts and health care practitioners are saying that bodywork is the key to keeping you skiing longer and injury free. Bodywork, like Rolfing, offers both movement education and hands-on manipulation." Rolfing helps the skier to increase performance:
- find their center line for training repetitions or ski runs
- identify bad habits such as hunched shoulders, turned in ankles or tense lower backs
- learn correct posture and movements to replace old habits with new moves
Prevent injuries:
- increase your awareness in how you stand on your skis and stay balanced on terrain variations
- find their edge and make smooth turns
- move in sync with their skis to gain more symmetry and ease
move in sync with their skis to gain more symmetry and ease
- maintain the flexibility and power to control their turns
- learn from the knowledge of what your own body does, instead of imitating others movements
- develop coordination, agility and control over your feet to fine tune your technique
Two-time Olympian, U.S. Nordic Skier, John Bauer says, "Not many athletes know that Rolfing is a way to treat injuries. It addresses the key problem areas all athletes face, like overuse of muscles and injuries." "Rolfing can assist in speeding up injury recovery by reducing pain, stiffness and muscle tension; improving movement and circulation around the joint; and attending to both the injury and any secondary (back, hip or neck) pain that may develop from favoring the injury", says Bryan Devine, the Rolfer for 98 U.S. Paralympic gold medal skier, Sarah Will. Shari MacCallum says, "My self-help tips for both the recreational skier and pro-athlete focus on breath and awareness of your body movement." A Few Exercises To Try:
- Do a moving meditation -- slow down and observe your body and the environment -- the slope, the weather, and other skiers on the slope
- Notice your senses. Smell, taste, touch, listen, and see. Explore your environment.
- Try to get a felt sense of what it feels like to go through a turn.
The basics for new skiers and Shari's top tips for injury prevention:
- Prep for your ski trip. Plan to start a weekly exercise regime at least a month in advance.
- Be sure to warm up, watch your diet, cross train, and do some Rolfing and yoga.
- Athletes need to focus on motivation, good instruction and practice. You have to want to develop your self, and over time, practice the sport repeatedly.
MacCallum's key training tips for the skier:
- "My training approach focuses on motivation, good instruction and practice. Athletes also need to observe their movements, attitude and habits. Train with a friend. If you're having fun you will be more committed to do it! Keep at it and your performance will improve."
- "Skiing is very dynamic. As you articulate through every phase of the turn, like a well-trained horse that takes off with every step, you increase your learning curve, learn to complete your turns, and have a better edge."
Olympic MD, Dr. Karlis Ullis, at the Sports Medicine and Anti-Aging Medical Group in Santa Monica, Ca. says, "Athletes always need help with chronic injuries, muscular strains and overuse. The Olympic athletes wouldn't have as many injuries if they had appropriate soft tissue therapy. Rolfing is valuable for athletes in high level competition to address the build up of scar tissue and disarrangement of myofascial tissue that occurs from training, competition and injury."
Health Insurance Industry Awakens to the Demand for Coverage of Integrative Medicine: - Newsweek and the Wall St. Journal report that insurance coverage for Rolfing is now available. Associated Press (11/98) reports, "Consumers are using more alternative medical treatments than ever before. A recent Landmark Healthcare public opinion poll shows that 42 percent of adults used some form of alternative care in 1997. Led by innovative health care firms such as Oxford Health Plans and Kaiser Permanente, thousands of alternative health practitioners...are now providing alternative health care through insurance plans."
