The Home Stretch

sperkins-pom — Mon, 01 Nov 2004 00:00:00 +0000

IT’S DAY ONE, ski season 2004–2005: You dropped your tax refund on some sweet new gear, spent the summer building tree-trunk thighs on the squat rack, and now you’re making your first turns on real snow. Then—kapow!—you hit an unexpected powder trough and get twisted into a human pretzel. What comes next? You either (A) absorb the hit, snap back into balance, and continue the run, or (B) hear that woeful pop, go bleary-eyed with pain, and resign yourself to a winter of physical therapy. Which sounds better to you? For a full season of mountain fun, you need more than rock-hard legs: The key is elasticity.

“Power and explosive strength mean nothing if you can’t flex,” says Per Lundstam, manager of strength and conditioning for the U.S. Ski Team. “Inflexibility not only puts you at greater risk for torn ligaments, sprains, and other injuries; it could make you a slower skier or snowboarder as well.”

To avoid this fate, you gotta do the drill: Perform the following stretches three days per week, starting six weeks before the year’s first ski run and continuing through the warm days of springtime corn.

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The Home Stretch (cont.)

sperkins-pom — Mon, 01 Nov 2004 00:00:00 +0000

Place your lower left leg on a waist-high table, with the inside of your thigh facing up and your knee at a 90-degree angle. (Your heel should point to your waist, and your toes should point forward.) Push your hips forward into the table and try to press your knee into it while keeping your back straight. Hold for six seconds, then relax for 15 seconds. Repeat twice with each leg. For a more intense stretch, stand farther away from the platform.

Drop to your hands and knees, perpendicular to a wall. Slide both knees back to where the wall meets the floor and point your toes up, so they’re flush against the wall. Slowly bring your right leg in front of you, foot flat on the floor and knee bent at a 90-degree angle, so that your right armpit is above your right knee. With both hands on your right knee, move your torso upward, striving to bring it parallel with the wall. Hold for 30 seconds. Repeat twice on both sides.

Face a wall, standing two to three feet away. Bend forward and place your hands on the floor, with your fingertips touching the base of the wall. With legs straight and head tucked in—you should look sort of like an upside-down V—rest your upper back against the wall, keeping your heels on the ground. Hold for 30 seconds. Repeat twice. As flexibility increases, try to place more of your back against the wall.

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Christina Gandolfo Archives - �����ԹϺ��� Online

The Home Stretch

The Home Stretch (cont.)

Christina Gandolfo Archives - ��ԹϺ�� Online