Tara Bell Coaching

These tips are perfect for you if:

1. You have booked a ski holiday, or in the process of booking one
2. You’re feeling nervous about injuring yourself skiing – it seems Karen from IT goes skiing every year and ends up broken for the remainder of the year!
3. You want to impress your friends/family/colleagues at how fast you can ski!

1. Strength training

A key supplement to any sport we partake in, strength training helps build muscle, strengthen joints, ligaments and bone density. All vital elements necessary before a ski holiday, where our bodies are put under high demands. A focus on lower body exercises especially single sided/single leg work will help in supporting ours bodies over our skis and applying pressure through our outside ski. However, upper body should not be ignored, as it plays a vital role in stabilising.

2. Stretching

Tight muscles lead to injury, the more mobile we are, the more range we can get, therefore the better angulation we can achieve and the less at risk you’ll be for injuring yourself. Additionally, stretching is fundamental for recovery, so a vital element alongside our pre-ski program.

3. Core work

A strong core is vital for keeping balance, control and stability on skis, making sure to implement both anti-extension and anti-rotation exercises into your routine is vital. Planks are great but make sure to mix it up as well.

4. Plyometric work

This is probably the most forgotten element in any training program, but vital for any sports specific program. Yes, it helps us be springier, react quicker and generate power, but it also plays a vital role in strengthening our ligaments and joints which pre-ski holiday is a must!

5. Cardio training

Not only is skiing a workout for our heart, but ever got to the top of the ski lift feeling out of breath without having moved an inch. Yep – that’s the altitude kicking in, cardiovascular training will not only help us ski for longer, but it will also allow us to be able to cope with the effects of higher altitudes we feel when out on the slopes.  Mix of aerobic, lactate threshold and lactate power will prep your body to feel fighting fit by the time we hit the mountains.