NB - if you cannot perform a 60second wall-sit. Do not attempt the exercises in this article. If you need help doing that, speak to your trainer. Or contact us!
Alright, Thanks Giving, Leaves falling, weather noticeably colder.... what to do.
"Oh right, Lets get my Ski Legs going"
We hear it every year. But what does it actually mean to be ski-fit and how do we get there?
Lets look at the demands of Skiing. It's fairly simple when you break it down, although it's different from just about any other sport we train for.
The forces you deal with during a ski run are basically squishing you down in to the mountain, with frequent rests when you pop up out of the hole to switch edges, or turn, or jump for those who are so-inclined.
So our legs need to be better at absorbing force - think landing - rather than at taking off - this is a big departure from most athletic development approaches which require you to be able to apply force in to the floor in order to explode off and jump up. Once we're down there and we've put the breaks on, we need to be able to sit in this squat where the max load is until we can overcome gravity and spring back up. Totally Backwards.
"And that's why your legs never feel ready on the first day of ski season"
So can we train for it?
The answer is yes, but it's probably going to burn a little... Tread easily with the following exercises. Start off with once per week 3x20 of each. After 3 weeks, progress to twice per week. Then build up your sets to 4x40 over the next 4 weeks.