Getting in Shape to Ski this Winter

Are you physically ready for skiing? The peaks are snow-capped. Some slopes are white. It’s time to prepare our bodies for the winter ski season. Skiing is different from summer sports. There are few summer sports that prepare you to ski. To ski your best this winter, you will want to practice these sports conditioning basics.

If you are very active, and you have no injuries, then you may start your ski conditioning as few as 4-6 weeks before skiing. Optimally, ski conditioning should start as early as 8 weeks before the season begins.

When training to ski, you should begin by toning your legs. Focus on your cardio exercise for leg-toning. Choose cardio exercises that mimic skiing.

Cross-country ski machines and slide-boards are two good choices for cardio work-outs. Taking aerobics classes also help. Classes make you move in different directions, they focus on legs, and they use cross-training. Skiing is very anaerobic, using brief bursts of power ("hitting the slopes") followed by reduced intensity and rest (chairlift). So, practice anaerobic work-outs, too. Include bursts of intensity throughout your cardio work-outs.

While cardio should be your main focus for toning your legs, you can also strength train. Lunges and squats, for example, are the two best exercises for toning legs, for any sport or just for the sake of creating a hot butt! Lunges are excellent for shaping skiers’ legs. Unless you have a knee injury, you can usually hold heavier dumbbells. Make sure you keep your torso upright, and keep your feet very wide apart from each other. Tuck the abdominals and pelvis in. Form is crucial!

Improve flexibility, loosening legs, hips, and torso. Yoga may be helpful, as it improves your balance and breathing. Your stretching should include rotation. Loosen the torso and hips: make them ready to carve turns.

You can practice natural therapies to get you in shape faster. Receive sports massage. Eat healthier, including lean proteins and vegetables. Use a sauna. And ice sore muscles.

To tone up to ski, you’ll include the three main types of exercise: cardio (aerobic and anaerobic), strength training, and flexibility. Emphasize the legs, and loosen the hips and torso, but work the whole body. As you prepare for each pre-ski work-out, imagine yourself swooshing through fresh Aspen powder!

Nina Schnipper offers fitness training and massage therapy for athletes, weekend warriors, and non-athletes at Higher Spa & Studio, in Basalt, Colorado. Nina is an Official Sports Massage Therapist for ski and synchro-ski teams, climbing competitions, and other competitive athletes throughout the Aspen valley and Colorado Rockies.

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Getting in Shape to Ski this Winter
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