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Ski Workouts to Improve Your Skiing Skills
The skiing season is fast approaching, so it is time to start getting ready for the demands of the slopes. Skiing is a very demanding pastime, and the fitter you are, the more enjoyment you get out of it. If you ski for one week just once a year, it is essential to get into shape beforehand, with some ski specific training, so that you can maximize your enjoyment while on holiday. But even regular skiers should do relevant training during the off-season period to ensure that they stay in shape, and avoid injury.
With this workout you’ll be able to give Ted Ligety or Finlay Mickel a run for their money!
For ski training you need to focus on three main areas:
- General cardiovascular fitness
- Muscular endurance
- Leg strength
- Flexibility and agility
Ideally you should aim to start your training regime 6 weeks before your holiday, or 8-10 weeks before if you are not generally an active person. Studies have actually shown that a majority of ski holiday accidents happen during the afternoon of the second day. This is generally when unfit, novice skiers find their concentration flagging due to lack of physical conditioning, and sore muscles becoming less responsive.
Skiing Circuit Training:
A simple bodyweight circuit training routine is perfect for skiing. Although weight training can be added later to help build thighs and glutes further, most holiday skiers will benefit greatly from this circuit. Also, this circuit training routine can be done at home with little equipment – there is no need to join a gym to get into shape for a ski holiday!
Warm up before exercising, either with some gentle jogging on the spot, or go for a run. After a brief warmup, start this circuit. The first circuit is a continuation of the warm up, so should be done gently. The subsequent circuits should be done with increasing intensity.
Ski Jumps – The first exercise builds muscular endurance in the major leg muscles, and also helps to strengthen the muscles which support lateral movements. Simply squat down into a ski position, and jump to the left while remaining in the semi-squat. Return to the center, then jump to the right, and return to the center again. These four jumps should be done in quick succession, with a short breather in between. This can be a very intensive exercise if your legs are not in condition, so be warned. Aim to do 100 jumps (25 sets of 4 jumps). Try to avoid bobbing up and down too much, keep your height consistent.
Bodyweight Squats – After the ski jumps your legs are now fully warmed up and ready for squats. When squatting simply keep your back straight, head up, and lower your backside down until your thighs are almost parallel to the floor. Aim to do 25-50 squats in each set.
Lunges – Lunges are simple at first but quickly get harder. Simply step forward as far as possible and straighten the read leg. Ensure that your front knee never extends further out than your toes, as this can cause injury to the knee. Return to standing position and then repeat with other leg. An alternative is to do lunge walks, which are simply done by stepping into the second lunge immediately, rather than stepping back. As with the ski jumps, keep your height consistent. This is a very deceptive exercise. If you are unaccustomed to it, you may ache well in the following days after the first sessions.
Box jumps – For this you need a good solid step box, or traditional gym bench. Simply straddle the box, with a foot each side, then jump up onto the box, and quickly jump back down to the floor. This is a plyometric exercise to help build functional strength in the joints, which really helps to avoid injury. It is also an excellent cardio-muscular endurance exercise. If you do not have a suitable box, then do squat jumps; from a squat position, quickly jump up as high as possible, then return to squat position. Whereas the body weight squats are done steadily and evenly, squat jumps are dynamic and intense.
Squat thrusts – The classic school gym workout. From the plank position (press up position), keeping your hands on the floor, jump your feet forwards close to your hands, then return. These work the glutes, hamstrings and the quads, and also provide a modest upper body workout.
Horse stance – This variation is very unusual to most westerners. The horse stance is a simple but very effective exercise done in kung-fu schools. It is a, isometric exercise. All you have to do is hold a squat position for as long as possible. Just imagine that you are sitting on a stool. Keep your thighs almost parallel to the floor, your back straight (do not lean forward) and try to relax. When your legs start to tire, lift a little, then drop back down into the horse stance. You will develop very powerful legs.
One legged squat – By now you are porbably sick of squatting. So lets try a variation. One leg at a time. Squat as low as possible, and return. Do about 10 reps on each leg. Go slow.
One you have worked through these exercises, repeat the circuit, or move on to the complimentary exercises, before repeating the entire circuit.
Core /Complimentary Training
Although leg trainging is the key to skiing, some core training is important to keep a good musclar balance, and to help provide stability and agility.
Press ups – The classic press up is one of the best ways to strengthen the back and arms. This old school exercise is still done in martial arts clubs and army boot camps the work over, and still gives great results.
Sit ups / crunches - Core training would not be complete without some abdominal exercises. Building your abs give you greater twisting and turning strength, and increased stability, while also supporting the upper body while in prolonged ski-squat positions.
Stretching
Stretching is vital for sports such as skiing, as keeping your joints supple will reduce risk of injury if you fall, twist or turn unexpectedly. The plyometric exercises (ski jumps, jump squats) will help make the joints stronger, stretching will make them more pliable. Basic stretches can be done after each circuit – simple forward bends, groin stretches and calf stretches. Read this article on how to stretch properly to learn more.
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Great exercises — although because I hate the cold, I won’t ski. However, these would be good for other activities too! I was thinking I love to hike, but hate the uphill part, these would help make that a little easier!
Even though I’m not a skier (I’m in Florida), this is a great total body workout. Thanks!