Promise us something. This November, unless you鈥檙e climbing in Yosemite听or hunting antelope in Wyoming听or surfing in Baja, you will go to the gym twice a week and work out. Ski season is nigh, and if you hole up until winter emerges, opening day won鈥檛 be pretty.
鈥淲ithin days of not working out, you鈥檒l begin to detrain. Use it or lose it,鈥 says Alex Bunt, an athlete-performance specialist for Red Bull, who听trained Lindsey Vonn听up until her听retirement earlier this year. 鈥淚f听you go into hibernation mode in November, you might be at your weakest when you go ski. This time of year,听prioritize gym training and strength training if you鈥檙e not outside.鈥
Strength isn鈥檛 just about being able to ski bell to听bell;听it鈥檚听critical for injury prevention. Skiers bust their knees more than any other body part, researchers found in a of 1,593 patients at Montana鈥檚听Big Sky Medical Clinic. Which makes sense when you think about it: we drop down into a squat and hold steady, absorbing dynamic forces from every direction as the ground underneath us changes constantly, quickly, and unpredictably. So strength in the muscle groups surrounding the knees makes the difference between a tweaky turn and a torn tendon.
To maintain stable form and stay on top of your skis, 鈥測ou need every athletic quality,鈥 Bunt says. 鈥淵ou need strength, you need power, you need quickness, reaction time, balance, core strength, hip strength.鈥 To check all the essential training boxes, Bunt recommends this lower-body routine, which should take about an hour in the gym.听Start with a good warm-up: five to ten听minutes of cardio, followed by at least five minutes of stretching听before you start the moves. Focus on areas where you鈥檙e tight, and favor dynamic stretches over long, stationary holds.
Tools You鈥檒l Need
- Stability ball
- Resistance bands
- Dumbbells
- Medicine ball
- Barbell
Ski Workout: Build Strength and Prevent Injury
Front and Side Plank
What they听do: Strengthen听the core, which is key for maintaining stable form on skis.
How to do them: Start with the front plank. Lie听on your stomach, and place your palms flat on the ground, with your elbows positioned directly under your shoulders. Press your toes and elbows into the ground and lift your whole body up as one unit. For good alignment, imagine a straight, unbroken line running from your head听through your shoulders and hips听to your feet. You don鈥檛 want your hips to sink or rotate听or your butt to pop up. If you can hold this position for 60 seconds, progress by raising one foot off the ground. If you can hold that for 60 seconds, drop the leg, raise one arm in front of you, and hold. And if you鈥檙e still not sweating, raise the opposite arm and leg at the same time, holding for 60 seconds on each side.
For the side plank, lie听on your side, propped up by your forearm, which is resting flat on the ground and perpendicular to your body. Make sure your elbow is positioned right under your shoulder, your legs are straight, and your feet are stacked neatly on top of each other. Lift your whole body up as one unit. You want to visualize one straight line from head to toe. If you can hold this position for 60 seconds, raise your top leg and hold. If that鈥檚 easy, make it harder by changing up your base: balance on your hand instead of your forearm. And if this is still too easy, lift your听upper leg so you鈥檙e in the full 鈥渟tar鈥 side-plank position.
Stability-Ball Ski Jumper
What it does: Strengthens the glutes, hamstrings, back, and core.
How to do it: Kneel on the floor, with the soles of your feet pressed to a wall behind you. Place a stability ball in front of you, and lean forward to lay your belly on it. From this position, push your heels into the wall to extend your legs straight, rolling your hips onto the ball. Lift your hands up in front of you, like Superman. Your hamstrings and glutes should be working the hardest; your lower back shouldn鈥檛 be strained. Hold for 60 seconds. To make it harder, grab a medicine ball, hold it in front of your chest, press out into the Superman position, then return. To make it even harder, rotate at the waist while you press outward, alternating sides each time. Your hips and lower body should听remain stationary.
Lying Leg Rotation
What it does: Trains your body to rotate the hips independently of the shoulders, which is helpful for maintaining a square, downhill-facing position in your upper body while skiing.
How to do it: Lie听flat on your back, with both legs extended straight up in the air. Your hips should create a right angle. Extend your arms out to either side, pressing your palms into the ground. Fire up your core to rotate both legs to the side, while maintaining the evenness of both shoulders and both palms pressing on the ground. Don鈥檛 aim your feet toward your hands; keep your legs parallel to your arms. Only go as far down as you can while maintaining control in your core. Hold for 60 seconds on each side. To make it harder, hold a medicine ball between your feet. To make it even harder, skip the medicine ball听but hold an empty bar up in the air as if you鈥檙e at the top of a bench press. Don鈥檛 let the bar tip at all to either side.
Resistance-Band Skate Walk and Lateral Walk
What they听do: This is hip pre-hab,听or preventative strengthening. It鈥檚 focused on the muscles around the hips, building their endurance. These muscles control all of the lower legs and are important for ACL injury prevention.
How to do them: Choose a resistance band that feels moderately heavy to you. For the skate walk, stand in a solid, even-footed position, with your feet听under your hips and shoulders, and then put the band around your ankles. Step forward, moving your front leg diagonally to the outside. Step your back leg forward, so you can return to your original standing position. You shouldn鈥檛 feel like you鈥檙e dragging or pulling your back leg; you should be firing up the glutes to move that听leg forward. Continue until fatigued. For the lateral walk, stand square, step one leg out to the side, and then bring your other leg next to it听so you鈥檙e standing square again. As with the skate walk, you鈥檙e not dragging or pulling your trailing leg; you want to engage your glutes. Work until fatigued.
Resistance-Band Jump Squat
What it does:听Supports hip stability, which听keeps your knees aligned through dynamic movements at speed. When your knee dips听in toward听the center line,听you鈥檙e at greater risk for an ACL injury.
