Getting In Shape for 2016/17

[W8N2SKI]

This morning I signed up for my first ski club trip of the approaching season. This afternoon I started training. I've been "maintaining" this spring and summer but now I'm ready for some more specific ski-targeted workouts.

My background is competitive swimming, so I'll be doing that, plus weight training. My problem is that my dry land regimen has always been aimed at swimming, so I'm doubtless neglecting or under-emphasizing some key things that would be beneficial for skiing. None of the trainers at my gym ski, unfortunately, so they haven't been able to help all that much.

What do you all do in the off-season to start gearing up? Do you focus on specific free weight exercises or specific machines? Are there any non-weight related exercises you recommend (e.g., jumping or lateral movement stuff that will have other gym patrons avoiding eye contact)?

Any and all suggestions will be appreciated (and attempted - within reason )

Shoot!! Newbie move!! I just noticed that there is a forum section for this topic. If someone in the know would like to move this post, that would be great w/me. Apologies.

 

[bounceswoosh]

None of the trainers at my gym ski, unfortunately, so they haven't been able to help all that much.

Hrmm. This is a bit of a copout. I'm pretty sure my trainer is in the top tiny percent of awesome trainers, but a trainer should be able to do some research and understand what's involved. Mine doesn't ski, but there's tons of literature out there on skiing and workouts.

But, speaking of, I asked him what was different between his high intensity interval workouts and his ski fitness classes. "Pretty much nothing," he told me. "It just gets people to the class." His classes already involve a lot of lateral moves, explosive moves, etc.

According to the doc who just repaired my ACL, ski fitness classes are largely about strengthening your legs so that your knees are more protected. Of course he's biased ...

Box jumps are pretty great for skiing. This is what I have in mind: https://www.skinet.com/ski/galleries/crossfit-skiers-week-four-box-jumps

But these lateral ones make sense, too: https://www.onthesnow.com/news/a/107245/ski-exercises--lateral-box-jumps

Not fitness per se, but I found that lift-serviced mountain biking helped me get more aggressive and take a more direct line when skiing. The two sports feed each other.

Shoot!! Newbie move!! I just noticed that there is a forum section for this topic. If someone in the know would like to move this post, that would be great w/me. Apologies.

Do you want it moved to "other off season sports"?

 

[W8N2SKI]

It doesn't matter to me whether/where it is moved. I don't know the policies on this site yet, so if those of you in the know think it is more appropriate elsewhere, that is fine by me. If it is ok to live here, then that is fine too. I just volunteered it because I'm on a couple of horsie sites and the folks there get very "particular" about where posts are placed.

Thanx!

 

[W8N2SKI]

I think you are correct re the "copout," Bounceswoosh. I'm rather new at this gym and I don't know the staff yet. The trainers are all 30 years younger than me and either don't take me seriously or aren't interested in doing the research. That may change if I go the personal training route on a more consistent basis. We'll see. I'm sure there is a lot of good info online and in my ski mags, but I like getting first hand input from folks re what they think works/doesn't work. I know from my swimming training that there are some machines and free weight exercises that are actually detrimental. I imagine that the same holds true for skiing, but I don't know.

I'd love to try mountain biking. I used to do triathlon but the long training rides got to be too uncomfortable (arthritis in the cervical spine). Even without aerobars, the position on my road bike was too taxing. Maybe the more upright position on a mountain bike would be better. If this rotten heat and humidity ever breaks I may rent/borrow a bike and check it out. This is the long way of saying that I refuse to get old.

 

[marzNC]

Hello there, @W8N2SKI ! Always nice to "meet" someone from the DC area. Do you ski in the Mid-Atlantic? My home mountain is Massanutten even though I live in central NC.

As for ski conditioning, I've been learning all sorts of ways to get into better shape for skiing in recent years. Started when I was rehabbing a knee (not a skiing injury) when I was already over 50. Kept it up while I was also taking lessons to become a much better skier off-piste. I put my favorite exercises into a personal blog. I'm a lot stronger than 5-10 years ago.

https://over50skifitness.blogspot.com

The labels most related to skiing are ski conditioning, core strength, and balance.

Last month I found some videos that I like because the sequence doesn't take that long to complete. Covers pre-season prep, prep for a ski day, recovery after a ski day.

https://over50skifitness.blogspot.com/2016/06/short-workouts-for-pre-season-before.html

 

[bounceswoosh]

The trainers are all 30 years younger than me and either don't take me seriously or aren't interested in doing the research.

Unfortunate. I gather you're probably a tad older than me, but my trainer is in his ... 40s, I believe, and he also coaches an extremely successful rock climbing youth team, and has I believe a master's in a related field, so maybe he sets an unreasonable bar. And he routinely trains people much older than him. He's amazing. But so many trainers at gyms have a certificate, and that's about it. I have unreasonably high standards due to my experiences with him. But you know, if I'm going to hire someone to push my physical limits, I need to implicitly trust that they have the knowledge and the temperament to NOT get me hurt. I hurt myself enough! And to know how to work with my various accumulated injuries.

