Ski Jasper Alberta News

Staying in Shape for the Ski Season

The lifts are not running yet, but for those who want to stay in snowsport shape, the training season never ends.

During the off-season it’s important to maintain cardiovascular health. Running, biking, and swimming are all helpful with maintaining a good overall condition.

As the season gets closer, you will need to incorporate more snowsport specific activities into your workout.

“Skiing and snowboarding are anaerobic activities which means that they require short, intense bursts of energy interspersed with rest periods,” said Dave Merriam, head coach of the Professional Ski Instructors Association and American Association of Snowboard Instructors.

When running or participating in other cardio-building exercises, incorporate two-minute sprints followed by short rest periods. This variety of exertion mimics that of skiing or boarding.

A weekly snowsport training program should include three to six days of aerobic training with anaerobic training incorporated into two to three of those days. It’s important to take one day a week off to allow your body to recover. Begin incorporating anaerobic training into your workouts at least six weeks before the start of the ski season (or your ski trip as the case may be).

Conditioning shouldn’t stop at the heart and lungs.

Hit the slopes with only aerobic training and soon muscles you forgot you had will be reintroducing themselves.

Snowsports require “sports-specific” training, according to the American Council on Exercise’s Chief Exercise Physiologist Richard Cotton, because skiing and snowboarding are sports that rely heavily on skill-related fitness.

Cotton suggests incorporating the following exercises into a pre-season routine:

- Wall-sits: Sitting against the wall builds up the lower-body isometric strength needed for skiing and snowboarding.

- Squats and Lunges: These exercises help build lower-body strength for skiing or boarding tough terrain like moguls. Dr. Wright suggests doing one-third squats until the knee is at 30 to 40 degrees. Deeper bends increase force across the knee.

- Crunches: Working your abdominals is essential for creating a solid “core” for balance and agility.

- Plyometric Movements: training your body to withstand and absorb impact associated with skiing is also important. Hopping from side to side will develop muscle power and strength as well as improve agility.

Merriam suggests weight training to strengthen key muscles, including the ones “you can’t see in the mirror at the gym.”

“You need to train your lower back and your hamstrings to balance out opposing muscles like the quads and abdominals,” he explains.

Free weights, rather than weight machines, are optimal for slope-related training, he said.

“Free weight will give you more for your time spent lifting,” he said. “Free weights force balance and range of motion into the equation that resembles skiing and boarding.”

Flexibility is the third and final piece in training for the ski season. Activities like yoga and Pilates help improve flexibility.

Staying in shape for the slopes is infinitely easier than trying to start from scratch when the snow starts to fly.

“Think of your time spent training as more time that you’ll be able to spend on the slopes,” Cotton said. “Conditioning is time you put in the bank during the summer to withdraw when the snow season starts.”