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Skiing plateaus and (dys)functional patterns of movement

Elizabeth.I

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Just wanted to share an interesting epiphany that I recently had. Despite skiing a lot (for someone with a full time job), I found I was reaching a plateau in my skiing and it was really annoying. I just couldn't seem to get my body to move in the way I wanted it to move off piste. I had noticed some other problems in general, like feeling tightness and pulling in my right side when I ran and the tendency of my left foot to point outwards when doing a hamstring stretch. Anyway, as someone who is just chronically tense in general, I decided to start a mobility training program to improve my mobility. Boy, after just 1 week of doing the exercises I noticed a huge improvement in my skiing ability. I wasn't getting jostled around as much because all my joints were actually moving as they should be and I wasn't compensating on one side as much. I've also discovered that my left hip joint wasn't moving quite right (limited in some the ranges of motion/weakness of certain muscles). I also suspect I had a bit of a right hip hike as well.

I just wanted to post in case there are other people in my situation who would actually see improvements in their ski ability by simply working on their basic functional patterns of movement!
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
Just wanted to share an interesting epiphany that I recently had. Despite skiing a lot (for someone with a full time job), I found I was reaching a plateau in my skiing and it was really annoying. I just couldn't seem to get my body to move in the way I wanted it to move off piste. I had noticed some other problems in general, like feeling tightness and pulling in my right side when I ran and the tendency of my left foot to point outwards when doing a hamstring stretch. Anyway, as someone who is just chronically tense in general, I decided to start a mobility training program to improve my mobility. Boy, after just 1 week of doing the exercises I noticed a huge improvement in my skiing ability. I wasn't getting jostled around as much because all my joints were actually moving as they should be and I wasn't compensating on one side as much. I've also discovered that my left hip joint wasn't moving quite right (limited in some the ranges of motion/weakness of certain muscles). I also suspect I had a bit of a right hip hike as well.

I just wanted to post in case there are other people in my situation who would actually see improvements in their ski ability by simply working on their basic functional patterns of movement!
Interesting! What are you using for a mobility training program?
 

Elizabeth.I

Ski Diva Extraordinaire

contesstant

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
It's Tom Morrisons Simplistic Mobility Method. I'm really enjoying it! It's full body mobility rather than just focusing on one area, for example the hips

I might need this! My hips are so uneven, and I know it throws me off both while skiing and also while mountain biking.
 

Elizabeth.I

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I might need this! My hips are so uneven, and I know it throws me off both while skiing and also while mountain biking.
I've really been enjoying it! Takes me 35 to 40 mins to do and he has easier versions of the exercises (regressions) to progress you if you can't do the primary exercise from the get go. I still have a couple I need to do regressions for but my abilities are definitely getting better!
 

ceestan

Certified Ski Diva
One thing that has really helped me is hot yoga, specifically Bikram yoga. It's the same 26-pose sequence, which some people find boring, but I find it really helpful for pinpointing where I'm stiff, out of alignment, etc. since you establish a baseline over time of what poses you can/can't do, how deep you can go, where your joints don't budge, etc. You also practice in front of a mirror, so you can see your alignment. The heat helps a lot with flexibility too.
 

Elizabeth.I

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
One thing that has really helped me is hot yoga, specifically Bikram yoga. It's the same 26-pose sequence, which some people find boring, but I find it really helpful for pinpointing where I'm stiff, out of alignment, etc. since you establish a baseline over time of what poses you can/can't do, how deep you can go, where your joints don't budge, etc. You also practice in front of a mirror, so you can see your alignment. The heat helps a lot with flexibility too.
I initially was thinking of trying hot yoga because I've heard how great it is from friends but I'm quite sure I'd die of heat stroke. I have no tolerance for heat at all haha. I'm a true cold weather person! I can't run when it's +29C and above, but I have never not skied- resort/backcountry/XC- due to the cold (and I'm in canada !):laughter:
 

ceestan

Certified Ski Diva
Yea, the heat takes some getting accustomed to! Being well hydrated at the start of class, and trying to find your zen and not fidget too much, can be helpful. In my experience, the classes have gotten friendlier over the years. They aren't as militant as they used to be. For example, they used to tell people not to leave the room, but now my studio lets people go in and out as needed. Definitely it's not for everyone though!
 

Cantabrigienne

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
It's Tom Morrisons Simplistic Mobility Method. I'm really enjoying it! It's full body mobility rather than just focusing on one area, for example the hips

Their social media advertising is really effective - I signed up for SMM back in January although I have yet to implement it properly. (I do most of the warm up but not so many of the actual SMM exercises themselves. I probably need to do the end range training because I'm hypermobile, although not all joints and not quite to the same extent as Jenni!) Glad to hear it's working well for you! That's a motivation for me to start doing it properly to get ready for next season.
 

Elizabeth.I

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Their social media advertising is really effective - I signed up for SMM back in January although I have yet to implement it properly. (I do most of the warm up but not so many of the actual SMM exercises themselves. I probably need to do the end range training because I'm hypermobile, although not all joints and not quite to the same extent as Jenni!) Glad to hear it's working well for you! That's a motivation for me to start doing it properly to get ready for next season.
Getting into the routine is kind of tough. I found the first session was quite long (watching the video and learning the exercises) and the second session to be hard because other than my ski muscles I'm a weakling :laughter:

But after that first bump it has become much easier. Only takes me about 35mins and often, just with my schedule, I can only do 2 times per week but it's still effective!
 