I'd love to try mountain biking. I used to do triathlon but the long training rides got to be too uncomfortable (arthritis in the cervical spine). Even without aerobars, the position on my road bike was too taxing. Maybe the more upright position on a mountain bike would be better. If this rotten heat and humidity ever breaks I may rent/borrow a bike and check it out. This is the long way of saying that I refuse to get old.

It really might make a big difference. I can't ride a road bike - only a few minutes, and my knees hurt. I've tried everything. Multiple fits by highly recommended people, different types of pedals, whatever. But on a mountain bike, my knees don't hurt (except that one accidental 20 mile technical ride when we got lost ...) I think it's because I shift positions enough that I don't end up doing the same pedal stroke a million times in a row.

 

[marzNC]

I think you are correct re the "copout," Bounceswoosh. I'm rather new at this gym and I don't know the staff yet. The trainers are all 30 years younger than me and either don't take me seriously or aren't interested in doing the research. That may change if I go the personal training route on a more consistent basis. We'll see. I'm sure there is a lot of good info online and in my ski mags, but I like getting first hand input from folks re what they think works/doesn't work. I know from my swimming training that there are some machines and free weight exercises that are actually detrimental. I imagine that the same holds true for skiing, but I don't know.

I was lucky. The personal trainer who I was paired with was an older woman who likes doing research. She was in her second career, having been a teacher for a long time before retiring. I continue to work with her at her home studio. She introduced me to the TRX.

 

[bounceswoosh]

I was lucky. The personal trainer who I was paired with was an older woman who likes doing research. She was in her second career, having been a teacher for a long time before retiring. I continue to work with her at her home studio. She introduced me to the TRX.

I think your and my "luck" stories suggest that it's worth it to shop around for a trainer, even if it means switching gyms. I just don't know how to easily accomplish the shopping part.

 

[geargrrl]

Really, you should be training year round. It keeps you stronger for everything else you want to do.

I am so tired of "trainers" that don't know very much. Did your person get an 8 hour course certificate? I had a "trainer" tell me once that the only solution for an overtight IT band was to surgically sever it. WTF?

Like Monique said, balance, stability, plyometric movement, lateral movement, -- add in body weight squats, all different kinds of lunges, don't forget core. Upper body is important too. Any good multi-discipline class that follows the (newer) "functional fitness" ideas should be fine.

 

[Jilly]

Like this guys page on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/Frédérik-Lépine-Kinésiologue-et-Professionnel-de-ski-536929716359899/

He is a CSIA IV ski instructor here in Canada and professional trainer with university degrees. I send some of his stuff to my trainer, who doesn't ski either, and we take what will work for me. I'm not a youngster either. And I have knees that are full of arthritis.

I have to agree with GG...I train all year round now. I train to get into shape to ski, not ski myself into shape.

 

[bounceswoosh]

Like Monique said, balance, stability, plyometric movement, lateral movement

That's giving me a lot of credit for the few words I said ... but I'll take it ;-) Yes. Functional Fitness. My trainer's group class involves multiple rows of mats, 3 mats per row with an exercise on each, and you spend maybe 20 seconds on each and get 10 seconds to keep going, and you cycle through the row three times, then get a minute or two to transition to the next row. Something like that. Exercises like kettlebell swings (I miss those so much right now!), box jumps, Mountain Climber, all sorts of stuff I can maybe picture but not describe. The thing is that I only do the class when Chris teaches it, because he knows my weaknesses and can give me alternatives. I tend to get hyped up with adrenaline and miss the fact that I'm pushing my shoulder too hard, for example.

From experience, I think weight training is a phenomenal base on which to layer ski fitness that is more breath-intensive. @W8N2SKI - what weight exercises do you do?

 

[ski diva]

Not to disparage staying in shape for skiing -- I work out all year long -- but the better your technique, the more effortless your skiing (right, @Skisailor ?). So if you find you're expending a lot of effort skiing, you might want to invest in lessons when ski season rolls around.

 

[W8N2SKI]

From experience, I think weight training is a phenomenal base on which to layer ski fitness that is more breath-intensive. @W8N2SKI - what weight exercises do you do?

I focus a lot on arm/shoulder and core. Lateral shoulder raises, upright rows, curl & press, medicine ball moves like overhead tricep throw, slams, rotary throws, side thrusts. I do a lot of lat pull-downs and spend a good amount of time on the rower when I'm not in the water.

I love leg press and squats, so I do a lot of those (I like to close my office door and do squats, wall sits and lunges while I'm on conference calls - I'm sure I sound winded at times. If they only knew ). I can definitely see the utility of these moves to skiing, but I think I need to do more work on opposing muscle groups (did I mention that I hate hamstring work?). I also want to work on increasing explosive exercises like box jumps, though I'd like to find something a bit less jarring on the knees. I may just try incorporating a jump in combination w/each squat.

The next time I work w/one of the trainers I'll ask about the explosive moves. There is a large group of trainers at the gym - I'm going to keep working my way through them until I find a good fit. My only issue is time - I like to do my intense workouts early in the a.m., and not all the good trainers are available at 5 in the morning.

