Written by Alps2Alps
Whether you’re going solo, with a group of friends or as a family, skiing has a lot to offer.
Feel a rush of exhilaration as you slide down the slopes at breakneck speed, let your hair down at the après-ski, and get in some exercise while you’re at it.
Let’s focus on that last part.
Skiing is a great workout! As a result, it’s worth your while doing some training beforehand. It doesn’t have to be anything too intense, but enough to prepare your body in advance.
Remember – skiing is meant to be enjoyable. Training beforehand avoids any aching body parts potentially putting you out of action and putting a downer on your holiday.
To get you prepared effectively, here’s our guide on how to get your body ski-slope ready.
Keeping Up Your Endurance
It’s important to make sure your endurance is at an optimum level. Skiing will take a lot out of your heart and lungs, and will require a lot of stamina from any participant.
Throw yourself into a cardio program that will increase your heart rate and condition you for lengthy bouts of activity.
Endurance will build up over time, so give yourself a decent time frame between your workouts and when you actually go skiing. It’s not going to happen overnight!
Within your program, you should engage in interval training, which works both your aerobic and anaerobic system. This type of training also forces your body to adapt quickly and efficiently, resulting in greater speed and endurance.
Just remember to warm up before you start!
You Need Your Legs to Ski!
Strength in general is extremely important when it comes to skiing.
All muscle groups tend to be engaged when skiing, but some are definitely used more than others. An obvious one that comes to mind is the lower body
The position you adopt when skiing is usually knees bent and leaning forward.
Your quadriceps, hamstrings, calves and thighs are all keeping you stabilised, so it’s important to train these areas in particular.
Quadriceps: help by keeping your body in its skiing position. Squats, lunges and leg presses will help strengthen these.
Hamstrings: help by keeping your body stabilised. Deadlifts snatches and curls will keep these strong.
Calves: keep you upright. Calf raises, leg presses and jump ropes will keep these in shape.
Thighs: keep your body stable. Lunges, squats and stretches will help these work as well as possible.
Keep Your Upper Body Stabilised
Your upper body muscle groups also do a lot of work to keep the body stabilised while skiing.
You may underrate the use of your arms in skiing itself. Your arms not only need strength to push off and add speed, but they also work to keep your shoulder stabilised and avoid any potential injuries to that part of your body.
Your abs and your back help maintain your position and protect your spine from any potential injury, as a result of your constant leaning forward.
Keeping these key areas strong and working correctly will hugely benefit you when you finally push off onto the slopes for the first time.
Abs: your core helps your back maintain your position, while also protecting your spine. Leg raises, crunches, squats and planks will keep your core strong.
Back: helps maintain your flexed body shape while you ski, and puts in a lot of work to do so. Deadlifts, pulls ups and pull downs will keep your back strong and up to the task.
Arms: helps you push off onto the slopes as well as keep your shoulders stabilised. Working your triceps, alongside some bicep and wrist curls will keep your arms strong and less prone to injury.
Get Training and Hit the Slopes!
Like we said before, change won’t suddenly happen overnight. If you leave a good amount of time before your trip, then you can get your body in good shape for the slopes.
Your body will be taxed during the activity itself, so strengthening it will keep you energised for longer and avoid any injuries.
So, while you get psyched for all the training you’re about to do, book yourself an airport transfer in advance to avoid any unnecessary waiting and put your newly strengthened body to the test!