Now that summer is officially over it is probably time to start turning your attention away from the beaches and on to the slopes!
Snow skiing and Snowboarding are strenuous activities for the body as it puts large amounts of force through your hips, knees and back for prolonged periods of time.
How do I prepare for skiing in the gym?
Here are some exercises to incorporate into your gym program to prevent injury and get your muscles ready for a big ski season!
- Squats – Building up quadriceps and gluteal strength will be key to making your turns more powerful, controlled and also help you feel confident when increasing your speed. We would recommend aiming for higher rep ranges (15-20reps) in order to build some endurance in your leg muscles which will help reduce fatigue while you’re on the slopes.
- Box Jumps – This allows you to work the same muscles as your squat but in a more explosive and ski-specific movement. These will help increase the power and control of your push off around sharp turns. Work on achieving good height and feel free to add a jump off the box into a deep squat to really get those leg muscles working. Try and aim for 10-15reps and be careful not to fall!
- Wall Sits – A good progression from the squats to work on more endurance in the leg muscles. Sit against a wall with your knees bent to 90 degrees and hold. Time may vary and holding of weights can be added but try and build to 1-2 minutes and push into the burning feeling in the quads.
- Speed Skaters – This is a great exercise which works on power, balance, coordination and stability of the hip, knee and ankle. Stand on 1 leg and jump sideways onto your other leg, making sure you stick the landing. Repeating this movement 20-30 times will be a really good workout and you will look like an Olympic Ice Skater!
- 180-360’s – Similar to the Speed Skaters, this challenging exercise ties all the essential components of skiing/boarding into one drill. Start in a half squat position, jump and turn 180 degrees in the air to land facing in the opposite direction. Repeat this exercise turning in the opposite direction and try and complete a full 360 degrees to return to the same spot. Repeat this exercise 10 times and really focus on having a controlled and stable landing.
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