British professional snowboarder Jenny Jones just had a magical trip to Wales, UK, where she enjoyed one of her favorite non-snow water activities. Jones, 43, shared pictures from her vacation, including ones of her paddleboarding in the ocean, wearing a black bikini and big smile. “🏴 Wales ❤️ Beautiful #nefyn What a trip to finish off the summer holidays. Sun, wind, rain and wobbles… still building back the core muscles… slow and steady on the paddle-board… It's been great fun although I definitely still need to improve 😂. Not long until back on a surfboard AND the winter snowboard workshops are around the corner !!! What trip are you all finishing your summer holidays with? Surf, skate, SUP, beach, mountain, camping?? #SUP,” she captioned the post. Jones is Great Britain’s first ever Winter Olympic medalist on snow—here’s how she trains like the champion she is.
1. Lunges and Squats
Jones recommends working on lunges and squats on anyone who wants to become an exceptional snowboarder. “It’s a great idea to do some pre-trip snow-specific training to get your body ready for the slopes,” she says. “Try exercises such as single leg lunges, squats and hamstring strengthening to build up power in your legs, as well as dynamic and explosive body weight jumping routines and core exercises, including rotational movements. It’s always great to get some lessons if you’re an intermediate or advanced rider who wants to improve. Check out the two snowboard specific workshops I am running in the French Alps this year, alongside a group of handpicked experts who will share the training technique that led to my successful snowboarding career.”
2. Mindfulness For Success
Jones focuses on the mental as well as physical aspect of training and competing. “I think there has been a huge link in all areas of my snowboarding, in freestyle, backcountry riding and in competition,” she says. “How you mentally approach a new trick or a steep, off-piste mountain descent can greatly affect the outcome. In some areas, I have naturally found I enjoy the challenges and at other times I have struggled, for example dealing with fear after injury. I also found it really helpful to understand what motivates me and why, as this, in turn, helps with goal setting. If your approach to something is mentally or physically in line then it is more likely to have positive results. I think I really use visualization techniques I have learnt for snowboarding with surfing, although I also think surfing lends itself to calming the mind and giving you focus as you’re usually surrounded by beautiful scenery, ocean settings and you’re away from all the distractions of technology.”
3. Surfing Queen
Jones says regular surfing has only improved her snowboarding. “[Surfing taught me] the importance of core stability and how your core strength works, and the difference that weight distribution makes,” she says. “In my case it's about how your core helps you to make the movements you want to make on a board, and about how to distribute your weight – what difference does it make if I move back here or if I stay centered. That sort of thing.”
4. Japanese Onsen
Jones highly recommends the hot springs in Japan as the ultimate way to relax and rejuvenate tired muscles. “There are few pleasures in life greater than slipping into an onsen,” she says. “These natural hot spring water pools may be indoor or outdoor, and are the perfect antidote to tired muscles and after a hard day on the hill, this is the fastest route to a state of zen-like calm and bliss. Most onsen are single sex and many don’t allow people with tattoos, but the Niseko Grand Hotel has a wonderful rotenburo – an outdoor hot spring – that welcomes boys, girls and ink. But no cameras!”
5. She’s a Role Model
Jones is proud of representing women in her sport. “I never liked that whole argument of men and women this that and the other, I like the fact our sport is for men and women and we ride together all the time and get involved in checking out the course and doing jumps together in that respect it’s good,” she says. “But as a woman showing that I could ride this big slopestyle course and be technical and land on my feet and show that I’m doing well in a sport that’s an action sport I think the reaction is…well what I was shocked at was the reaction from so many girls that’s probably because it was all in the papers and on all these front covers, how often do you get snowboarding and a girl on the front cover of a newspaper, how cool is that?”
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