Exercise Tips Better Prepare Legs for the Season

[swagmasterflex]

Been a minute, how we doing. I know it might seem kinda late for some to just now start thinking about preparing legs/knees for the season, but I'm not going to be able to ski for a while cause of college. That being said, what tips do you guys have to better prepare and strengthen your legs and knees during preseason? Thanks for the tips in advance, any exercises or anything related is appreciated ?

 

[SteezyYeeter]

I'm young enough to where I don't really worry about this, but stretches really helps, especially if you're a more agressive skier who's in the moguls and woods. Things like lunges, anything to improve better flexibility. Squats will also help with your knees which you will want to work out.

Also jogging, biking and swimming helps your legs but also increases your cardio and endurance which will help you go ski more aggressively for longer.

 

[snowfinder]

squats, wall sits, lunges, biking, calf raises, and knee extensions are all good ones to start with.

 

[nskerb]

Hike bike or run. You'd have to put a gun to my head to pick up and set down heavy things inside a gym. Unless I was getting paid to ski and perform well, which I'm not.

 

[Goretex_Vidal]

Back in the day few hours of interval training on the bike everyday got Hermann Maier back to winning Super-Gs a year after his leg was pulped in a motorcycle crash.

 

[PsychicMigration]

I think biking and ab work is really useful. Flexibility gets very overlooked and helps prevent early season injuries which can really help to insure a healthy season. Daily stretching or yoga goes a long way. Doesn’t have to be much but 20-30min is ideal 5 days a week.

 

[Kundera]

Knee over toes (@kneeovertoesguy)

Someone posted the program on another thread

 

[MastePoleWhacker]

Gotta do your power lifts . Squats, deadlifts, cleans will help you charge hard and stomp landings instead of washing them out.

leg blasters are great for explosiveness and endurance

then make sure you’re running or riding bikes for cardio

 

[Swervo]

skateboard

 

[DayMan]

Hike bike or run. You'd have to put a gun to my head to pick up and set down heavy things inside a gym. Unless I was getting paid to ski and perform well, which I'm not.

Bad take alert

I genuinely believe everyone should lift weights, such a game changer for injury prevention if you're going to be charging on skis/bike/whatever and also huge mental health benefits

 

[Goretex_Vidal]

Bad take alert

I genuinely believe everyone should lift weights, such a game changer for injury prevention if you're going to be charging on skis/bike/whatever and also huge mental health benefits

Amen. When I snapped my humerus in two last season my surgeon told me the only reason I hadn’t suffered a compound fracture was because the muscle which I’d built from light strength training held the two pieces of bone relatively in place within the arm. Also helps bones heal faster bc of increased blood flow to the muscles boosts bone regeneration

 

[Diub]

About a day after my first ski day I just evaluate which muscles are sore. In my mind, whatever muscle is sore is what is being worked the most. So pay special attention to that area. Stretch, foam roll, soak in epsom, ice if needed, etc. Then strengthen the area if you have time. The last thing you want to do is injure yourself from overwork.

 

[chumbawumba]

if you have access to a good gym, definitely go.

leg press is def the best for building ski muscles. leg curl / extension is solid too, same with calf raise. I tend to alternate between those four machines on leg days. hiking with a decent pack load is also a great way to go.

just stretching alone will greatly reduce risk of injury if thats all your worried about. building muscle can help reduce injury as well, but i mostly benefit performance wise in terms of added muscle.

super under rated for skiing tho is working your core. will help a lot with balance / stability

 

[CaIeb]

gym

 

[armchair_skier]

 

[SkierPT]

Strength is king for injury risk reduction. Much more effective than stretching and endurance exercise.

Heavy squats, deadlifts, calf raises >>>>>

 

[cool_name]

Ideally you would spend the summer lifting heavy and running slow, transitioning into plyometrics and interval training in the fall.

Its almost November now though, so what you really need is a crash course program to make you less sore on the first days.