Thanx Jilly and MarzNC -- I'll check out those links!

 

[altagirl]

I think your and my "luck" stories suggest that it's worth it to shop around for a trainer, even if it means switching gyms. I just don't know how to easily accomplish the shopping part.

My thought is "good luck" finding a decent trainer at a gym - I guess I've never seen one. All the ones I've run into are of the "I took a couple day class and now I have this certificate!" types that I barely trust to tell me how a piece of gym equipment works, let alone on form, etc.

Here - if I wanted ski specific training, I'd go to one of the places here that employs physical therapists and does ski season prep classes. Something with actual well educated trainers. The one I'm thinking of here is like a physical therapy office that also offers pilates and functional movement and sports specific training classes.

 

[geargrrl]

Sounds like where I work out!

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I've been thinking about getting a trainer at my gym but then I just haven't yet. Likely because my couple interactions with them hasn't given me the greatest impression. I think they are the I took a class and have this certificate type. Plus they don't seem very um engaged when they are working with you as if they are spacing out thinking about what they are going to buy at the grocery store later.

I've been doing pilates mat and yoga for the past year and I found that getting more core in shape has helped me tremendously with skiing but just also in general.

 

[geargrrl]

SkiDiva is right about efficiency.

Find out what level of certification they have.
There's always a BS/MS in Exercise Science.
The NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Assoc) has two certifications to look for, CSCS and NSCA. I work out at a top pt sports training facility and this is what all our trainers have.

It doesn't have to be expensive or one on one, either. DH and I take a functional fitness class that's very reasonable. We go twice a week. It's a really small group and they know our sports and issues well.

Keep in mind one can also get a "personal trainer certification" for $69 online.....

 

[marzNC]

I focus a lot on arm/shoulder and core. Lateral shoulder raises, upright rows, curl & press, medicine ball moves like overhead tricep throw, slams, rotary throws, side thrusts. I do a lot of lat pull-downs and spend a good amount of time on the rower when I'm not in the water.

I love leg press and squats, so I do a lot of those (I like to close my office door and do squats, wall sits and lunges while I'm on conference calls - I'm sure I sound winded at times. If they only knew ). I can definitely see the utility of these moves to skiing, but I think I need to do more work on opposing muscle groups (did I mention that I hate hamstring work?). I also want to work on increasing explosive exercises like box jumps, though I'd like to find something a bit less jarring on the knees. I may just try incorporating a jump in combination w/each squat.

The next time I work w/one of the trainers I'll ask about the explosive moves. There is a large group of trainers at the gym - I'm going to keep working my way through them until I find a good fit. My only issue is time - I like to do my intense workouts early in the a.m., and not all the good trainers are available at 5 in the morning.

Thanx Jilly and MarzNC -- I'll check out those links!

For what it's worth, I avoided any jumping exercises on hard surfaces for a few years after knee rehab. Found that they weren't really that necessary. Added a little bit of agility after a while, but not something I focus on much. Never was interested in running for exercise.

This is one of the first videos I found when I was in the midst of knee rehab. I was introduced to the BOSU early on during formal physical therapy.

Here's another short set of exercises that are easy to do anywhere.

 

[Gloria]

I focus a lot on arm/shoulder and core. Lateral shoulder raises, upright rows, curl & press, medicine ball moves like overhead tricep throw, slams, rotary throws, side thrusts. I do a lot of lat pull-downs and spend a good amount of time on the rower when I'm not in the water.

I love leg press and squats, so I do a lot of those (I like to close my office door and do squats, wall sits and lunges while I'm on conference calls - I'm sure I sound winded at times. If they only knew ). I can definitely see the utility of these moves to skiing, but I think I need to do more work on opposing muscle groups (did I mention that I hate hamstring work?). I also want to work on increasing explosive exercises like box jumps, though I'd like to find something a bit less jarring on the knees. I may just try incorporating a jump in combination w/each squat.

The next time I work w/one of the trainers I'll ask about the explosive moves. There is a large group of trainers at the gym - I'm going to keep working my way through them until I find a good fit. My only issue is time - I like to do my intense workouts early in the a.m., and not all the good trainers are available at 5 in the morning.

Thanx Jilly and MarzNC -- I'll check out those links!

A good power ( explosive move ) that is less jarring than box jumps are wall balls - not the same as tricep throw. They are really good for skiing as you catch the ball in an eccentric phase similiar to skiing.

 

[Jilly]

I have a personal trainer that I've been working with since my knee surgery last year. The gym is mostly personal training, but they do have some classes. She is not a skier, but I send her Fred's video's every so often and we pick some stuff out of them, or modify it so I can do it. Deep squats are not allowed for me. We do a lot of core and butt stuff. I'm getting her to add in more leg stuff besides bike or elliptical. No to jumping exercises yet. And we do a lot of Bocsu ball stuff for propitiation and balance. Love Tanya and the way she has gotten me back in business. She older and very professional.