Pathetically weak right leg - any exercise tips?

[newskimama]

Finally signed up for my first lesson since learning how to get my skis on and not fall getting off the lift back in December. It was extremely helpful and the instructor gave me some tips to get me on my edges - definitely breakthrough stuff. However, I noticed when I was turning to the right, or rather more precisely, after I had made the turn and was trying to get the outside edge of my right ski engaged into the slope, I felt like something in my right leg was just failing me. I would will it to do my bidding, but nothing would happen. When I explained this to the instructor, he told me I shouldn't be trying to muscle anything and it should just be a rolling motion. Well, maybe I was just tired as it was my third afternoon in a row of skiing (after skiing the hardest I ever skied on Friday), but I wasn't trying to muscle anything. Really! But it was like some connection in my leg just wasn't being made.

Any thoughts as to where my weak feeling could have been coming from? And possible exercises to remedy?

Have to admit that other than skiing this winter, I have been a bit of a slug. I play tennis a few times a week, but that is usually at night and therefore involves drinking after, so I don't consider that much real exercise. I run off and on (most off in the winter) and do some yoga and weight training when I am feeling ambitious, so I can find my way around a gym if need be. This winter, however, was not one that included a lot of ambition at the gym

 

[newskimama]

I should add that this was not an issue on the other side - I was able to do it just fine. Just couldn't do it with the right leg! So frustrating....

 

[Jilly]

Well we all have a weaker side, but......

Through the summer try a bike and find an aerobics class that you like and will go to! Biking with the kids will help.

 

[sleddog]

Have you ever been aligned? It sounds to me like you may have either a leg lenth discrepancy or an alignnment issue which makes it hard for you to keep the inside(of the turn ski) working.

 

[bounceswoosh]

I ran into a tree on my third day of skiing a few months ago - after having done the same glade run with no issue over and over again. My legs just wouldn't listen, even though they didn't feel particularly sore. So it could just be tired muscles.

Also, everyone has a strong turn and a weak turn, so maybe you've just found the side that you need to work on more? I agree that visiting a good boot fitter to check alignment is a great idea and could save you a lot of frustration.

And if it really is a muscle thing ... right/left imbalance sound a lot like the kind of tests MAT (Muscle Activation Technique) uses to find muscles that don't fire properly. I have done 6 sessions with a MAT guy and it seems to be helping, although I spoke to someone who said she'd done some MAT work and then later it seemed like the problems came back. (Maybe she just needed a refresher? Dunno.)

 

[newskimama]

Thanks, all! Jilly, I'll have to hunt you down on the day I make it up there. Some day....

 

[vanhoskier]

Have you ever been aligned? It sounds to me like you may have either a leg lenth discrepancy or an alignnment issue which makes it hard for you to keep the inside(of the turn ski) working.

Yup!

The problem you describe - trouble getting one ski up on the outside edge - is a common problem with a lot of women. Many women, because of their wider hips, have knees that are tilted slightly inward. This makes it easy to get on the inside edge of the ski and harder to get on the outside edge. A leg length discrepancy can exacerbate this problem.

One way you can determine if this is an issue for you is to ski on just your right foot. Can you let the ski run flat or does it tend to ride on its inside edge? If it rides on its inside edge you may have an alignment issue or leg length discrepancy (or both).

Go to a good bootfitter and have them check your alignment.

If it makes you feel better, I have this problem with my left leg. I've learned to accommodate for it somewhat, but not enough to completely solve the problem. Leg strengthening helps a bit, too, but with our physiology, sometimes women need extra help (canting of the boots) to allow the ski to run flat.

 

[litterbug]

I'm crooked! I just figured this out on my own by doing the kind of tests vanhoskier mentioned. It was easy: the Brothers DesLauriers's book, Ski the Whole Mountain (full of great ski porn and some excellent descriptions of technique) said to stand on flat ground and put yourself on your right edges (bending the knees); both left edges should come off the ground at the same angle. Then do it on the other side.

I quickly figured out that my right leg is tilted outward: for the right turn the angle on my right ski was less than the left, and for the left it was the opposite. A bootfitter at the area tilted my cuff inward and hoo boy, suddenly I stopped catching my right tip and watch my right ski swoop out from under me!

Long story short--a good instructor might be able to tell whether your problem is technique, gear, or alignment, but a boot fitter can measure you and figure out what to do about it.

 

[B.E.G.]

Definitely get your alignment checked. If there's no alignment issue, it may just be a case of one leg being substantially stronger than the other, in which case, practice doing more and more turns with the weak leg!

My right turns are way better than my left, so I make myself do left turns more. Funny because I am actually right-footed and right-handed but my balance on my left leg is way better and so apparently is turn initiation.

