Chalet Setanta’s ski fitness programme
Posted Saturday 1st December 2018
Snow skiing is one of the reasons many of us can’t wait for winter temperatures. Skiing is not only fun, its great exercise for the entire body, emphasizing endurance, balance, and core strength. However, because most of us can only ski for a few months out of the year, it can be hard on the body the first time you hit the slopes.
Skiing involves so many muscle groups, as well as everything from cardio endurance to core strength, it’s easy to get exhausted early on and put your body at risk for injury.
It pays to prepare your body before you head to the ski slopes during winter. Taking a proactive stance before ski season is the key to getting in shape so that your ski trips are fun, safe, and injury-free.
To avoid injury, excessive soreness and misery, take some time to prepare your body before your trip. If you don’t already have a regular exercise routine, it’s not too late to start one.
Below is step by step instructions for getting in shape for skiing.
1. Build Your Endurance
The best cardio workouts for skiing include running, the stair climber, the elliptical trainer, or any other activity that gets your heart rate up and works your entire body.
2. Build Your Strength
What makes skiing such a great exercise is that it uses all of your muscle groups. However, some muscles are used more than others. Those are the ones you want to concentrate on when it comes to your strength workouts. Skiing involves:
- Quadriceps. Probably the most used muscle in skiing are the muscles of the quads. These muscles hold you in position as you ski and they also provide protection for your knees. Great exercises for the quads include squats and lunges.
- Hamstrings and Glutes. When skiing downhill, you typically hold your body in a flexed position — meaning you’re leaning forward from the hips. This requires great strength from your hamstrings and glutes as they help stabilize your body. Work your hams and glutes with deadlifts, one legged deadlifts, pull throughs, step ups, and hamstring rolls. Inner and Outer Thighs. Your inner thighs work like crazy to keep your skis together. Your outer thighs keep your body stable and help you steer. Work these muscles with side lunges, sliding side lunges, inner thigh leg lifts, inner thigh squeezes, side step squats, and leg lifts.
- Calves. Because your knees are bent as you ski, your calves (specifically the soleus) help you stay upright so you don’t fall over (your ski boots help too). You can work this muscle by doing standing calf raises or machine calf raises.
Now all you need to do is put it all together!
Sample Skiing Workout Routine
Day 1: Elliptical Interval Workout
Day 2: Total Body Ski Workout
Day 3: Sprint Interval Workout
Day 4: Rest or yoga
Day 5: Total Body Ski Workout
Day 6: Cardio-Medley Workout
Day 7: Long, slow endurance workout – walking, jogging, etc.
Now start dreaming of those lovely days on the piste!!!