Ski Fitness? Endurance, power, or strength?
Okay, so about 8 weeks to go to strap on the boards and it’s just about the right time to think about some slope specific fitness. SnoCountry is going to help get you there with our free 8 week training program. Of course we all know that skiing is the best fitness for skiing, but unless you can trek off to Argentina or Chile, you’ll just have to hit the gym like the rest of us. So is it endurance, power, or strength? Which of these variables should be my main focus? Well, you guessed it, all three are important. And that’s not me being diplomatic. However, while all three are important it is how good a skier you are that will determine how much focus you put on each component. And it’s not only how much focus you put on each component but also the exercises (or mode) you select to develop your endurance, power or strength. If you think about the motion of skiing you’ll notice that after a few minutes on the cruisers you’re legs start to burn or after a few bump runs you get the same feeling. This is where you need a little more endurance. The quick transitions in your turns requires power and control and this is especially true in the steeper terrains, and even more important when off piste as your turns often have to be last minute and very, very, quick. Finally, strength keeps it all together, holding the turn or an edge and keeping your upper body in good position and not plummeting down the hill requires total body strength. At this time of the year you have enough time to take care of these pieces to prime you for ski-season.
A primary rule of fitness is to pick an activity (or activities) that mimics as closely the muscle movements of your sport. For example, biking is better than running for alpine skiers for developing your aerobic fitness. The Austrians have long been known for their use of mountain biking as a primary cross-training mode. It helps not only with aerobic fitness but also balance and coordination. Skiing presents an additional challenge in that it utilizes a lot of eccentric muscle actions and we do not routinely perform these types of actions even if we work out. Therefore, when we create our exercises we have to be conscious of performing exercises that give us some of these movement patterns or else we’ll be really sore after the first few days on the slopes. In the suggested program that we have put together here we have deliberately put in some of these exercises. So, we’ll now look at each component more specifically and provide some examples of ways to develop that fitness variable.
Let’s look at endurance first. The average Joe may well argue that skiing is an anaerobic sport and therefore the aerobic component is not that important. Well, I beg to differ. A downhill ski run may last anywhere from one minute to twenty minutes. In the exercise science field the basic rule of thumb is any continuous exercise lasting over 90 seconds is predominantly aerobic. “Ah,” you say, “but I am a social and recreational skier and like to stop and chat every minute or so and that’s when I get my rest.” But did you know that “all recovery is aerobic?” Therefore, as the day goes on you will find it harder and harder to recover and you will take breaks more frequently. As you tire the risk for injury increases quite dramatically and that’s why most ski injuries happen in the afternoon.
Fortunately, this aerobic piece can be addressed fairly easily by doing 3 x 30 minute sessions a week on the stationary bike or 3 x 60 minutes on the road bike. These sessions should be performed at 65 – 75% of max heart rate. To calculate your zone, subtract your age from 220 and then multiply by .65 and .75 to get your heart rate range. So if you are 30 years old your predicted max heart rate is 190 beats per minute and your 65-75% zone will be 124-142 beats per minute. This is an appropriate work rate to nicely and comfortably tuning your quads and calves. It may also help to drop a little body weight if that’s also desirable.
The strength component of your fitness program should be developed concurrently with your aerobic fitness and should be the initial focus of weeks 1-5. (The power will come later.) The strength should be focused on a nice, simple, balance of four upper and four lower body exercises. These can begin fairly light using body weight exercises and progressing to actual weight lifting. I have put together a simple routine for you that begins nice and slow, and progresses to give you the physique of an extreme champion (wishful thinking eh!). These exercises are done in addition to the bike ride. You can see the complete program at the end of this article.
By the end of week five – six, you will have developed a nice strength base and from here we can start to develop your power. In the absence of the skill of power lifting (or Olympic lifts) we can somewhat accomplish this by what I call compounding. Compounding is the action of putting two, three, or four exercises together in a row without any rest and mixing both traditional strength exercises with explosive type movements. These require a certain level of fitness, determination and athleticism. These are hard and very fatiguing. That’s why we wait about six weeks until you have some strength base. However, done correctly, they will dramatically improve your overall quickness and explosive strength. Your ability to switch between tight turns will become Olympianesque at a minimum and you’ll be ripping through the glades like a mountain goat. You can take about 2:30 minute rests between these sets. Don’t forget about your core and if you want to see a short core routine that was developed specifically for U.S. Junior Skiers, check out the “Connolly Core Routine.”
This routine will prime you for the slopes and all in about 35-40 minutes a day. You will be ready for a full day’s skiing from the start of the season. You will of course experience some early season soreness but this program will really minimize that. Remember, there is not much substitute for actually skiing to improve your overall skiing but this little routine will go a long way to helping you be ready when the snow flies.
Article by Declan AJ Connolly
Professor
Director, UVM Human Performance Lab
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