Skiing Fitness
Discussion
Richard-390a0 said:
If the back of your legs are aching it's more than likely down to your technique, by which I mean you're not leaning far enough forwards & so riding the tails of your skis making your legs ache & it harder to turn as you've effectively shortened the length of your skis.
This is true.I've skied for decades, but hadn't been for a couple of years.
I found my legs aching like hell after the first few days skiing and I was also finding my boots wearing a hole in my calf.
It turned out my boots, whilst seemingly tight when I put them on, weren't after a few runs and I was moving back and forth in them.
After retightening them after a couple of runs I found them more comfortable on the shins and my legs stopped aching and feeling stiff at the end of the day.
I'm sure a degree of the latter was down to me getting the feel for it again and my legs getting used to it, but a lot, I'm certain, was down to not using my thighs and calves to try and compensate for poor positioning.
M
jinkster said:
Just been skiing for a couple of days and the back of my legs were hurting, knees and feet. What exercise is the best to overcome this?
There are 3 different things that you're suffering from. I'll try and address them separately.Feet
This is the easiest. It's almost certainly to do with badly fitting boots. On a modern 4 buckle boot the two that are the most important are the middle two, near the hinge. You need your ankle held firmly. I can wiggle my toes in my custom-fit boots and I use the top strap for tightness round the top.
The only other possibility is that you have (had) too flexible boots for your weight. I had this problem with my last boot and had a big foot injury at the end of last season when I hit slush at high speed and the ski stopped almost immediately. I did a lot of ligament damage to my foot.
As noted above issues with badly fitting boots can cause you to overcompensate in other areas and can create other problems.
Knees
Depending on what stage you are with your skiing you can get knee problems, mostly due to ligaments being tired. If you are relatively early on in your skiing or an intermediate you might be having side forces. If you're advanced the constant bending of the knees can cause issues. I have arthritis and after a days hard skiing it can be sore. I tend to apply ice and rest a day and it settles down. Moguls will really take it out of me.
Legs
Thighs, and potentially hamstrings will get very tired from the constant up / down movement. Unlike an earlier commentator I would say this gets harder as you get better as you'll be skiing with bent knees all the time, absorbing every little bump and probably floating over crud at speed. Additionally a good skier in the transition phrase will have knees up at right angles to your torso, probably with thighs parallel to the slope - you're trying to keep the upper body staying as upright and not bobbing up & down so the knees need to come up and lift the skis onto the next edge. It's hard work. A good run for me will get my heart rate up to 90% max. I usually come down tired after 2-3 hours of hard skiing (I was speaking to a lady who used to ski for Switzerland and she agreed).
Cycling would be good. Squats, jumps and leg presses are all good. Whatever I do during the summer I always take a few weeks skiing to get back my winter skiing fitness.
Stretching is also important. As well as thighs, calves and hamstrings you'll probably need to stretch sideways as you'll want to pivot at the hips to counterbalance.
If you start feeling tired on skis then stop for the day - that's when most accidents happen.
Agree with those who say skiing is almost effortless with decent technique
If you are balanced over your skis they need only a small pivot to get the edges to engage and modern skis take care of the rest. I think a lot of skiers would benefit from being honest about their ability and skiing a light, forgiving intermediate piste ski before getting more demanding race orientated or free ride planks. Wider stiffer skis demand more skill and can be hard work, only paying back in powder. Rocker skis don't have as much effective edge in piste situations
I ski tour/mountaineer so fitness is very important. Skiing with a 10kg rucsac sorts your balance out!
I think off road running in hills reproduces the aerobic demands of skinning uphill and the balance and eccentric loading of downhill skiing pretty well. I supplement this with cycling for variety.
Squats and deadlifts are good for developing strength and mobility through and beyond the range of movement which is good for injury prevention.
Single leg squats and plyometric exercises like box jumps will help if you need to jump in turns (45 degree plus couloirs)
Yoga helps with balance - some of the best skiers I know do a lot of yoga.
Also helps if you're not a fat knacker (they mostly snowboard though
)
Litres of rough french red and cheap lager don't do the legs any favours!
If you are balanced over your skis they need only a small pivot to get the edges to engage and modern skis take care of the rest. I think a lot of skiers would benefit from being honest about their ability and skiing a light, forgiving intermediate piste ski before getting more demanding race orientated or free ride planks. Wider stiffer skis demand more skill and can be hard work, only paying back in powder. Rocker skis don't have as much effective edge in piste situations
I ski tour/mountaineer so fitness is very important. Skiing with a 10kg rucsac sorts your balance out!
I think off road running in hills reproduces the aerobic demands of skinning uphill and the balance and eccentric loading of downhill skiing pretty well. I supplement this with cycling for variety.
Squats and deadlifts are good for developing strength and mobility through and beyond the range of movement which is good for injury prevention.
Single leg squats and plyometric exercises like box jumps will help if you need to jump in turns (45 degree plus couloirs)
Yoga helps with balance - some of the best skiers I know do a lot of yoga.
Also helps if you're not a fat knacker (they mostly snowboard though
)Litres of rough french red and cheap lager don't do the legs any favours!
Edited by oddman on Sunday 3rd March 16:22
Whilst it’s true to say the more competent skier you are the more you can get away with about not being fit.
