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Don't Challenge Slopes
Without Conditioning First
By Wayne L. Westcott |
Quincy — Is a stronger athlete generally a better
athlete? Yes. Is skiing an athletic event? Yes. Does is
therefore make sense that a stronger skier should be a
better skier? Absolutely. In my analysis, downhill skiing is
about equally dependent on three physical abilities, namely,
strength, coordination and balance.
Strength
The predominant physical requisite for successful
downhill skiing is muscular strength. Everyone understands
that leg strength is essential, but strength is equally
important in the core muscles of the body. The core muscles
include the lower back, which must absorb much of the shock
and stress (especially on bumpy trails); the abdominals,
which transfer forces between the legs and upper body; and
the side (oblique) muscles that regulate the rotary actions
of the hips and torso.
I suggest that you strengthen all your core muscles with
weightstack machine exercises (preferred) or with body
weight resistance. The major advantage of machine strength
training is working against an appropriate level of external
resistance, rather than working against a fixed level of
body weight resistance. The best exercises for developing
comprehensive core strength are the low back machine
(erector spinae muscles, the abdominal machines (rectus
abdominis muscles), and the rotary torso machine (oblique
muscles).
If these machines are not accessible, you can perform floor
lying trunk extensions for the erector spinae muscles, and
twisting trunk curls to concurrently train the rectus
abdominis and oblique muscles. The trunk extension is
performed by lying face-down on a carpet, placing your hands
under your chin, then contracting your lower back muscles to
lift your chest a few inches above the floor. The twisting
trunk curl is performed by lying face-up on a carpet,
placing your hands behind your head, then contracting your
abdominal to lift your upper back a few inches above the
floor. To involve your oblique muscles, bring one knee
backwards each time you curl your torso upward. Alternate
touching (or attempting to touch) your right elbow to your
left knee, and your left elbow to your right knee.
Perform these core conditioning exercises in a slow and
controlled manner, taking about four seconds for every
repetition (two seconds up and two seconds down). When you
can complete 10 good trunk extensions and 20 good twisting
trunk curls you should be ready for some satisfying downhill
skiing.
For your legs, I recommend the leg extension machine for
your front thigh (quadriceps) muscles, the leg curl machine
for your rear thigh (hamstring) muscles, the hip adduction
machine for your inner thigh (adductor) muscles, the hip
abduction machine for your outer thigh (abductor) muscles,
and the leg press machine that concurrently works almost all
of these major muscle groups. If these machines are
unavailable, I recommend performing squats, preferably with
dumbbells to ensure sufficient resistance. Begin dumbbell
squats in a standing position with feet about shoulder width
apart and dumbbells in hands along thighs. Descend slowly
(about two seconds) by lowering your hips downward and
backward until your thighs are approximately parallel to
the floor. Pause momentarily, then return to a standing
position in about two seconds. The dumbbell squat
concurrently works your front thigh, rear thigh and hip
muscles, making it an excellent conditioning exercise for
downhill skiing. Use a resistance that enables you to
complete 15 to 20 properly performed squats.
Coordination
Coordination is the ability to engage several muscle
groups simultaneously or sequentially to produce smooth
locomotor movements. In essence, good coordination means
that you are working your muscles together (helping each
other), rather than working your muscles against each other
and using more energy in the process. Coordination can be
generally enhanced by performing a variety of hopping,
jumping, and side-to-side movement drills. Put some tape
marks on the floor and use your imagination to make
coordinated movement actions without touching the tapes.
Balance
We have found that leg strengthening exercises also improve
standing balance, by as much as 30 to 50 percent. Begin your
balance training by standing on one leg, then performing
partial squats (body weight only) with one leg. When these
balance tasks become easy, try doing the same exercises with
your eyes closed. A more challenging balance task is to move
your upper body into various postures while balancing on one
leg. Of course, you may devise many other balance
activities, like standing on your toes or on your heels.
Just be careful to avoid any balance skill that could result
in injury, like trying to stand on a ball, which offers no
advantage for skiing performance. |
About The Author
Wayne L. Westcott, Ph.D., is fitness research
director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, and author of 20
books on strength training.
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