Best Fitness Blog

Ski Warm-ups ... by Karli Taylor

Happy Fall everyone! Believe it or not, the changing of the leaves often makes people start to think about the upcoming ski season…

It's a bit too late in the year to talk about exercises to get in shape for ski season- we typically prepare for a sport at least 12 weeks before the season begins. Hopefully you have all been active with running, cycling or gym based fitness since the snow melted earlier this year. What I do think is an important thing to talk about this close to the season is a proper ski warm-up.

Hitting the slopes without a proper warm up will not only set you up for injury, but will make you a less efficient skier. The question is, how do you warm up when it is so cold outside??

Warm up inside before you put on your outer layers. A simple warm up routine will take 10-15 minutes and will save you a lot of creaking on your first run down the mountain. If you want to get more into "ski mode" you can do all of these in your ski boots .

Start off by doing some simple body weight squats- 20-25 squats at a quick tempo, getting deeper every single time. After your last squat, stand on one foot and swing the other leg back and forth and from side to side- see how long you can balance on each leg. This will not only prepare your legs to work independently of each other, but will also start to warm up your core. Lastly, stand on one leg with the other leg out behind you- bend forward and touch the ground 10 times, then switch legs. Complete this routine 3 times, each time moving more slowly- slow paced squats will get your legs used to holding that ski position. If you are really in good condition, stop yourself before you get to the top of each squat--Your legs will burn!!

You should be nice a warm now to put on your outer layers and hit the slopes. Your jacket will keep in a lot of the body heat you have generated, so that initial shock of going into the cold will not seem that bad.

When you are done skiing for the day, take 15 minutes to stretch while still in your layers- you want to make sure you are still warm when you stretch. Please- DO NOT STRETCH BEFORE YOU SKI!!!