Fit into the ski season: 10 exercises to optimally get ready for the ski season

Summer | Skiing
08/28/2024
created by Martin Patsch

Winter is coming! We are looking forward to our first turns in the snow. To really enjoy a day on the slopes or a ski holiday, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Good skiing technique, along with well-maintained ski equipment, is the basis for good physical fitness to get through the winter without injury. Skiing demands a lot from our body in several areas: power, coordination and balance (stability), flexibility (stretching), stamina.

A well-trained skier not only has strength in the legs. The torso must also be well-trained to give us stability and make skiing safe. A good coordination of our movements and balance helps us to react swiftly while skiing and to be able to get down into the valley on different types of snow and in different slope conditions. Skiing requires a great deal of stability from our joints. The better we can stabilise our leg and trunk muscles, the better we can react to terrain transitions and changing piste, snow and visibility conditions. Furthermore, a good stretching ability of our muscles is necessary to keep the risk of injury as low as possible. The more flexible we are in our joints, the better/ faster we can react in difficult situations.

Why do skiers need stamina?

We ski only downhill and can recover on the lift or in the gondola. That’s only partly true. I often answer that a day of skiing consists of more than 1 or 2 downhill runs and a ski holiday is usually longer than 1 day. The risk of injury is greatest at the end of a day skiing or at the end of a skiing week (4-5 days of skiing).

The more persistently our cardiovascular system is trained, the faster we recover from the strain and can still enjoy the ski day, the ski week or the whole winter to the last downhill run. Endurance training should not be missing from the training plan throughout the year, whether you opt for cycling, running, hiking, etc... endurance training can be varied. An endurance unit of at least one hour at a time should be part of the training plan at least twice a week.

I would like to use the following exercises to motivate you to train 2-3 times a week before your first day of skiing. To warm up, I recommend a short (approx. 15min) easy endurance unit with cycling (ergometer) or running.

Have fun doing my exercises:

Frau macht Kniebeuge einbeinig auf einer Stufe seitlich Knie abwechselnd gebeugt gestreckt
1. Leg strength – front thigh muscles and buttocks
+ One leg squat on one step sideways
+ Pay attention to your leg axis: ankle joint - knee - and hip joint should run in an imaginary line
+ No X- or O-legs
+ Pay attention to a controlled slow execution of the exercise
+ Do not put your foot in the air on the ground - just tap
+ 10-15 reps on each side, short break, 3 sets right/left
Frau in Rückenlage Becken einmal gehoben einmal gesenkt auf türkiser Sportmatte
2. Leg strength – hamstrings
+ Starting position: supine
+ Pelvis lift – start with both legs, lower the pelvis and lift it again - do not put it on the ground!
+ Variant: more difficult: one-legged
+ 10-15 reps, break, 3 series right/left
Frau hebt und senkt Waden auf einer Stufe
3. Leg strength – calf muscles
+ Calf raises with straight knees
+ Place toes of both legs on the step
+ Variant: more difficult on one leg (make sure your body is straight)
+ 10-15 reps on each side, break, 3 series (alternating between right and left for the more difficult variant)
Frau in Plank Position auf türkiser Sportmatte
4. Torso
+ Plank
+ Pay attention to a straight body axis: shoulders, pelvis, knees and heels
+ Approx.. 45 seconds, break, 3 series
Frau in seitlicher Plank Position auf türkiser Sportmatte hebt und senkt Becken
5. Torso sideways
+ Plank sideways – elbow push up
+ Legs on top of each other, form an imaginary straight line from heel to knee, hip to shoulder
+ Approx. 30 seconds / sideways, break, 3 series
Frau in diagonalem 4Füßer Stand rechter Arm und linkes Bein sind gestreckt dann rechter Ellbogen und linkes Knie treffen sich unter dem Bauch
6. Back muscles
+ Starting position: diagonal 4-foot stand
+ Hands vertically under shoulders; knees vertically under hips
+ Right/left elbows and left/right knees meet under the stomach
—> Stretch the right/left arm and left/right leg diagonally to stretch the trunk
+ Variant: Lift toes off the mat from the knee of the foot you are standing on (maintain balance)
+ 15 reps on each diagonal, break, 3 series
Frau in Einbeinstand mit leicht gebeugtem rechten Knie linker Fuß nach hinten gestreckt und dann nach vorne gestreckt auf türkiser Sportmatte
7. Balance / coordination
+ Starting position: stand on one leg with slightly bent knees (keep the knee angle constant)
+ Stretch the other leg in the air alternately forwards and backwards
+ 10 reps on each side, break; 3 series
Frau in Rückenlage in Dreh-/ Dehnlagerung
8. Stretching twisting position in supine position
+ Head and gaze left/right
+ Place bend left/right leg over stretched right/left leg
Frau in Ausgangsstellung "Hund" Fersen ziehen Richtung Boden
9. Back thigh and calf stretch
+ Starting position “dog”: pull your heels towards the floor
+ Variant: left/right alternating
Frau in Grätschstand dehnt seitlichen Rumpf durch ziehen eines Arms über den Kopf zur Gegenseite
10. Trunk stretch sideways
+ Starting position: straddle
+ Pull one arm over your head to the other side; other arm supporting at the hip

With this short programme you are sure to be fit for the slopes! You don't have to do all the exercises in one go, but regularity is what makes a good athlete. But the stretching program should never be missing. I recommend exercising 2 to 3 times a week….

As a long-time physiotherapist for our ÖSV national team and father of 2 children who are enthusiastic about sports and skiing, skiing is very important to me. In my own practice, I not only treat people after injuries, injury prevention is very important to me. It is precisely for this reason that I motivate every amateur skier to train so that every day of skiing can become an unforgettable experience.

Martin Patsch – Physiotherapist with  “physiopatsch” practice in Axams

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