How to do it: Use two medium-weight resistance bands: one placed around your knees听and one around your ankles. Stand square, with your feet under your hips. Take two little hops, landing even. On the third hop, drop into a deep squat. Drive your feet and knees outward, away from your midline and against the resistance bands. Then hop back to a square standing position, and repeat the pattern. Keep your arms stable in front of you, with your hands clasped. Continue jumping until fatigued.
Lateral Bound
What it does: Helps you make quick, smooth, and听efficient turns.
How to do it: From your square standing position, jump laterally to the side, landing on just one leg. Jump back to the other leg, and flow into single-leg jumps back and forth. You want to jump both up and out, and it鈥檚 crucial to stick the one-legged landing. Move slowly and deliberately at first, and then, if you鈥檙e confident about your ability to stick the landing, increase your听speed. Do three to five sets of four to six reps, with 30 seconds of rest in between. (One rep is one single-leg jump.)
Box Jump
What it does: 鈥淭his is your ski turn, basically,鈥 Bunt says. This will help you move quickly from ski to ski, making turns that are dynamic, explosive, and responsive.
How to do it: Stand in a square position, holding a medicine ball at your chest. With both feet, jump up and onto a box in front of you. Choose a box that鈥檚 high enough to feel challenging听but not so high that you can鈥檛 land in a solid, even-footed, half-squat position. Your knees should be aligned over your toes听and not dipping inward. Your chest should be slightly forward, with your shoulders above your toes, and your butt should be slightly back. Maintain a straight back. Step down and听reset. Do three to five sets of five jumps, with 30 seconds of rest in between.
Basic Squat
What it does: Strengthens your听legs, which will听help you hold your edge longer听on more challenging terrain听as well as generate more speed and force out of your turn.
How to do it: Stand with your feet centered under your shoulders and hips. Turn your听toes slightly out, toward听eleven听and one听o鈥檆lock, with your knees stacked above them, mirroring that slightly turned-out angle. To initiate the squat, hinge your hips, send your butt back, and bend your knees. Go down as far as your range of motion allows, without sacrificing your neutral spine position听or the alignment of your knees. To stand up, straighten your hips and knees at the same time. Pay attention to your feet: you want to keep your toes spread out听but relaxed and听pressed evenly into the ground. It鈥檚 especially important to maintain the connection between your big toe and the ground.
To add weight, hold a dumbbell in the goblet position (with your palms cradling one end听and your elbows pointing down). When you squat, your听elbows should come down in between your legs. If you can squat comfortably with a dumbbell that鈥檚 too heavy to easily set up the pose, use听a squat rack.听Slowly and with control, place the bar right above your shoulder blades, at the base of your neck, and repeat the steps above. To make this even harder, pause for three seconds at the bottom of the squat, when your thighs are parallel to the ground. Do three to five sets of five to eight reps, with 30 seconds of rest in between.
Bulgarian Split Squat
What it does: Similar to the basic squat, this move builds strength and stability, but it also helps you control alignment and build stability on one leg, which can help prevent an听ACL injury.
How to do it: Stand with your back to a bench. Carefully, reach one leg back, and flip your foot to place your shoelaces on top of the bench. There should be a gentle bend in the knee on the bench. On your听standing leg, you want your toes spread out evenly and relaxed. Don鈥檛 forget to press down on the big toe. The mechanics of this move are the same as the squat: bend your standing knee, hinge your hips to move your butt back, and move your shoulders forward. Since you鈥檙e standing on one leg, you鈥檒l need to be more vigilant about maintaining hip alignment and the position of your knee above your toes. Squat听down until your thigh is parallel to the ground听or as far as your mobility allows. To stand up, straighten your standing-leg hip and knee听at the same time.
You can do this move unweighted, and听add weight as you鈥檙e ready.听The easiest variation is to hold a dumbbell in the goblet position. The next step up is听holding one dumbbell in the hand opposite the standing knee (this is a harder variation than the goblet).听Holding a dumbbell in each hand听is the hardest variation. Do three to five sets of six to ten听reps on each leg, with 30 seconds of rest in between.
Stability-Ball Hamstring Curl
What it does: Strengthens hamstrings, especially behind the knee, to prevent an听ACL injury. This move also听helps you balance out your听quads (which many skiers have overdeveloped),听decreasing your听odds of injury. Additionally, strong hamstrings help you exit turns powerfully and with control.
How to do it: Grab an exercise听ball, and lie听flat on your back on the ground. Tuck the exercise ball under your knees听so that your calves and heels are on top of it. Your hands should be resting on either side of your hips, with your palms pressing into the ground. Move your hips up into the air, like you鈥檙e going into bridge pose, and roll slightly onto your shoulders. Just the backs of your ankles听should be on the ball now, and your body should be in a straight line from your knees to your shoulders. Roll the ball so the soles of your feet are on top of it, raising your hips and rolling fully onto your shoulders. As you curl in, maintain the straight line between your knees and shoulders. Then roll the ball back out with control. At the bottom of the pose, don鈥檛 let your hips drop.
If you can do 15 reps, you can progress into a partial single-leg curl. To do this, use both legs to curl to the top of the pose, then lift one leg and point it to the ceiling. Roll the ball out with the other leg, then back, and return to double-leg stability. Curl back down, and repeat on the opposite leg. If you can do 15 of these, do the whole movement with a single leg. Do three to five sets of as many reps as you can, with 30 seconds of rest in between.
At the end of your workout, do five to ten minutes of听light cardio鈥攁 low-resistance spin on the stationary bike works well鈥攖o cool down. This helps immediately begin the recovery process by increasing blood flow.