Training Tips for Ski Season

Fall Training Tips for Ski Season

Ski and snowboard season is right around the corner. Are your legs and lungs ready? We called on three Breckenridge fitness pros for their top pre-season workouts and training tips for ski season. Here’s what they had to say.

Hit The Gym

Newly remodeled Breckenridge Recreation Center has something for everybody.

The good news about transitioning from summer to winter sports is that most of the sports utilize the same major lower body muscle groups, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteal and calf muscles, says Kelly Gerken, Fitness Coordinator for the Breckenridge Recreation Department.

When that first snow hits, there’s a rush to the rec center to get into “winter shape.” Most people are working on feeling stronger, limiting injuries and improving stability and balance. Gerken recommends the following strength and balance exercises for a smooth transition to winter:

Warm-up with high knees, butt kicks, plank walks, lateral band walks (with a resistance band at ankles), walking opposite toe reaches, and climb the agility ladder at the rec center.

Lower Body Strength & Balance: Leg press, deadlifts, lateral lunges on Bosu ball, side planks, single-leg Kettle bell deadlifts, step-ups on a bench or box, Russian twist on Bosu ball.

Full-Body Strength & Endurance: Wall sits, walking lunges, TRX push-ups, lateral box jumps, hamstring curl on stability ball, single arm bent over row, Ski Erg machine.

Hop on a Stationary Bike: Spinning, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), steady state cardio.

Cool down by stretching and using a foam roller on the low back, hip flexors, hamstrings, quads and calf muscles.

Get in A Mental and Physical Workout

Pair your workout with yoga to create space and energy flow throughout the body.

Fall hiking is another great way to train the muscles for skiing, especially when descending steep terrain. “Think about it. When we are skiing we are using the leg muscles to control speed as we descend, which is hard to train in a gym,” she says. “However, when hiking we get the benefits of building strength and stamina while ascending and the ability to train similar movements to skiing on the descent.”

The best pre-ski-season injury prevention technique? Yoga! The instructors agree, staying flexible is crucial to remaining injury free. Bonus: Stability and balance movements such as chair pose and warrior III are great for control and power needed to ski fluffy powder all day.

When the snow begins to stick, check out these local go-to winter workouts.