Cantabrigienne

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
other than my ski muscles I'm a weakling :laughter:

But after that first bump it has become much easier. Only takes me about 35mins and often, just with my schedule, I can only do 2 times per week but it's still effective!
That's good to hear - doing the side plank marches was impossible, I'll have to look up the regressions
 

WaterGirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
It's Tom Morrisons Simplistic Mobility Method. I'm really enjoying it! It's full body mobility rather than just focusing on one area, for example the hips

Ok I have never heard anything about the SMM but all I can say is I have been getting relief from several new acute "niggles"* and what has been hidden a chronic "niggle" in my hip/back just by following movements from 4 of his free videos on YouTube. All I can say is wow. I had a few PT sessions and then in frustration tried some of his movements one night and woke up the next day with major relief. Will be looking more into his programs. Thanks @Elizabeth.I for sharing.

*'niggles' was a new vocabulary word for me lol
 

Elizabeth.I

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Ok I have never heard anything about the SMM but all I can say is I have been getting relief from several new acute "niggles"* and what has been hidden a chronic "niggle" in my hip/back just by following movements from 4 of his free videos on YouTube. All I can say is wow. I had a few PT sessions and then in frustration tried some of his movements one night and woke up the next day with major relief. Will be looking more into his programs. Thanks @Elizabeth.I for sharing.

*'niggles' was a new vocabulary word for me lol
You're welcome! It's pretty incredible what the program/free exercises can do for oneself! And he has such a positive outlook. Really encouraging and inspiring!
 

MrsPlow

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
It's Tom Morrisons Simplistic Mobility Method. I'm really enjoying it! It's full body mobility rather than just focusing on one area, for example the hips

I kept the name in my mental to do list for a few months and then finally got around to following up on it at the start of this ski season. I've been doing the hip mobility exercises in the video below pretty much every day for the past 2 or 3 months and it really seems to be helping with lower back and hip discomfort. The exercises are simple and easy enough that there's no excuse not to do them and it makes a great warm up for going skiing. So just wanted to say thanks to @Elizabeth.I for pointing it out!

 

WaterGirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I have also done some of his workouts when I was having issues and it really helped, thanks for the reminder to get back to doing some of the basic stretches...... and Thanks @Elizabeth.I !
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
Their social media advertising is really effective - I signed up for SMM back in January although I have yet to implement it properly. (I do most of the warm up but not so many of the actual SMM exercises themselves. I probably need to do the end range training because I'm hypermobile, although not all joints and not quite to the same extent as Jenni!) Glad to hear it's working well for you! That's a motivation for me to start doing it properly to get ready for next season.

I'm fairly hypermobile too, though it becomes....complicated as I age. I'm hypermobile in the undamaged joints, for the most part, and other areas seem to have overcompensated for that hypermobility with arthritis and scar tissue. And I realized during the pandemic that as much as I love DOING yoga.... I actually am much more pain free when I stop stretching and let things tighten up a bit - relatively speaking anyway, as I can not stretch for months and my palms still go flat to the floor in a forward fold. And then of course imbalances are a whole other issue that are more important to work out. I've found a few things online with movement exercises for hypermobile people and that's probably a lot more useful for me than hot yoga (sadly....)

It's interesting medically too, because if I do the tests for hypermobility I'm basically just borderline at this point because, for instance, the one pinky finger has been broken and is crooked, and when I did my various knee surgeries, my PTs made an effort to prevent me from getting back to the hyperextension that I had pre-surgery. But I was also reading that people who are hypermobile are 5X as likely to have ACL injuries. Which explains my history of knee surgeries pretty well, unfortunately.
 

AJM

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I actually am much more pain free when I stop stretching and let things tighten up a bit -
I'm glad I'm not the only one ! I've always been hypermobile or ligament laxit and I used to love yoga and doing stretching exercises but I've realised that since my accident (knees, ankle etc) along with my displaced vertebrae I'm in more pain if I do them. I now focus on general strength and fitness to get me through and leave the stretching/yoga out of it.
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
I'm glad I'm not the only one ! I've always been hypermobile or ligament laxit and I used to love yoga and doing stretching exercises but I've realised that since my accident (knees, ankle etc) along with my displaced vertebrae I'm in more pain if I do them. I now focus on general strength and fitness to get me through and leave the stretching/yoga out of it.
Yeah, I found a few yoga teachers who get it and teach strength in the poses from an anatomical background and keep an eye out for overstretching, but it's hard to find, in my experience, and my favorite one moved out of state. I can easily overdo stretching my hips and shoulders in particular and it takes a long time to get back to feeling normal if I do. I even realized recently that I was getting shoulder pain triggered by overdoing just the simple act of rolling my shoulders back and down. It's typical "good posture" cues, but I can end up feeling pain because it easily goes too far. Or worse yet, something where I'm trying to stretch one thing but the adjacent hypermobile joints want to give way first, and I can cause pain there (usually days later, and it often feels great in the moment...) before even getting close to stretching the thing that's tight. It's so annoying. Luckily this is probably not an issue for most, just maybe something to keep in mind if you end up with joint pain instead of muscle pain after stretching.

For most people the stretching regimen is probably a really good thing!
 

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