Question: What are you doing to prepare (physically) for ski season?

[surfsnowgirl]

Great inspiring stories on the workout plans and weight loss. Making me want to have more of a plan in place. I wish I was the type to be able to work out in my living room but I need the structure of a class which is why yoga/pilates seem to be working but I need more but not sure what; maybe spinning?

 

[VickiK]

Added a small group weight training class 3x/week to my routine, and Pilates 1x/wk. It is amazing how much stress relief I get from it. I feel like a nicer person. The missing factor is a true cardio workout to build endurance, for health & for skiing.

 

[Tryin2Ski]

I started running and strength training when ski season ended. Did too much, too quick instead of easing into it and ended up with a few strains the first few months. Got my running gait professionally analyzed and learned a lot about some weaknesses in my body I didn't know I had.

The past few months have been going well fitness-wise so I plan to keep it up all the time this time around. It's hard to get my body back into it once I have stopped a while.

 

[altagirl]

Great inspiring stories on the workout plans and weight loss. Making me want to have more of a plan in place. I wish I was the type to be able to work out in my living room but I need the structure of a class which is why yoga/pilates seem to be working but I need more but not sure what; maybe spinning?

I can exercise a little at home, but I do so much better in a class too. We even have a real spin bike at home, but it's like torture making myself use it for 10 min. Spin class? That's fun! I'm weird.

 

[artistinsuburbia]

Great inspiring stories on the workout plans and weight loss. Making me want to have more of a plan in place. I wish I was the type to be able to work out in my living room but I need the structure of a class which is why yoga/pilates seem to be working but I need more but not sure what; maybe spinning?

If you want to try the Piyo there are live classes in different locales. Not sure where though.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

If you want to try the Piyo there are live classes in different locales. Not sure where though.

Thanks I will do some googling.

 

[segacs]

I was much more active this off-season than I typically am.

I was doing physiotherapy exercises for the first few months of the year to recover from a bad calf strain and hip injury.

I started running with C25K in March for the first time in my life. I could hardly believe it myself -- I'm 35 years old and have never run further than the bus stop before. But, much to my surprise, by September I was able to run 30 minutes without stopping, and I recently ran my first 5k race. I've been running a couple of times a week since the spring.

At the gym, I've gotten somewhat into pilates, and I'm working on some light strength training on and off.

And of course, there's the usual walking and cycling that I do. I did a pretty active trip to China and Central Asia this summer, so I definitely felt the impact that being in better shape had on my ability to enjoy myself.

Here's hoping this will translate into a better ski season this year. It might be strange learning how to find my balance again since, between injury and weight loss, I feel like I'm in a completely different human's body than I was this time last year. It'll be interesting to see what happens my first time out on skis.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Went to the gym last night, did some ab exercises, 30 minutes on the elliptical and a 20 minute run/walk on the treadmill. Pilates tonight and yoga tomorrow night. My goal is to keep this up once ski season starts so I can keep the mojo going. I usually start skiing on the weekends and then during the week just want to chill at night, need to keep up the workouts during the week.

 

[marzNC]

Went to the gym last night, did some ab exercises, 30 minutes on the elliptical and a 20 minute run/walk on the treadmill. Pilates tonight and yoga tomorrow night. My goal is to keep this up once ski season starts so I can keep the mojo going. I usually start skiing on the weekends and then during the week just want to chill at night, need to keep up the workouts during the week.

Are you doing anything like what's in this video? Walking lunges, bunny hops are two of them. Besides some of the yoga positions, what do you do to enhance 1-leg balance?

 

[karrie lou]

We are going to the trampoline park two to three times a week to wall run (like trampoline parkour) and then using the elliptical two to three times a week. The trampolining is so much fun and a great all over body workout.

I've got a few ski specific workouts bookmarked but haven't really started any of them yet. Oh except for the sitting against the wall thing. I think I read it called the skiers throne or something like that.

I'd love to do the jumping over the rope thing she does in the video above, but my ankle instability is pretty full on so I don't want to risk rolling it with only 45 days to go until we get to Colorado. The specialist has said that if I roll because the ligaments are fully ruptured that I risk cracking bone or breaking something if I roll again.

 

[marzNC]

I avoided jumping exercises and most agility exercises for about two years after doing knee rehab. Wasn't a big deal in terms of my skiing. Strengthening hamstrings is something I continue to focus on.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

@marzNC I have not yet started doing exercises like the video yet. I have saved that video on my browser so I can start doing some. I think that's all that's missing from my work out at the moment so want to do some of these exercises.

 

[marzNC]

@marzNC I have not yet started doing exercises like the video yet. I have saved that video on my browser so I can start doing some. I think that's all that's missing from my work out at the moment so want to do some of these exercises.

