Fit for your ski holiday?

Are you fit enough to cruise the pistes all day?

I have mentioned ski fitness a few times before in this blog, but I thought I would revisit it as the winter season is kicking off right now (in the Northern Hemishpere at least). Let me say first that you do not need to be super fit to enjoy a ski holiday. On the other hand if you are very unfit you will struggle, and you may find yourself not having much fun at all, or even giving up early and resigning yourself to sitting in the hotel with a book. I have talked before about fitness for more advanced skiers, but this time around I want to cover fitness for beginner and intermediate skiers, especially those planning their first or second week's holiday.

Skiing is a sport which can be enjoyed at many levels, but it is still a sport. If your skiing holiday is the one week of exercise you take in a year then you will not get the most out of it. At the least you will be on your feet several hours each day, at a higher altitude than your body is used to. Add in the pressures on your legs, and the fact that you will be relying on muscles that are often under used in everyday life, and it is not surprising that the first day on the slopes really takes it out of a lot of people.

So to get through the days with enough energy left to enjoy the apres ski (which is an important part of the holiday of course) what do you need to do? Basically, for the average recreational skier, you want to have a decent level of aerobic fitness and endurance. Skiing does not have to be strenuous (although it can be if you want it to be) but it does keep you working all day, so if you are happy going out for a long walk in the country for a few hours, for example, you should be happy skiing all day. Any sort of aerobic exercise is going to be good of course; running, cycling, football, tennis and so on. If you don't do any other sports already then start gradually - all the things you will have heard before like walking instead of driving, taking the stairs instead of the lift, maybe joining a gymn or fitness class. The key here is not to do too much too quickly -  try to enjoy getting fitter. It is all too easy to get enthusiastic about getting fit, do everything you can for a couple of weeks, and then get tired and lose motivation. Keep in mind that goal of being able to cruise the slopes effortlessly when you get to your holiday.

You may hear about 'ski exercises' such as adopting a sitting position with your back against a wall so your quads support your weight, or using leg extension machines in the gymn. Ignore any such well meaning advice - these exercises are not effective, and can do more harm than good. If you want to do weights, or ski specific exercises, you should concentrate on legs (not just quads) and core. Squats and lunges are good, as are crunches, the plank and other abdominal exercises. For me though, balance exercises are the most useful. Kneeling on a Swiss ball, standing on a balance board, riding a unicycle or walking a slackline have all been part of my ski training at some time.

Remember though, it is supposed to be about enjoying yourself, so whatever you do, keep it fun.

Ski Fitness - Summary

To round up the series of articles on ski fitness, I want to sumarize the last few posts, but also to discuss the relevance of other sports and activities.

Apologies for the lack of pictures in this longish post - I will post some more soon.

The important muscles for skiing are obviously the leg muscles - the quadriceps group but also the hamstrings, the core muscles of the abdominals and back, and also to an extent the arm muscles.

Three areas of importance are cardivascular (aerobic) endurance, strength and flexibility. For a typical recreational skier wanting to ski all day without getting too tired the first is the most relevant. As the performance level increases strength and flexibility become more important. Flexibility allows the body to make the necessary shapes more easily and is developed through streching programmes - remember to do stretches after other exercises as static stretches before exercise can increase the chance of injury.

Strength training allows the body to effectively manage the forces that build up in high performance skiing. A wide range of muscles come into play, so the best training will use free weights to develop more muscles. To perform at your highest level on skis will require some effort spent on strength and flexibility training.

Exercises such as running, cycling or team sports will develop cardiovascular fitness and help with muscular endurance. Some form of aerobic exercise like this should be used as part of any programme. However they will not build a lot of strength in the skiing muscles (i.e. you can still expect some aches after the first day or two back on skis). Swimming can be good as it develops a wide range of muscles in an impact free way. In fact most sports will have a positive effect on skiing ability. For most people, simply keeping fit and active is the best preparation, accepting the odd first day aches as just a part of skiing. If your skiing holiday is your only exercise for the year (and we see plenty in this category in the ski school) then it will be really hard work, and not as fun as it could be.

A few sessions on an artificial slope in the off season can help keep the skiing muscles in trim, particularly in the run up to the holiday. Those of you who are luccky enough to live near the mountains and ski at weekends probably have far fewer problems than those who do their winter's skiing in one week away.

Ski Fitness - Arms

Continuing the recent theme, I want to move on to the arm and shoulder muscles. Apart from holding and planting the poles, it is not that obvious that the arm muscles have any great importance in skiing. However, if the arms begin to flail when the terrain gets rough, it will be difficult to maintain a balanced position. The arms should be kept forward and strong to help keep the upper body still in a good position. Admittedly there are plenty of good skiers seen skiing with their hands in their pockets, but most would bring their hands up and forward when tackling difficult terrain, particularly at speed.

When caught off balance, an arm will often get flung back. To recover effectively means driving the arm back forward into a strong bablanced position.

Maintaining and regaining a strong arm position is obviously easier with sufficient arm and shoulder strength. There are several approaches to this, with free weights being probably the most effective. Exercises such as bench presses and shoulder presses are good, as well as those exercising several muscles together like push presses or cleans. Various dumbell exercises can also be used, as well as weight machines. Finally, push ups and pull ups require little equipment, and can play a part in any training programme.

