With the nights getting cooler and summer slowly making its exit for another year, our minds naturally start to drift like the snow towards the ski season ahead. The early season prediction on the street is that we are setting up for an El Nino year which we hope will bring a season of leg and lung busting descents in and out of bounds.
Fall is a season of change and a good season to probably hang up the twelve pack of PBR and nightly burgers and brats and start thinking about getting that rear end of yours in gear to start the season out with all the strength you left at Totemoff’s or the Martini Tree on the last day of the season last spring.
Getting the ski season off on the right edge is going to require some work in the gym, but there are a ton of good guides out there to help you increase your flexibility, Balance and coordination, strength, speed and endurance. Wow if we all possessed these traits we would perhaps be skiing in the worlds. While this may sound daunting, do not be discouraged, in a mere nine weeks you can awaken your inner skier and start the season off charging like the bad ass that you are.
In the early part of your training, working on flexibility is a great idea. Establish a stretching program that you can practice daily concentrating on hip, knee, hamstrings, quads and calve’s. Stretching will lubricate your muscles and hopefully prevent against a nasty in season injury. There are many books and web sites about stretching your body, most of us know enough from high school PE that we can develop a basic routine. If you want a more comprehensive stretching routine check out a Yoga class at BODY or Bikram Yoga in Santa Fe. Stretch when you can, stretch often and develop the flexibility your body will require to bend, bounce, jump and fly down the mountain.
As you in-corporate a flexibility program into your day, the next step will be to begin work on the foundation of your skiing, balance. Obviously balance is pretty key and those of us who are challenged this way tend to spend a great deal of time laying in the snow. Balance and flexibility are cornerstone as the foundation for your athletic skiing style and ability. Incorporate some simple balance drills. One legged dips are the easiest and cheapest way to work on balance. If you have a balance ball at home this too will work well to increase your balance on the planks. Other great balance drills are slack-lining and of course log rolling. A slack-line can be set up anywhere there are trees and if you have access to a large log and a body of water a good log roll should suffice. Another great balance and plyometric work out on the cheap is jumping rope. I personally prefer log rolling.
As you gain flexibility and balance it is time to start thinking strength. Your strength work should be vigorous and I would recommend a good solid warm up before you begin a strength training routine. Do Squats, Leg Presses, Leg curls, calve raises, as well as core abdominal and flexibility work. Really wanna burn? Grab a medicine ball and do squats while simultaneously lifting the ball over your head. A few hundred reps of these and you will be well on your way. If you can’t get to a gym there are some good alternatives you can do on the cheap. Bode Miller likes to fill a wheelbarrow with fifty pounds of dirt/rock and push it up the biggest hill in the hood. Head for the local high school bleachers and do dynamic jumping up the benches.
The key to being the king or queen of the hill is rooted in the skiers Speed and endurance. Training for speed and endurance represents a great deal of work building your base for the ski season. The good news is you can get a lot of this work done riding, running, rollerblading, playing basketball, soccer and more.
If your goal is to ski strong all day long then a solid base of aerobic fitness is essential. There has been a great deal of study in the area of aerobic activity and most agree that varying the intensity of your workouts will provide the best results. If you run, then change from low and slow one day to a faster pace the next. Interval training added to the mix will help build your aerobic base.
The components of flexibility, balance and coordination, strength, speed, and endurance should be a part of every skier’s preseason training. Of course the intensity will change based on the skiers goals and ability but the fundamentals will remain the same. If you want to build on your season now and maximize your days on the slopes following some routine based on the above will be very helpful. There are huge and worthwhile benefits to be gained from preseason conditioning, namely: increased athleticism, improved technique, and injury prevention. Strap on your I Pod and get it in gear because before you know it the ski season will be here. You can be here before you know it. See you on the slopes…….