For the crash course you want to focus on plyometrics.

here is a good program from backcountry.com:

“

Mini Leg Blaster

10x Air Squats

5x In-Place Lunges (5x each leg, 10x total)

5x Jumping Lunges (5x each leg, 10x total)

5x Jump Squats

Full Leg Blaster

20x Air Squats

10x In-Place Lunges (10x each leg, 20x total)

10x Jumping Lunges (10x each leg, 20x total)

10x Jump Squats

Work up to 5x Full Leg Blasters, with 30 seconds rest between each effort for your dry land ski training. Be careful. Leg Blasters train eccentric leg strength and can make you terribly sore, so don’t start at the end.

Instead, perform Leg Blasters 3x/week, with at least a day’s rest between training sessions, for the 4 weeks before the season starts. This means 12 total training sessions.

Here’s the progression:

Sessions 1-2

10x Mini Leg Blasters, 30 seconds rest between efforts

Sessions 3-4

2x Full Leg Blasters, then 6x Mini Leg Blasters, 30 seconds rest between efforts

Sessions 5-7

3x Full Leg Blasters, 4x Mini Leg Blasters, 30 seconds between efforts

Sessions 8-10

4x Full Leg Blasters, 2x Mini Leg Blasters, 30 seconds rest between efforts

Sessions 11-12

5x Full Leg Blasters, 30 seconds rest between efforts“https://www.backcountry.com/explore/train-eccentric-leg-strength-for-alpine-skiing

if nothing else just do bunch of jump squats and jump lunges.

 

[jompcock]

Bad take alert

I genuinely believe everyone should lift weights, such a game changer for injury prevention if you're going to be charging on skis/bike/whatever and also huge mental health benefits

Nothing against lifting weights but how is an exercise that works the same muscle groups by means of sport rather than lifting weights inferior? Between touring and/or biking year round my legs don't feel tired or sore at all after a day skiing bell to bell. I do go to the gym for upper body stuff but feel like finding an outdoor activity that works a given muscle group can be a lot more enjoyable than doing it at a gym.

 

[SteezyYeeter]

Nothing against lifting weights but how is an exercise that works the same muscle groups by means of sport rather than lifting weights inferior? Between touring and/or biking year round my legs don't feel tired or sore at all after a day skiing bell to bell. I do go to the gym for upper body stuff but feel like finding an outdoor activity that works a given muscle group can be a lot more enjoyable than doing it at a gym.

Biking and touring focuses on endurance and cardio rather than strength. Not that you're not going to get any stronger, but going to the gym for legs is very important if you want to develop strong muscles.

 

[jompcock]

Biking and touring focuses on endurance and cardio rather than strength. Not that you're not going to get any stronger, but going to the gym for legs is very important if you want to develop strong muscles.

Completely depends on how you ride. If you ride flat xc trails then yeah mostly cardio but powering up steep climbs is a different story.

 

[muffMan.]

Dude just do leg blasters everyday and you’ll be set in no time!

Fuckin around but I just bike about everywhere, bmx kills my legs but helps them too. I started climbing and already feeling my core getting stronger which is big along with legs.

 

[MastePoleWhacker]

Completely depends on how you ride. If you ride flat xc trails then yeah mostly cardio but powering up steep climbs is a different story.

I power up steep climbs too, but it still doesn’t build strength nearly as much as powerlifting in my experience. It’s still best to do a mix of both

**This post was edited on Oct 31st 2022 at 11:19:48pm

 

[hud4raptors]

i've actually started doing a lot of back and core excersises along with squats and lunges to hopefully strengthen my body for crashes? just what i've heard guys are doing, so thought i'd give it a try. got a month till opening day so we'll see

 

[hud4raptors]

Nothing against lifting weights but how is an exercise that works the same muscle groups by means of sport rather than lifting weights inferior? Between touring and/or biking year round my legs don't feel tired or sore at all after a day skiing bell to bell. I do go to the gym for upper body stuff but feel like finding an outdoor activity that works a given muscle group can be a lot more enjoyable than doing it at a gym.

rock climbing ad swimming are the ones i've been doing, haven't been hiking regularly but those exercises make sense

**This post was edited on Oct 31st 2022 at 11:26:42pm