It’s time! It’s snowing in the North American mountains and winter is truly “just around the corner.” No matter how fit you are from your summertime adventures, you’ll feel better and ski stronger if you take the time now, to do some pre-season training.
For the last two years, physical therapist Bryan Whitesides created pre-season workouts for The Brave Ski Mom. Rather than work up another new workout this year, I’m posting links to each of these 15 minute wonders.
There are workouts for alpine skiing, nordic skiing, and snowboarding. There is also one workout that does it all. Choose a workout and do it 2-3 times a week. Mix things up and try different workouts each day. Get your kids involved, and make it 15 minutes of family fun!
The Workouts
Get Ready for Ski Season in 15 Minutes Per Day (All-in-one wonder workout from 2011. Equipment: exercise ball, resistance bands.)
Getting in Shape for Skiing, Alpine Skiing, That Is (Become BFF’s with a big exercise ball. Equipment: exercise ball.)
Getting in Shape for Telemark and Cross-Country Skiing (Scissor jump your way to joy and strength. Equipment: kettle ball or one dumbbell weight. Video instruction included.)
Getting in Shape for Snowboarding (Improve your balance fore and aft. Equipment: bosu ball.)
- Upsides: Quick, effective workouts you can do at home and with your kids.
- Downsides: Some special equipment needed.
Get Into Balance
Martin Breach didn’t plan on being an inventor. A British family doctor with a specialty in sports injuries, Breach was participating in a skiing clinic in the Alps when he learned something that rocked his world.
For years, Breach had balanced on the balls of his feet, not the center of his feet. When he learned how to make this slight change in balance, it changed the way he skied. He no longer was fighting his skis with every turn. Not only that, but his new understanding inspired him to invent the SKiA Sweetspot Ski Trainer.
I recently tried out the trainer and here’s what I found.
What is it? The trainer is a plastic tray attached to your ski boots with two plastic ratchet straps. Underneath the tray is a removable plastic balance block. The trainer comes with four blocks that descend in front-to-back width. The widest (green) block is easiest.
The SKiA trainer does, in fact, offer an easy way to practice correct skiing position and skiing balance in your home. Daily practice takes very little time, approximately 5-10 minutes. Users balance on the block in an athletic stance. The goal is to keep the toes and heels off the ground as you crouch lower in the stance and eventually practice pivoting and edging. Emphasis is on proper position and developing muscle memory (you’ll also develop strong quads).
The most difficult part of using the trainers is setting them up. Set up is a bit tricky, but quite important. The manual clearly states how to align the center of each trainer with the ski boot index mark. I was using last year’s manual and apparently I wasn’t the only person who successfully aligned the index mark and then spent the next 20 minutes trying to get the trainers on my ski boots. How do I know? The new, North American manual troubleshoots the exact problems I was having. Future SKiA consumers: you are so lucky.
Upsides:
- A quick and easy way to learn and reinforce proper skiing position in your home.
- Changing the blocks is easy, even if using the narrow blocks is not (it’s not supposed to be!).
- The workouts are simple and quick.
- The manual is full of useful information, developed and endorsed by professional ski instructors, including on-snow skiing drills which reinforce proper balance and technique.
- Use the trainers frequently and you’ll have quads of steel.
- An adapter for junior boots will be available this season.
- Video instruction is available on the SKiA website.
Downsides:
- The plastic trainers are stiff and a bit tricky to set up.
- Because the trainers are fit to a specific pair of ski boots, they have to be refit each time a different person uses them (I made this easier by marking the heel strap with a Sharpie to remind me how to adjust it).
- The trainers are not expensive, but not cheap either ($72.50 US or 55 Euros).
Welcome SKiA to Colorado, November 2-4
Interested in learning more about the SKiA Sweetspot Trainer?
Martin Breach will be at the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Expo in booth number 4164 in the Colorado Convention Center. Additionally, Chris Fellows, of the North American Ski Training Center, will offer “Total Sweetspot” clinics and demonstrations, during the Expo’s on-snow sessions at Winter Park.
This is Breach’s first visit to Colorado. Stop by, test his product and offer him a warm welcome!
Get On A Bike
Biking and skiing. Skiing and biking. They just go together. When one is off-season, the other is on. Best of all, since both sports work the legs in a similar manner, they make for excellent cross-training.
A recent post at Innovation for Endurance, How Cycling Makes You a Better Skier, recommends pre-season cycling, including 30 second anaerobic intervals on the bike, as great preparation for moguls, trees and tight turns in the steeps.
- Upsides: You can go outside! Fall weather can be perfect for biking. If it’s not, a stationary bike works well.
- Downsides: Biking takes time. A good workout starts at about 45 minutes, whether you’re out on the road or in a spin class. Requires a bike, or a gym membership.
Enjoy!
To facilitate this post, I received a SKiA Sweetspot Trainer to test. As always, all opinions are my own and are exactly what I would tell my family and friends.
© 2012 – 2013, braveskimom. All rights reserved. Any use or publication of content, including photos, requires express permission.
Alyssa Erickson says
My parents, both ski instructors for over 30 years, have found that the best training for their quads and calves was simply to walk straight up the mountain in their back yard (Table Mountain in CO). Steep terrain seemed to hit for the cardio and strength needed in skiing. Especially those calves that go unnoticed until the end of the first day on snow 🙂
braveskimom says
Great tip Alyssa! We too have a mountain in our backyard, so I’ll start walking straight up instead of around and up!