However, reality is that skiiing is the only real way to get fit for skiing.
A few of us for a few years spent some proper effort to get fit for skiing doing some exercise most days for 7 months of the year, but then when the resort opened discovered how unfit for skiing we were.
However, within a couple of weeks of the lifts opening our ski fitnesses was much much better.
However, reality is that skiiing is the only real way to get fit for skiing.
A few of us for a few years spent some proper effort to get fit for skiing doing some exercise most days for 7 months of the year, but then when the resort opened discovered how unfit for skiing we were.
However, within a couple of weeks of the lifts opening our ski fitnesses was much much better.
jinkster said:
Just been skiing for a couple of days and the back of my legs were hurting, knees and feet. What exercise is the best to overcome this?
Until you can give a better idea of where you had pain, it’s pointless answering. Calves or hamstrings? Back of the knee, inside face, under the kneecap or right in the middle? Sole of the foot, ball, instep, outside edge, toes?
Tons of possible causes, depending on what actually hurts.
Marcellus said:
Whilst it’s true to say the more competent skier you are the more you can get away with about not being fit.
However, reality is that skiiing is the only real way to get fit for skiing.
A few of us for a few years spent some proper effort to get fit for skiing doing some exercise most days for 7 months of the year, but then when the resort opened discovered how unfit for skiing we were.
However, within a couple of weeks of the lifts opening our ski fitnesses was much much better.
I don’t think this is quite right. I think what you experience after getting back on planks is mostly a nervous system adaptation - getting things firing at the right time and together - something you lose if you don’t practise a complex skill like skiing frequently. However, reality is that skiiing is the only real way to get fit for skiing.
A few of us for a few years spent some proper effort to get fit for skiing doing some exercise most days for 7 months of the year, but then when the resort opened discovered how unfit for skiing we were.
However, within a couple of weeks of the lifts opening our ski fitnesses was much much better.
Having an underlying high level of fitness experiencing that adaptation is not the same as rocking up on the mountain having done little more exercise than walking from a desk to a bathroom a few times a day.
gregs656 said:
I don’t think this is quite right. I think what you experience after getting back on planks is mostly a nervous system adaptation - getting things firing at the right time and together - something you lose if you don’t practise a complex skill like skiing frequently.
Having an underlying high level of fitness experiencing that adaptation is not the same as rocking up on the mountain having done little more exercise than walking from a desk to a bathroom a few times a day.
You might not have realised that we were living permanently in a ski resort, so skiing at least times a week for the 5months of the year we weren’t working at getting fit for the next season.Having an underlying high level of fitness experiencing that adaptation is not the same as rocking up on the mountain having done little more exercise than walking from a desk to a bathroom a few times a day.
It’s was well recognised by those who actually work on the pistes (pisteurs, instructors, guides etc) we needed to spend as much time on the pistes before the tourists arrived to get back fully to previous seasons ski fitness and that was from a base level of high fitness.
Marcellus said:
You might not have realised that we were living permanently in a ski resort, so skiing at least times a week for the 5months of the year we weren’t working at getting fit for the next season.
It’s was well recognised by those who actually work on the pistes (pisteurs, instructors, guides etc) we needed to spend as much time on the pistes before the tourists arrived to get back fully to previous seasons ski fitness and that was from a base level of high fitness.
No that’s fine, I just think it is incorrect to say that only worth while training for skiing is skiing.It’s was well recognised by those who actually work on the pistes (pisteurs, instructors, guides etc) we needed to spend as much time on the pistes before the tourists arrived to get back fully to previous seasons ski fitness and that was from a base level of high fitness.
If you took someone who hadn’t done any exercise for the year with you during your pre season development they would not end up as ‘ski fit’ as you, because they would be starting from a much lower level of general fitness and that difference matters.
gregs656 said:
No that’s fine, I just think it is incorrect to say that only worth while training for skiing is skiing.
If you took someone who hadn’t done any exercise for the year with you during your pre season development they would not end up as ‘ski fit’ as you, because they would be starting from a much lower level of general fitness and that difference matters.
ah yes agreed, it always surprised us that no matter how much we did pre-season with the "skiing specific exercises" when it came to it they still weren't enough but soon after the season started we were much much ski fitter!If you took someone who hadn’t done any exercise for the year with you during your pre season development they would not end up as ‘ski fit’ as you, because they would be starting from a much lower level of general fitness and that difference matters.
(conversely having ski'd most of the winter come the spring found our cycling fitness has suffered, it was a tough few years - 1st world issues and all that)
Out of interest, how old are you, and how fit generally?
Last time I did any real skiing I was at highschool, we where given exercises to do but I basically didnt do them as was fine.
Since then I have only done an hour on an indoor slope, and one day outside, but if going for a week I would certainly do something.
Daniel
Last time I did any real skiing I was at highschool, we where given exercises to do but I basically didnt do them as was fine.
Since then I have only done an hour on an indoor slope, and one day outside, but if going for a week I would certainly do something.
Daniel
WestyCarl said:
j_4m said:
oddman said:
Single leg squats and plyometric exercises like box jumps will help if you need to jump in turns (45 degree plus couloirs)
It also helps the mobility when your testicles retract into your belly button as you're staring down a 45-50 degree steep.
It did a week or so ago
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