Now is the time to start your ski fitness programme.

Fitness is very specific – you get fit for what you train for – therefore to make the most of your short time in the mountains you need to train your body to deal with the same stresses (or as close as possible) that you will face in the mountains.  This will:

• Reduce muscle soreness
• Reduce the risk of injury
• Improve performance
• Increase enjoyment

Key features of a ski programme

• Flexibility – only stretch tight muscles to balance posture
• Core stability
• Aerobic fitness (interval training – see below)
• Strength and power
• Power and endurance (higher level skiers)
• Periodisation

Periodisation

Admittedly, many of the benefits of a ‘ski training’ programme will also help you keep fit for the rest of the year.  However, a ski programme will bring the concept of periodisation into your programme to make sure you are peaking at just the right time for your holiday.  Periodisation is the key ingredient for professional athletic training and the lack of it in recreational athletes training is generally the reason for poor results.  Periodisation is simply working on different areas of fitness or different energy systems (different intensities) to complement each other and ensure optimal performance at the desired time.  For example, the ski fitness programme below starts with base level fitness training, progresses to leg strength and then converts this leg strength into power and endurance.

Aerobic training

Once you have a base of aerobic fitness you need to introduce some interval training.  Think about your type of skiing and how best you can train your body’s energy systems for it.  Identify your work to rest ratio when skiing and then try and simulate this in your training. If you ski really hard you’ll be near maximum intensity for 30-120 seconds with about 3 mins rest in between plus sitting on the lift etc.  Therefore, you need to train for short bursts of power with time to recover.  If you are a more gentle skier you might need less intensity but you will still have relatively shorts bursts of hard work mixed in with longer rest periods.

In winter, the gym can be a great place to aerobically train but it can be boring and too consistent.  If you can get involved in an outdoor activity I bet you will complete a far greater amount of aerobic exercise because you’ll enjoy it more.  The key is to find something you enjoy.  So if you like 30 mins on the gym stepper then fine, if you think you might like mountain-biking give it a go! Trail walking, in-line skating, rollerblading and so many other activities that you can get involved in.  Even better try all of them – that’s called cross-training!

Out of interest, from my research, on an average 6 hour skiing day you spend two hours going up, two hours stationary and two hours going down.

Programme Structure

Lets say you have 12 weeks to go before your ski holiday.  Do you do the same training programme each week until the holiday? No, you start off with base training and then progress.  What exactly you do depends on the type of skiing you do and your current level of fitness however a good start would be:

Weeks 1-4

Posture analysis – identify long, weak muscles and short, tight ones and strengthen the long ones and stretch the short ones

Medium intensity aerobic

Total body strength work – major muscles exercises and no machines - 10-15 reps

Core stability

Weeks 4-8

Strength work on legs – 10 reps 2-3 sets – squats, lunges, ball leg curls, step-ups (do not forget upper body but do less than legs) – technique is everything so get a qualified trainer to show you

Aerobic exercise using interval training

Progress core stability programme

Keep stretching tight muscles

Weeks 8-12

Convert leg strength to leg endurance (and possibly power) – 20 reps 2-3 sets – develop functional exercises working through the whole body including the core.

Aerobic exercise using interval training at a higher intensity

Keep stretching tight muscles

Conclusion

Getting fit for a ski holiday is a great way of injecting some variation and enthusiasm into your training programme or to kick start a new regime.  If done correctly a ski fitness programme will transform the enjoyment of the holiday.

This article introduces the key element of periodisation but does not go into detail about how and when to convert strength into power and endurance.  Also flexibility, core stability and functional strength training are the subjects of other articles.  For more information contact Ollie Martin at Take Shape.  Ollie has a BSc Sports Science degree and is a Ski Club GB Gold standard skier.

Before taking up any new exercise programme always consult a doctor.