Ski season is here and it's time to get your muscles ready before you hit the slopes.
The following dry land training workout will train the muscles involved in the most common movements in skiing:
- Isometric Narrow Squatting -- keeping knees close together (quads, glutes)
- Twisting -- trunk rotation with leg balance and control (obliques, quads, hips)
- Skating -- core stability and upper body power (triceps, shoulders, core)
This circuit calls for very short rest periods between moves to keep your heart rate in an aerobic state for the entire workout. Perform each exercise as recommended in the progression below. After you have completed one set of each exercise, take a 1-minute rest. Repeat the circuit three times.
Equipment needed:
- Perfect Pushup
- Perfect Pullup
- Stopwatch or Perfect Counter
Move 1: Superset Squat-Hold ("Feel the Burn!")
How: Bring the Perfect Pullup bar to down position, feet hip-distance apart. Holding the bar for assistance, slowly lower hips into a squat until thighs are parallel with the ground. Hold, then return to the starting position.
The "down" motion should take 4 seconds, the "hold" another 4 seconds, and the "up" motion is 2 seconds. Each rep will be a total of 10 seconds.
Muscles Targeted: quads, hamstrings
Reps: 6 reps at 10 sec. each (1 minute total)
Move 2: Mogul Squats
How: With feet and Pullup Bar in the same position as the squat hold, pivot on balls of feet to the left until they form a 45° angle to the bar, then set feet on ground. Perform a squat from this position. Explode out of the squat quickly, (almost like a hop) while maintaining ground contact with the balls of your feet. As your weight comes up pivot on balls of feet so that feet are now angled to the bar 45° to the right. Perform a squat from this new position. Repeat, alternating sides, creating a continuous movement
Muscles Targeted: quads, glutes, obliques
Reps: Alternate sides for 1 minute