How to prepare and train for ski season

Skiing is an athletic activity, prepare for your best year yet accordingly!

Most of us looking to have a safe and rewarding ski season assume there is some prep work involved. But are we preparing as effectively as we can be?

No matter your level, skiing is an athletic activity requiring power at sustained efforts. Buuuuuut...most prep guides are full of static, and slow movements that don't really translate over to the ski slopes.

Here are some tips to think about employing as you get ready to have your best ski season yet!

#1 - TRAIN LIKE AN ATHLETE

Go get after it! Even if you aren't a hard charger blitzing the back side of the mountain, or in the gates competing for World Cup titles, you should still be moving with some purpose in the gym. There is a saying in field sports that when you slow down and back off is when you get hurt...more simply, you need to play at game speed. The same is true for training for your ski season. Some of the best skiers to ever point them downhill embrace this by training with high intensity during their off season prep...go check out Mikaela Schriffin's routine, or dig into what Marcel Hirscher was doing during his decade of dominance.

I get that you can't really replicate Corbet's Couloir in the gym, but you can still move at speed and with some intent.

#2 - READY...GO INTERVALS

Ready...Go. Stop. Go. Slow. Go. Stop. Sit. Ride. Ready...Go. Stop. Sit. Ride. Ready...Go......ok, you get it.

Your day skiing is done in individualized efforts with 'breaks' mixed in throughout the day. Between waiting for the little rippers to catch up, taking chair #23 to the top of the chutes, or kicking them up at the lodge for a mid-day rest; there will be a start/stop rhythm to your day.

Mixing in some interval training to your prep work will go a long ways in getting you ready for a great year.

To consider: we generally see some lactic buildup start to show it's ugly head somewhere near the 40 second mark when working in the moderately high (~85%) effort range with repeated efforts. (Clyde Hart)

#3 - BULLET PROOF YOUR TISSUE

Many of the dents and dings we tend to get from a day up on the slopes is to our connective and soft tissue...ligaments, tendons, and muscles can take a beating. Giving them some attention during your preparation will be time well spent. A highly effective way to strengthen these little buggers is through quick, explosive efforts, ie. plyometrics. "A result of plyometric training, connective tissue, such as tendons, become stiffer. This increase in stiffness allows for faster and greater transmission of force from the muscle to the bone, and in turn, a more forceful movement" (A. Kleinberg - Athletic Lab via A. Nordez, A. Foure, C. Cornu).

Basic, fundamental plyometric work is an awesome crossover to skiing. A progressive system that includes depth drops, box jumps, jumping lunges, and lateral skaters are a great addition to your training regimen. Also, go take a look at what Dr. Kelly Starrett has on ankle mobility...awesome stuff!

#4 - MULTI JOINT / MAJOR MUSCLES

Skiing is mostly done through multiple planes and across multiple joints with the major muscles of the lower body being the primary movers. Wow...try saying that 3 times fast!

The point being that a program including and focused around squatting, deadlifting, and lunging movements just makes a ton of sense!

Maximum strength improvements can lead to greater muscle conditioning (and vice versa), which means stronger legs...which means blasting through the crud and linking sustained turns just became easier and more fun!

#5 - MASTER YOUR RECOVERY DOMAIN

Lastly, for now...don't underestimate the compensation benefits of effective recovery. The best tools are passive and simple: nutrition and sleep. Dialing these in will allow your tissue to repair, your CNS to recharge, and you to be full systems go when you are ready to attack your next training session.

Other suggestions might fall into a more active form of recovery. Light cardio, foam rolling, active stretching, cold/hot exposure, self massage, etc. etc...all awesome ways to keep the body in a ready state and geared up the ski season.

SEE YOU ON THE SKI SLOPES

To accomplish takes work. Intensity and purpose will drive results, so prepare with the same interest and excitement you plan to have on the slopes!

Deliberately this was not intended to be a recipe to follow, but rather some ideas to help you put together your ingredients list as you start to prepare for a great ski season.

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