Ski Conditioning
Fitness

by Dion Cantellay

The focus of ski conditioning is to prepare you for the agility and endurance you'll need for the ski season. This is done mainly as a means of avoiding injury, but also to make you into a better skier. Doing this is much simpler than you may think because the training consists of mostly athletic types of exercises. It can be much more fun than other types of training. Usually ski conditioning is reminiscent of the exercises you remember from gym class in school. It is also something that you can do at home if you wish.

 THE EXERCISES: Strength and Balance Phase

 Warm-up for 10 min:            You should always begin training sessions by warming-up. Take ten minutes to walk briskly or do a light jog, nothing strenuous.

 Stretch out:            Stretch each part of your body, pay specific attention to the legs and shoulders. Hold each stretch for 10-30 seconds and do 3 repetitions of each. Make sure to breathe easy and not bounce.

 Wall Sit:                        Put your back flat on a wall. Slowly lower yourself into a

                        sitting position making sure that your knees are bent to a

                        90 degree angle and feet are hip width apart. Start with

                        30 seconds and add 15 seconds each week until you can do

2 minutes non-stop. For an extra challenge try holding weights in your lap.

Walking or                        When lunging keep all your angles at 90 degrees, in the

 Stationary Lunges:                        knees, ankles, and hips. Also keep your knees over the

                        ankles and not inwardly rotated. If you find balance

                        difficult you can do these stationary and hold onto a chair

                        or ski pole to steady yourself For walking lunges do 6 sets

                        of 30-50 foot lengths.

Push-ups:                        You may do these as full body or knee push-ups. Do as

                        many as you can for 2 sets. If you feel as if you can't do

                        another, stop, but stay in the push-up position for an

                        additional 5 -1 0 seconds before relaxing.

THE EXCERCISES:  Agility and Power Phase

Bench Blast:                        Use an exercise bench or a normal staircase. Place one foot

                        on the bench or stair and the other on the floor. Alternate

                        the lead foot quickly. Do this for 3 sets of 30-60 seconds.

Jump Rope:                        Hold handles with elbows pulled close to the waist. Swing

                        the rope by turning the wrist. It is not necessary to jump

                        high for the rope to pass under the feet. Hop laterally from

                        one foot to the other, simulating skiing.

Side Shuffle and:                        This one is intense. Shuffle laterally for ten feet to the right.

Touch Floor:                        Stop and balance on the right foot. Touch the floor with

                        your right hand. Stand up and shuffle back to the left 10

                        feet. Stand on left foot and touch the floor with the left

                        hand. Repeat for 2 minutes, longer if you wish. As you do

                        this focus on quick feet and good balance. Keep you head

                        and shoulders up and facing forward.

THE EXERCISES: Cardio Conditioning

Cardiovascular conditioning is the backbone of any ski and snowboard training pro- gram. Try running, biking, skating, or any type of aerobic exercise that you enjoy. Higher altitudes and the stress of moving equipment make both skiing and snowboarding anaerobic sports. The more aerobically fit you are, and the higher your anaerobic threshold is, the better your body will handle these stresses.

The training for higher altitude sports is much like any other cardiovascular conditioning but with a twist. You will need to do anaerobic intervals during your, normal activity. For instance, take running; as you are running along at a steady pace and you feel like you can go a while, try sprinting for I 00 yards or so. Pick a landmark up ahead and head right for it. When you reach it, slow back down until you return to your normal exercise level. By doing this, your body will be trained to perform better without oxygen.

Definitions:

Aerobic activity: Any exercise done is the presence of oxygen. If your body gets enough oxygen to maintain the activity for a long period of time, it is considered to be aerobic.

Anaerobic: Without oxygen. Sprinting in considered anaerobic because you cannot keep it up for a long period. Your body does not get enough oxygen to maintain that high intensity.

Sets and Reps- A set is a group of repetitions. A repetition (rep.) is a single movement. For example you could do 2 sets of 10 reps.