workouts to get in shape for ski season?

[Seldomski]

Bleh, I can't believe people are saying it is pointless to exercise this close to ski season.

You will get some benefit out of physical activity - some minor benefits within hours even. Sure, you may not be in as good of shape had you started earlier, but you will be better off than doing nothing.

This close to skiing, doing ANYTHING is better than nothing. It is probably too close to target anything specific. Cardio would be probably the quickest short term returns. Improving flexibility and strength takes longer, but could be added as well. You can get very quick strength gains by weight training now. You won't really gain muscle in short run, but your brain will learn how to more efficiently use the muscle you already have.

Do some exercise that you enjoy and can turn into a habit. If the idea that it will help your skiing is a motivator, embrace that and use it to keep exercising.

 

[GA49]

Bleh, I can't believe people are saying it is pointless to exercise this close to ski season.

You will get some benefit out of physical activity - some minor benefits within hours even. Sure, you may not be in as good of shape had you started earlier, but you will be better off than doing nothing.

This close to skiing, doing ANYTHING is better than nothing. It is probably too close to target anything specific. Cardio would be probably the quickest short term returns. Improving flexibility and strength takes longer, but could be added as well. You can get very quick strength gains by weight training now. You won't really gain muscle in short run, but your brain will learn how to more efficiently use the muscle you already have.

Do some exercise that you enjoy and can turn into a habit. If the idea that it will help your skiing is a motivator, embrace that and use it to keep exercising.

There is a baseline cardio and strength level people can achieve in a short amount of time as you said. It's important to remember that. There's a log curve that applies to fitness. In 6 weeks you can go from being exhausted in 1 hour to skiing the whole day.

In 6 weeks, and no pre-existing conditions, a person can bulld up from barely running 1/4 mile to 3-5 miles. That's a massive difference in physical fitness. However gains after that would tend to go slower, but that's all you need for the cardiovascular demands of resort skiing IMO.

 

[socalgal]

Yup, its not too late. Just move!

 

[Tom K.]

I mountain bike pretty vigorously. That, combined with a 2 or 3 times weekly dumbell/core/push up workout at home, has done the trick for me for over two decades.

With modern equipment, if you've been skiing most of your life, alpine skiing is SO easy. Like @Dave Marshak said, you don't need to do Linsey's or Jonny's workout.

And he should know, since he's All Time World Champion!

 

[mikes781]

Last year I did zero prep going in to the season and I felt that it took me several weeks to get my legs. With being a weekend warrior the season was half gone. This year I started to hit my Peleton hard 5 to 6 times a week in early September. I guess we’ll see in a few weeks if it makes a difference.

 

[cosmoliu]

Here is a different take on leg blasters. I've used this exercise (without the 25 lb. vest!) with great success in the past. However, this year I have yet to get into the swing of things. They used to have a much more instructional video on the web site, but this is all I could find. Great exercise, with some good science behind why it is particularly good for ski conditioning. I would recommend that you start with some "mini blaster" sets for the first few days. When I first tried these about 5 years ago, I I jumped right into 5 full sets and the next day I thought I might have permanently lamed myself

Leg Blaster - Mountain Tactical Institute

1x Leg Blaster = 20x air squats + 20x in-place lunges (10x each leg) + 20x jumping lunges (10x each leg) + 10x squat jumps “Mini Leg Blaster” = 10x air squats + 10x in-place lunges (5x each leg) + 10x jumping lunges (5x each leg) + 5x Squat Jumps Looking for […]

mtntactical.com

 

[BMC]

Hello

I haven't been very active the last few months and am worried about the upcoming season.

I'm looking for for a work out routine that targets fitness to get ready for ski season.

I recall seeing workouts posted a month or so but now can't remember where, it might have been here or on snow brains but looked a bit and can't find them

anyone know of any they could share links to?

I have to confess I do nothing different to what I do generally. So 2-3 surfs a week, yoga once a week and 1.5km of laps in the pool from time to time. I may do more work with flippers and a kick board in the weeks before skiing but it’s hardly a conscious effort.

My main plan is just to ease in over the first 3 days of the season, rather than go hard from the first bell

 

[tomahawkins]

Tennis, volleyball, bouldering. Way more fun than lifting something up and down, up and down. Or worse, running.

 

[cosmoliu]

Here's an article which includes that video with more instructional context I mentioned above:

Preseason Ski Conditioning | Backcountry.com

Most dryland ski training programs focus on the wrong kind of leg strength. Learn a simple "legblasters" routine that will get you ready for your best ski season yet.

www.backcountry.com

 

[KingGrump]

Maybe I have been going to the wrong place to ski or doing it wrong all these years. They do have gravity where you guys go skiing, right?

Me, I just get suck down the hill by gravity.

