At this time of year the slopes and snow offer us great escapism. Hitting the slopes on the first morning and drawing your first breathe of fresh mountain air, skiing and snowboarding breaks are great ways of spending time with family and friends.
For most of us these holidays only come round once a year because of this many skiers suffer from fatigue, aching muscles and small injuries, all of which could have been avoided if planning went in to their training beforehand. With skiing and snowboarding like any sport, conditioning in the right area is a good idea to make sure your body is up for the challenge.
This is why being in the best possible shape that our busy schedules allows us is so important, as is making sure you work on your core strength , stability and balance. Core strengthening doesn’t only consist of abdominal crunches. Making sure you use your core in all exercises is crucial and adding a variety of exercises which work on all aspects of your core is a fantastic way of improving your strength and getting prepared for the slopes.
Now the most common injuries from this type of holiday are mainly lower limbs, normally knees and ankles. Some injuries are obviously avoidable (eg. the après-ski type), even the strongest and most stable legs and core can’t help those injuries! But out on the slopes the stronger the legs and core the better. Doing this with the traditional squats and deadlifts will always have a place in strengthening your legs and core. However being aware of the different planes of motion exercises will really open up new doors for you to train and work on those areas of weakness.
Tri-planar exercises are a great way of getting you thinking about different angles and training different muscle groups. These exercises will really push your coordination, balance and most importantly your core strength. Lots of equipment in your gyms and even your own body weight can be used in these workouts. Things like Kettlebells are a really versatile bit of kit, as well as the suspension trainers like the TRX and human trainers.
So when planning your next skiing holiday make sure you give it some thought into what angles you need to work on.
Contact Personal Trainer Josh Juryeff for a free consultation to discuss your get fit goals for your next skiing holiday.