Had my first day on snow today and so far, so good! But it can’t hurt to keep working out!
Thanks!
The Wisconsin Skier says
Good Post!
I have always been a biker but it was only this summer I started to crank out serious miles, I have about 1020 logged from the spring and hope to hit 1200+ before the year is over. My average ride is about 25 miles and is on my old Trek 7300 X bike so in addition to the bulk that is myself (of which there is less now) I have the bulk of the bike (though I just picked up a Madone 5.9 frame I hope to have built up for next summer). However, the limited daylight limits my biking now so my workouts are mostly gm based now. I hope I can get over 1100 this weekend.
I do traditional cardio on 1 of 3 machines (bike, rower, elliptical) for about 30-40 minutes and then I spend about 40 – 60 minutes doing 3 rounds of squats (weighted and unweighted), dumbbell exercises, bosu ball, situps, and stuff like that, trying to hit core, legs, upper body, and balance. The Bosu ball I put upside down and squat on it, works the balance and the legs, the last bit of it I assume a tight tuck and reach out with the arms, can’t wait for skiing for real!
I was working out last fall too, but not as hard and focused on my legs. It helped but I’m working it harder this year and since I now work close to home I will be able to keep at it.
Cheers!
Mark “The Wisconsin Skier” Framness
braveskimom says
First of all, Mark, you are rocking that bike! I love your comment that their is less bulk of you now — and next season, less bulk of bike! That’s terrific! One of the things I like about exercising with a goal, is that it keeps me exercising. Like you, knowing that ski season is coming, I am more motivated.
I hope you break 1100 miles this weekend! Good luck and happy skiing!
Thanks.
Cansnowplow says
Skiing and inline skating are the true complimentary winter/summer body maintenance match! Not biking. Inline skating is best for the true country living, skating on country roads, primary town roads w/ few cars. This summer was extremely hot for our average summer climate and my physical condition slipped, as country road inline skating takes both cardio endurance and quads/calves strength, plus upper body agility. During the hot days, I became excessively exhausted while skating in hot windy heat. I began road biking on these hot days and can only say that an 1.0 hour inline skating is equivalent to the caloric and respiratory 1.5 hours of biking at 16- 18mph avg, with a cadence of 90 rpm. My avg speed on 100mm inline skates is 12-13 mph. The fellow who is attempting 1200 miles is talking about buying a light weight bike. I find that when my body condition improves thus my inline speeds reduce my 1 hr of hard skating, to say 51-52 minutes, I switch the wheel bearing from a finer grade ABEC 7 or 9 down to an ABEC 5 on one side of the two bearing wheel, creating a slight higher resistance blend. The resistance created with the 5s adds the minutes back into my workout. So, hang onto your TREK bike! Go back to it once your average speed begins to increase on your feather carrier. Otherwise, start dragging your brakes on your light weight(LOL). I don’t go for the speed, but I go for the workout. Sort of like adding weights onto the bar once the lift doesn’t clean you out.
braveskimom says
You make some great points — especially about skating and skiing. I skied one weekend with a woman who was from Russia. She was an absolutely beautiful skier. When I asked her about it, she told me she had been trained in skating. Definitely complimentary motions. Now as for you, I have to say country road inline skating sounds intense! I grew up skating on frozen ponds and transitioning to inline is hard for me – I don’t like going downhill on skates. Skis, yes. Skates, no!
Also, your points about resistance are interesting! Thanks for taking the time to share.
The Wisconsin Skier says
Cansnowplow,
Both my current bike and the frame I have are both Trek and I have no intention of dumping my old bike, I do get some miles on off road … “roads” and trails and the new setup will just sink (as if the current bike floats on soft gravel) on those routes.
I bike mainly for the fun of it, something about it appeals to myself and to get outdoors it’s my skiing in the summer. The fact the biking torches calories and increases my fitness are beneficial side-effects. When I first bought the bike I took the opposite view and many of the dealer’s attempts on up-selling components met with “the point is to lose weight, why would I want easier”? Interestingly, I did not ride too much until just the last year or two mainly this year. Its way more tempting for me to jump on a bike than hit the gym. I don’t view biking as penance whereas the gym is a more of a penitential rite. In addition, I am watching my diet much more closely both in terms of quantity and composition.
My goal is not to make the miles I ride harder, but to ride more miles. My big goal for next summer is to ride at least one century if not more and this is in addition to a 90 mile+ race around Lake Winnebago and I am going to shoot for 2,000+ miles total. I can find some hills (as with skiing, that may be somewhat laughable here in WI)or extend my current route set to make for more miles. I rode last weekend (about 44 miles) and now it is nothing for me to ride 40+ miles, at the start of this summer my long rides were about 20-25 miles.
I am glad you have found something non-penitential to keep you physically active! Also, please be certain I enjoyed the response and this discussion, I love sharing this with others!
Cheers,
The Wisconsin Skier
soupstock says
awesome post! i have worked as ski patrol for several years now, i love how people are serious about fitness during the ski season. many parts of your body are susceptible to injury if not properly exercised before skiing. if you need work out tips one of my favorite resources is http://www.fit-lifestyles.com
enjoy your ski season!
braveskimom says
So true: the out-of-shape body is more susceptible to injury. Thank you for the link to fit-lifestyles as well! And I hope you have a great ski season too! Cheers.