 

[Andy Mink]

fitness to get ready for ski season

That ship sailed as of this morning! Ski season started and I'm out of shape. Still a fun day!

 

[Ogg]

That ship sailed as of this morning! Ski season started and I'm out of shape. Still a fun day!

So now you get to do the "try to ski your fat ass into shape" workout that most of us do.

 

[Andy Mink]

So now you get to do the "try to ski your fat ass into shape" workout that most of us do.

The bonus this morning was, while I could get into my ski pants, I didn't need a belt.

 

[wiread]

I know I'm on a forum where everyone over thinks things, it's a blessing and gift . but just move. If you do nothing, go for a walk, climb some stairs, balance on one foot. if all that is easy, go for a jog, grab some weights and do some squats, do 1 legged squat/lunge/deadlift. If that's no problem, find something more dynamic, more explosive, heavier, longer, faster. Use your legs, do some balance. You really need nothing more than you already have, YOU.

If you're not in shape, you're not suddenly going to be. But doing nothing is going to get you no closer and skipping 3 steps to try and achieve it faster is going to set you back a couple. You can't beat physiology, so don't try. Just move where you're at, and then move forward.

 

[TheArchitect]

Does anyone do tibialis anterior training? How about nordic curls for the hamstrings? I've recently come across some videos from the kneesovertoes guy on YT which lead to both TA and NC stuff. My understanding is that the TA exercises can/does build strength for flexing the ankle, which I would think any skier would want. Both exercises are supposed to help minimize knee pain and help stabilize the knee as well.

 

[cantunamunch]

Does anyone do tibialis anterior training?

Yes. But not for alpine skiing.

How about nordic curls for the hamstrings?

Yes. 10+ sets per week.

My understanding is that the TA exercises can/does build strength for flexing the ankle, which I would think any skier would want.

Eh, it's not as simple as that. There's only so much leverage that tiny muscle can have in an alpine ski boot, and most high level boots are well beyond that. This is where the hamstring pull back comes in. If you're using the hamstrings properly, you can use TA for minor pressuring actions that involve lifting the big toe or finnessing the pressure thereon. Of course, if you're doing nordic skating or inline skating on rough terrain, you're pro ably using the TA all day just for aligning the set-down foot with the glide surface.

Please notice that stretching your calf muscles is much more bang for time-to-workout buck when it comes to gaining range of motion, and you'll never train the TA enough to overcome overactive calf muscles.

 

[TheArchitect]

Yes. But not for alpine skiing.



Yes. 10+ sets per week.



Eh, it's not as simple as that. There's only so much leverage that tiny muscle can have in an alpine ski boot, and most high level boots are well beyond that. This is where the hamstring pull back comes in. If you're using the hamstrings properly, you can use TA for minor pressuring actions that involve lifting the big toe or finnessing the pressure thereon. Of course, if you're doing nordic skating or inline skating on rough terrain, you're pro ably using the TA all day just for aligning the set-down foot with the glide surface.

Please notice that stretching your calf muscles is much more bang for time-to-workout buck when it comes to gaining range of motion, and you'll never train the TA enough to overcome overactive calf muscles.

Thanks for the reply. What do you do the TA training for and do you find it effective in strengthening your knee or eliminating any knee pain? I have knee pain off and on and I could see value in using something like a tib bar if only to maybe get rid of the knee pain. I appreciate the thoughts on why it might not be necessary to train it for skiing.

 

[Rod9301]

Does anyone do tibialis anterior training? How about nordic curls for the hamstrings? I've recently come across some videos from the kneesovertoes guy on YT which lead to both TA and NC stuff. My understanding is that the TA exercises can/does build strength for flexing the ankle, which I would think any skier would want. Both exercises are supposed to help minimize knee pain and help stabilize the knee as well.

You don't need the ta muscles, use the hamstrings to pull your feet back to get centered and flex the ankles.

And you do need to strengthen the hamstrings, and curls are a good way to do it.

 

[Rod9301]

Fit one

Thanks for the reply. What do you do the TA training for and do you find it effective in strengthening your knee or eliminating any knee pain? I have knee pain off and on and I could see value in using something like a tib bar if only to maybe get rid of the knee pain. I appreciate the thoughts on why it might not be necessary to train it for skiing.

For knee pain, i would concentrate on quads and hamstrings. The hamstring muscle should be at least 70 percent of the strength of the quad.

The ta doesn't help much for knee pain

 

[cantunamunch]

Thanks for the reply. What do you do the TA training for and do you find it effective in strengthening your knee or eliminating any knee pain?

Skating. If I train TA during ski/bike season, I can wear low cut boots starting April 15 ish. If I don't, I have a choice between wearing shimmed up rec skates or shin pain after 3-4 miles. Read: no fun 'til June.

Doesn't affect my knees so much but YMMV