Fitness for Ski Instructor Training: Session 5 8/6/15

Hi all, we hope you have enjoyed a few days off and that any aching muscles are starting to recover. It is really important to warm up and cool down thoroughly when training like this. Your warm up and cool down should include range of motion exercises to ensure that you maintain the ability to perform any movement properly. A great resource for this type of exercise is Mobility WOD. There is a huge amount of free online material for you to watch or if you fancy it you can join MWod Pro and get daily mobility workouts.

For any one that has fallen behind you can find the full archive of workouts on our Fitness for Ski Instructor Training blog tag.

Today we are back looking at lower body and core strength. However we are not going to be focusing on the movements that are immediately perhaps the ones that jump to mind such as squats, lunges or other movements that focus on the quadriceps. Instead we are going to look at the supporting muscles that either work to support or work in opposition to the quads. With out developing these muscles we are asking for an injury, we can not perform a heavy squat unless our lower back and core are strong enough to manage the load. Similarly if we have very strong quads and relatively weak hamstrings we are more likely to see knee/hamstring/ligament injuries including those every skier dreads to the ACL. For more information on what an imbalance between quad and hamstring strength may mean for you check out this article.

Please remember that at the moment we are building a base level fitness as soon as you find yourself compromising form or range of movement to complete a lift STOP. All continuing past this point does is put you at increased risk of injury and even if you do not get hurt you are just conditioning poor movement patterns.

Warm up

500m Row @ 75% of your fastest 500m pace.

Active stretch – You can perform your own movements or alternatively why not try this short form A Yoga practise from the guys at Sealfit. It is a great way to loosen your hamstrings and back. We would like to say thank you to Seal fit for having this resource online for free and letting any one use it.

a great way to loosen up for skiing

 

3 minutes of body weight movements

Main Resistance Training

Good Mornings – Sets of 3 reps. Starting light and working up to the point where you can no longer safely perform 3 reps. Rest 120 seconds between sets. (Do not compromise form again leave your pride at the door)

when training for skiing it is important to remember your hamstrings. An imbalance between hamstring and quad strength can be costly

Glute ham raise – Perform 3 sets of 8 reps. Rest 90 seconds between sets.

(Try and use as little force as possible from your arms to push your self back up. You will have to use some though so do not worry about that. A friend can also hold your feet for ease)

another exercise for strengthening the hamstrings to avoid injuries while skiing

Dumbbell Swing – Perform 3 sets of 8 reps. Rest 60 seconds between sets.

Dumbell swing demo. A great exercise to improve fitness for skiing

Core Stability

Death by Plank

Set 1 – Perform a plank for 90 seconds.

Rest 90 seconds

Set 2 – Perform a plank for 60 seconds

Rest 60 seconds

Set 3 – Perform a plank for 45 seconds

Rest 45 seconds

Set 4 – Perform a plank for 30 seconds

Rest 30 seconds

Set 5 – Perform a plank for 15 seconds

Cool down

Active stretch and range of motion work followed by a foam roll.

Missed session 4? Find it here.