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Staying in Ski Shape through summer

kiki

Angel Diva
@ilovepugs got an entry level mountain bike! It is black with some hot pink accents and big wheels and many gears. I obviously know way less about bikes than skis lol!
I haven't ridden in 30 yrs and last time i did ride involved a pretty nasty crash, so I was nervous, but took it out for a short ride yesterday and it was fine.
On this last ski day of the season it helped keep my spirits up to imagine bike rides over the summer.
 

alison wong

Angel Diva
I had a discussion with my ski lesson classmate last week about this topic Basically she said, for anyone who is serious about a seasonal sport, one should practice in other venues during off season to stay in shape.

Near where I live, there is an indoor ski slope that you can practice stance, drills, etc. I will be doing this starting next month, in a group lesson. I already found an instructor that I liked very much (I was in her women adult dev class at our local mtn.), she will be teaching indoor skiing, too. The class ratio is 1:3. The shop owner said, things are quite slow and likely i may end up 1:1.

Besides indoor skiing, I probably will resume yoga for balance and core, swimming for cardio and endurance.
 

ilovepugs

Angel Diva
@ilovepugs got an entry level mountain bike! It is black with some hot pink accents and big wheels and many gears. I obviously know way less about bikes than skis lol!
I haven't ridden in 30 yrs and last time i did ride involved a pretty nasty crash, so I was nervous, but took it out for a short ride yesterday and it was fine.
On this last ski day of the season it helped keep my spirits up to imagine bike rides over the summer.

Nice! Black with hot pink sounds stylish to me. Ironically, I have a fear of going downhill fast and it was much more of a mental challenge for me to learn to like snow sports than a physical challenge (but I had to pick something up to get through our rough VT winters). It’s great that you’re giving it a try again and busting through your nervousness! I think that most people can learn most sports with physical conditioning, but our fears and protective instincts can so easily get in the way.
 

ilovepugs

Angel Diva
I had a discussion with my ski lesson classmate last week about this topic Basically she said, for anyone who is serious about a seasonal sport, one should practice in other venues during off season to stay in shape.

Near where I live, there is an indoor ski slope that you can practice stance, drills, etc. I will be doing this starting next month, in a group lesson. I already found an instructor that I liked very much (I was in her women adult dev class at our local mtn.), she will be teaching indoor skiing, too. The class ratio is 1:3. The shop owner said, things are quite slow and likely i may end up 1:1.

Besides indoor skiing, I probably will resume yoga for balance and core, swimming for cardio and endurance.

I’m interested in trying this when I move to the greater DMV (Baltimore) region this summer. Would love to know what you think of it!
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Pilates. Best use of an hour. You get an overall workout plus it is relaxing.
That reminds me of the two videos I found a few years ago with short Pilates routines geared towards ski conditioning. Here is the one with 7 exercises that can be done daily.

Guess how old this Colorado ski instructor was when she made this video? (Watch 2nd video for the answer.) She became a Pilates instructor about 12 years before making the video. She became a ski instructor at at destination resort at age 40.


 

Albertan ski girl

Angel Diva
In the summers, I like to be outside. I love to hike, but only get out once maybe twice a week. The rest of the week in the city, I mostly mountain bike and run. I started running about 2 years ago, and have really come to enjoy it. I try to do it year round, but my limit is about -15 c, so there are definitely some winter days when it gets put aside for the workout dvd indoors :smile: The running does wonders for my endurance when skiing. I also try do a core-focused workout 2 or 3 times a week because I found that really helps with my balance and strength.
 

SkiBam

Angel Diva
I don't usually do "classes" except for yoga, but last week started an Essentrics program. Anybody familiar with it? From an Essentrics website: "Essentrics is based on eccentric strengthening which stretches the muscles then strengthens them in the elongated position creating a lean toned body. Essentrics™ is intended to make the waist thinner, the stomach flatter, the legs leaner and the butt toned, leaving the entire body more flexible and agile."

I'd heard good things about this (and the local instructor who gives the classes here) and very very much enjoyed my first class. Anyway, I'll give it a try for the spring session and see if I indeed get leaner legs and a more toned butt - oh yeah, and thinner waist. Sounds good to me!
 

VickiK

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Eccentric strengthening is also perfect for those quads and hamstrings!
 

Abbi

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Pilates. Best use of an hour. You get an overall workout plus it is relaxing.

And the man himself skied! I wrote and article about Pilates and skiing at some point (which means I don't know when, and relinquished rights to the publisher). It's definitely a good addition to overall fitness.

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newboots

Angel Diva
And the man himself skied! I wrote and article about Pilates and skiing at some point (which means I don't know when, and relinquished rights to the publisher). It's definitely a good addition to overall fitness.

Is he smoking a cigar?

:tongue:
 

newboots

Angel Diva
Back in the day some people thought smoking was healthy. And they advertised cigarettes as such. (How anybody fell for that is beyond me.)

I'm glad Herr Pilates knew how to enjoy himself, though. And skied!
 

Skisailor

Angel Diva
So . . . just a funny little update. Two days ago I went out with a friend on an EASY mountain biking trail in the woods - pretty smooth, very little elevation gain. And in 15 minutes, I was already starting to get tired. Ok, ok . . . it's embarrassing and it's really not good to be this out of shape! I'll work on it this summer. But we couldn't stop laughing about it. She was incredulous . . . . "and you skied all day every day for 149 days this season???!! Say what??? How could you be tired??" Well . . . . . gee @Ursula! Thanks a lot! You've made skiing SO easy that I can do it all day long and barely use any muscle power!! LOL!
 

SallyCat

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
So . . . just a funny little update. Two days ago I went out with a friend on an EASY mountain biking trail in the woods - pretty smooth, very little elevation gain. And in 15 minutes, I was already starting to get tired. Ok, ok . . . it's embarrassing and it's really not good to be this out of shape! I'll work on it this summer. But we couldn't stop laughing about it. She was incredulous . . . . "and you skied all day every day for 149 days this season???!! Say what??? How could you be tired??" Well . . . . . gee @Ursula! Thanks a lot! You've made skiing SO easy that I can do it all day long and barely use any muscle power!! LOL!

Lol! I had a similar experience last night! The trails near me involve a lot of climbing, generally unmitigated by switchbacks. I was so excited to be out on my bike I hustled up a long ascent only to find myself wheezing and exhausted within minutes. I pushed my bike up quite a bit of the top part of the climb, mentally repeating the mantra "walking is exercise."

Most trail systems aimed at a broad swathe of riders seem Catholic to me. You get to the top, but with a lot of intercession. The Ascutney Trails are more Protestant, I think. Straight up. No intermediary features. Sola fides, sola scriptura, sola cardio.
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
Getting back on my road bike...... did 28 miles along the coast with small group on Wednesday..... need new bike gloves, perhaps new bike shorts (ordered some mtn bike like shorts from REI) as not a fan of proper bike shorts.... bike capri length yes, shorts not really even though I know they are more efficient.. Another ride planned for tomorrow morning.
We have fantastic mountain biking here as well so I will do that too!
 

SallyCat

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@santacruz skier Beautiful! Also, whew! That's a LOT of climbing!

From the opposite coast, here's my post-chore evening ride. This is a trail system that I can access literally 500 feet from my front door! I'm starting to wonder if I should train with a heart-rate monitor. It seems to me that mountain biking, especially here, is great high-intensity training (that is, you go flat out for short bursts constantly, which I think is the general idea of HIT? Open to feedback from more experienced Divas!) Anyway, I want to make sure I'm going about it in the most effective way.
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