As before, I only intend to give suggestions to get you started. It is important to do any free weight exercises correctly and safely so it is best to get advice from a trainer or coach.

Ski Fitness - Core

I want to continue the ski fitness series by moving on to the core muscles. As with most sports, core strength is important in skiing for stability and balance. Having a solid core will enable you to maintain a strong position even when the terrain is trying to throw you off balance. This is especially true in bumps, crud or slush - all the difficult, uneven conditions really.

The core muscles are the abs and back. Various exercises for these go in and out of fashion - sit-ups and crunches are less popular at the moment for example. The current popular exercises are things like the plank, or the many Swiss-ball exercises. Also good are press-up variations (e.g. clapping your hands during press ups).

As with the legs, free weights are good for a range of muscles. Again, squats are a great starting point, and should be included in any weights programme for skiing. In fact, some would say squats are about the only exercise you need.

It really is up to you to find what works - there are many approaches to developing core strength. However, it is not to be ignored if you want to maximise your performance. The next fitness post will move up the body again to the arms.

Ski Fitness - Legs

Continuing the theme of getting fit for skiing over the summer season, I want to start with the legs. The main muscles used in skiing are the quads at the front of the thighs, and the hamstrings at the back. Most people would probably guess that the quads are more important, but in fact if you are correctly balanced the hamstrings will take a large part of the load. If your quads feel seriously tired when skiing you are probably sitting two far back - I will return to this point in the future, but for now I want to concentrate on physical rather than technical training.

Strength and endurance are both important, and the balance depends on the type of skiing you want to do. If you want to ski well all day you will need more endurance, whereas racers or competitive bump skiers for example will obviously need more strength and power over a shorter period of time.

Running, cycling, swimming etc. will all improve general aerobic fitness and endurance, and some form of aerobic training should be included in pretty much any programme. For recreational skiers, a good general level of aeorobic fitness and an efficient skiing technique are all you need to be able to cruise the slopes all day without feeling too tired at the end of the day.

Competitive skiers, and those looking for a higher level of performance will need to look at strength training, i.e. using weights. The leg press machine is a start, but squats are a lot better and work the core muscles as well. Whether using free weights or machines it is important to exercise the hamstrings as well as the quads.

To improve your ability to make explosive movements, plyometric exercises can be useful, especially later in the programme.

Finally, most people will benefit from a stretching programme to improve flexibility. This is quite underrated by many skiers, but being flexible can help as much as being stronger. However, avoid doing static stretches before exercise (e.g. as part of a warm up), as it can make you more prone to injury. Do the stretches after the exercise session.

This post is really just an introduction, with a few pointers to what will help with skiing. You need to know what you are doing when embarking on a weights programme, so find a trainer or coach if necessary, or get advice at your local gymn.

I plan to continue the fitness theme over the next few posts, since there is not a lot of skiing to be done at the moment for most of us.

Skiing Fitness - Which muscles to use?

With it being the off season for skiers in the Northern Hemisphere, it is a good time to look at training over the summer months. I plan to cover some different aspect of this over the next few posts - and yes, there will be more on unicycles.

The image above shows (roughly) the various muscle areas that are important to skiing. The obvious area is the quadriceps, marked in blue. These are the muscles that most people will think of in connection with skiing. However the quads are not the only, nor even the most, important muscles for skiing. The hamstrings, marked in green, are at least as important and perhaps harder to train effectively. Like most sports the core muscles (abs and back, marked in red) are very important. Finally arm strength has a role to play in high performance skiing.

An all round training programme needs the right balance of speed, strength, endurance and aerobic fitness training, and also needs to suit the type of skiing you do. A bumps specialist will have different needs from a ski mountaineer. In either case though, it is better to start now and build up a good base rather than leaving it until the weeks before the next ski trip.

The next post will cover the leg muscles - quads and hamstrings - what we use them for and how to train them.

Exercise for Skiing

The exercise illustrated to the left is often cited as the way to prepare for a skiing holiday. You adopt a sitting position (minus the seat) against a wall and hold it until your thighs cannot take any more. And this achieves? Well, not a lot really. It will make your quads burn a bit and possibly give some small strength boost. However the quadriceps are not the only muscles used in skiing, nor even the most important.

Skiing requires aerobic fitness, flexibility and physical strength. Improving these can help improve your skiing. Concentrating on one muscle will not.

If you want to be able to ski all day then regular aerobic exercise such as running, cycling or swimming is the best plan. Doing one of these three times a week is probably all the training most people need to get the most out of their skiing holiday.

If you want to do more to help your skiing you need to plan a program including both strength and flexibility straining. The strength training should concentrate on core strength and stability as well as all the leg muscles. Squats are ideal for this and should form a significant part of any weights programme for skiing. A programme of stretching should accompany the weight training, but static stretches should not be done before a weights session. The programme can also include plyometrics, interval training etc.

You can obviously take your training as far as you like - it depends what you want to get out of your skiing. World Cup racers train full time whilst one week a year skiers just need a basic level aerobic fitness.