If you want some other ideas, I've stuck my favorites into a personal blog. It's called Over 50 Fitness for Skiing Adventures but that's because I started skiing more after age 50 and didn't start deliberate ski conditioning until after age 55. A blog was an easier way to keep notes that could easily be shared. I like variety so the more options I have, the more likely I'll do something.

I found the self-evaluation video by Bumps for Boomers to be pretty useful. It's here, together with another fitness "test" that's easy to do at home.

 

[VickiK]

Thank you, @marzNC ! Great idea for a blog. It's like a one-stop shop of resources.

 

[marzNC]

Thank you, @marzNC ! Great idea for a blog. It's like a one-stop shop of resources.

Thanks! My interests related to ski conditioning and fitness range all over the place, so it's nice to be able to have notes about what I find that's in an easy format to share. I go in spurts in terms when I create new entries. I think of it as a reference bookshelf, as opposed to a journal.

 

[marzNC]

I think this has been shared before, but for those who haven't seen it . . .

https://www.skinet.com/ski/galleries/procrastinators-fitness-guide

The SkiNet Procrastinators Fitness Guide includes 5 exercises that can be done at home with relatively little equipment. Includes lunges, calf raises, hamstring lift. Doing all the exercises could be a bit intense for someone who hasn't done any lower body strength training or ski conditioning before. The link to the video is hidden at the very end.

 

[eclaire]

I saw this today and thought I'd share some really good tips:


Exercises to Get You Prepared For the Upcoming Ski Season

1. Visit your local butcher and pay $30 to sit in the walk-in freezer for half an hour. Afterwards, burn two $50 dollar bills to warm up.

2. Soak your gloves and store them in the freezer after every use.

3. Find the nearest ice rink and walk across the ice 20 times in your ski boots carrying two pairs of skis, accessory bag and poles. Pretend you are looking for your car. Sporadically drop things.

4. Place a small but angular pebble in your shoes, line them with crushed ice, and then tighten a C-clamp around your toes.

5. Buy a new pair of gloves and immediately throw one away.

6. Go to McDonald's and insist on paying $14 for a hamburger. Be sure you are in the longest line.

7. Clip a lift ticket to the zipper on your jacket and ride a motorcycle fast enough to make the ticket lacerate your face.

8. Fill a blender with ice, hit the pulse button and let the spray blastyour face. Leave the ice on your face until it melts. Let it drip into your clothes.

9. Dress up in as many clothes as you can and then proceed to take them off because you have to go to the bathroom.

10. Repeat all of the above every Saturday and Sunday until it's time for the real thing!

 

[glamouretta]

Hi !
I have a quick question, is swimming a good preparation for skiing? If so, which strokes are the best?
Thank you!

 

[altagirl]

Are you doing anything like what's in this video? Walking lunges, bunny hops are two of them. Besides some of the yoga positions, what do you do to enhance 1-leg balance?

One of my favorites is tree pose with moving arms - I bring them in and out, up and down with the breath, and to make it harder, then follow my fingertip height with my eyes - looking up at the ceiling and down at the floor. Once that is easy, I close my eyes and the final step is to add in as much of a backbend as I can pull off on one leg. (I think the next step will be with my heel raised...)

Other than yoga poses, I also do ballet and a bunch of moves on an Xerdisc while watching TV. (which is one of these - essentially a cheap and smaller version of a BOSU ball)

Sometimes I just stand one-legged, other times I do lunges or squats or whatever. It's very rarely a focused "workout", but I think when it comes to balance/1-legged balance, it's mainly a matter of repetition and practice, and the more you do the better.

I used to see it all the time when I was teaching yoga - I was teaching at a drug and alcohol rehab canter, and most of my students were very inactive and coming off of detoxing and had no balance at all. Especially some of the older ones had pretty major balance problems. I'd ask them to stand on one leg and get laughs because so many thought it completely impossible. So we'd start with a hand on a chair and the toe of the lifted leg still on the ground. But within a month, people who started there were generally in a real tree pose, balancing on one leg and moving their arms around comfortably. I think it's really remarkable how fast your body re-builds those neural pathways and your balance comes back. BUT, it isn't going to happen if you don't challenge it. And unless you're doing a yoga class with some focus on it or dance or something where it's a functional move... it's easy to forget to practice balance, I think.

I do credit my balance work for making my first day of skiing this season feel just like another day last year. Strength and fitness are great, but in a sport where we're literally sliding around, I think balance is a huge part of feeling comfortable.

 

[altagirl]

Hi !
I have a quick question, is swimming a good preparation for skiing? If so, which strokes are the best?
Thank you!

I've been swimming this year - started about a month or so before ski season started. I'm not quite sure how well that translates to skiing other than it's great overall exercise to gain fitness in a low-impact way. The thing we do in my masters classes that feels like it would translate more than anything is work with a paddle board and fins. She has us do sprint laps that way and wow does that get my legs burning. Sure can't hurt!