Also, just strengthening your legs may help? I am a big proponent of vinyasa or power yoga

 

[MaineSkiLady]

At the OP's current skiing level, this sounds primarily like a boot-fit/pronation-correction issue and could be at least moderately remedied with even a ready-made insole (i.e., Super Feet). Certainly worth a try, to start. Foot is pronating and not quickly enough returning from that position to get on the outside ski edge. Very common.

 

[newskimama]

Thanks again, Divas, for all the tips. I will try the do-it-yourself approach this Friday to see if I can diagnose anything. After giving my legs a day or two of rest. Will also plan to find a good boot fitter and check the alignment stuff. Sounds like fodder for a new thread.

FWIW, I was trying a rolling ankle exercise this morning in heels to see if I could detect a noticeable difference in strength or length on dry ground. I can certainly get onto the right side here in the office and am looking forward to seeing if I can translate it onto the snow later in the week. After a long tennis match last night (singles gets me every time - didn't used to!), my legs are feeling kind of worn out, so a fresh pair may be what I need to work on the motions.

 

[AliceH]

I know it's a bit late, but I can tell you the exercises my physical therapist had me doing to increase my leg strength enough to ski. These don't require anything more substantial than a stretchy band, an exercise ball, and a balance board (you can use a really thick pillow if you don't want to spend the money on a balance board right away).

Standing side leg lifts:
https://exercise.about.com/od/lowerbodyworkouts/ss/onelegpressball_3.htm

My PT told me that if I didn't have time to do a full round (3 sets of 12x4) on each leg, to do these with my weak leg being the planted leg, which was the opposite of what I would have done. Apparently it provides balance exercise on the leg that's planted. She had me do a set in each direction - do a set, rotate 90 degrees, do a set (the leg is moving in the same direction according to the room, but is moving in a different direction in relation to your body).

Another exercise that I haven't been able to find online is holding one leg out in front of me for a count of ten, then move it to where the hour hand would be at 1:30, then 3:00, then 4:30, then 6:00. Again, if time is limited, do it standing on your weak leg.

On the balance board, try standing on it for 30 seconds. When you can do that, try standing on it for 30 seconds with your eyes closed. When you can do that, try standing on it while someone throws a lightweight ball at you for you to catch.

She also had me walk backwards on a treadmill for a few minutes every session, but I have no idea what that does other than freak me out.

The rest of the exercises are in this pdf - I was told to do the quadriceps set, the straight leg raise (with the toe pointing out at a 45 degree angle), the basic clam (make sure you're rolled far enough forward on this one that you're really on your hipbone and not resting on your butt fat - not that I'm saying your butt is fat, but mine is), top and bottom leg lifts, and fire hydrant.

https://www.permanente.net/homepage/kaiser/pdf/64777.pdf

I have ITB issues too, so I have to do rolling exercises on a foam roller to loosen that up, but unless you know you need to do them I wouldn't bother - it's pretty painful.

My PT said that if I ever fall out of the habit of doing these exercises, to start with the first two, and that's what we started with in PT, along with bike riding for a warmup.

One thing I really noticed - as I took more lessons, as I got better, I rely less on my muscles to ski and more on just pointing my legs in the right direction and rolling my feet. Skiing's not nearly the workout it was at the beginning of the season (and I've only had three and a half lessons this season) but I wouldn't argue that my physical conditioning is better than it was at the beginning of the season.

 

[dawnRwright]

This is great. I also have some issues on my legs actually its on my knees. There are times that I feel pain on my right knee. But great that you guys provided some tips about it. Thanks.

 

[newskimama]

Thanks, all, for all the tips! I have really focused on this issue since the season sort of started. First, I figured out during summer tennis that there is something going on in the leg department, as I keep pulling my calf muscles. One more than the other, but both are susceptible. Working with PT on fixing that one. Lots of fun exercises.

Next, I got the boots worked on a couple of weeks ago and there is a discernable difference. Despite my best intentions, I have not made it to the hard core orthotics guys, but I have built up the inner side of my right heel and I can now get the leg engaged and onto the edge. Not as strongly as my other side (and I now get what some said about having a stronger side - I definitely have a preferred hockey stop side, but I now go out of my way to do it on the weaker side). A lot of the plyometrics training I am doing for the calf situation have helped with other leg strength and I can definitely tell that skiing is a lot less "work" than it was last year.

Things are coming together and I still plan to get to a real bootfitter, but for now, things are going well. The technique pointers I got in my last couple of lessons last season have sunk in and are all making for much easier days out this year! At least on the few I have had!