Ski exercises for long distances

A snowHead

Talking from a sports coaching perspective (I don't consider my ski prowess puts me anywhere near capable of commenting on ski technique,) being fitter is going to help to make up for some lack of technique. Better technique will make it easier, it's part of the whole.

Let's be honest if someone said there thighs burned on a run during a hill climb, we'd all say they needed to get fitter, improve their stamina and strength. As part of the whole they may have a problem with the shoes they're wearing, and possibly a problem with their gaite or running technique.

It's also possible that anyone doing that same run and hill climb would experiance similar and varying levels of thigh burn or discomfort. At the extremes, elite level athletes suffer lactic acid build up, and that is not because they are unfit or lack technique, they have different thresholds of tollerance and different approaches to dealing with this, including just trying to ignore it.

Fitness wise a sensible, incremental program of interval training that stresses the quads would be a good idea. Sensible and incremental so you don't injure yourself or burn yourself out (so you don't want to do any more - leave the session knowing you could do a bit more next time, but not thinking you are busted.) For example, 1 min static cycling, with 2 mins rest, start by repeating this 6 times (18mins), then move on to trying increasing the distance in the 1 min cycle or maybe increasing the number of repetitions (depends on how much time you have for this.)

A snowHead

sparklies, maybe ask your Hemel instructor specifically to look at fore-aft balance? Have you had physio for the pelvic instability/weak core? My daughter had that pelvic problem (forget the name,,,,) in pregnancy and had some very specific, focussed, physio which helped a lot. Tight quads you can stretch - just take it easy. Pilates is famously good for core muscles but can be taught very badly and do more harm than good. If you haven't tried it, or have tried with a bad teacher who has put you off, try to find a recommendation for someone you can trust and have some 1:1 sessions.

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As has been pointed out above, improving your skiing will help as much as getting fit. I normally ski 6-7 hours a day with a very brief lunch and rarely have other stops and I never feel tired. We tend to get off a lift, ski the run to the next lift and repeat. I (jokingly) tell the wife that the lifts are for recovery. I'm fairly fit I suppose but the eye opener was when I wore my heart rate monitor to find out that I was burning very few extra calories indeed. This explains why when I go away I normally put on a few pounds as the view that skiing burns of loads of calories is for many people a bit of a fallacy.

The moral of the story is that the better you ski, the easier it will be.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Thanks pam w, I think I will next time I go. Slight issue being that right now I am 14 weeks with another future skier which is outside my comfort zone now (I went in the first trimester, trying not to be sick on the lifts..!) I won't be able to go for another six months and a trip out this season is not happening obviously!! But this is our last one and after I've healed from this one, I've vowed to tackle all the crap that pregnancy has done to my body for once and for all and reclaim my body. I never did much before because we always had this final one planned and pregnancy just undoes all your good work.

I suspect SPD/PGP is the name you're looking for.. it's a killer mentally for otherwise very active women, and leaves me in a wheelchair in the third trimester. It's part of the reason I love to be so active and do stuff like skiing when I'm not pregnant, because spending time in a wheelchair really shows you what you take for granted when you're not.

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sparklies, really sorry to hear that.

I'm not fit but cycle up the hills around here for 3 months before I go. Only about 1/2 hour per day (or a bit more the last month) but seems just about enough. Might need something more now since I just hit 65.

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sparklies, I hope your pregnancy isn't too much of a burden - it does sound miserable; my daughter was not that bad, but she was distressed not to be able to walk more than a very short distance without a lot of pain. I think you are very brave to embark on another pregnancy knowing that you might well be in a wheelchair for months. Sad

After all it is free

Thanks snowball!

pam w, I hope so too! So far it hasn't been too bad, better than previous ones at this stage so perhaps *touch wood* this bodes well for later on.. although I am quite sure I won't be walking a lot! It helps I'm currently at home with the children so I don't need to commute apart from a nice short walk to the school. It'll all be worth it in the end, the worst part is only a few months. Knowing an end is in sight makes it a lot easier to deal with.

It is distressing feeling like your body is letting you down in that way - I am sorry your daughter had to suffer through it too.

If they give out certificates... well perhaps that's why I quit skiing when they invented snowboards wink

It's easy to see the difference fitness makes if you ride with two groups of people one week apart. If you start your season with the week 1 group, then by the time the week 2 group arrives you'll notice immediately how much slower they seem. Your one week of slope fitness is hugely noticeable. So fitness is an important issue, even if you have good technique.

If I ride hard at a resort with a board which requires a lot of rider input to work, then at the end of the day my ability to drive the thing drops off and my performance goes down. I usually stop at that point. You can avoid that completely if you ride soft boards which don't require you to drive them quite so hard, or just ride less.

In my experience a lot of holiday skiers also get "lunch legs", which is similar but caused by smoked salmon sandwiches. This one you can ride through.

Powder "thigh burn" could be caused by fitness, although if you still have it beyond the first week or so then it's probably technique.

I'm often surprised when I ride at a resort with people who stop on the runs. It's much more fun and safer to just ride down and as someone here said, rest on the lifts. But different people want different things - you do get smokers at resorts for example, and I can't imagine COPD sufferers getting far with that.

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sparklies,

Mrs M was in a wheelchair at the end of both pregnancies. She couldn't walk at all. It's still not perfect now, but I blame her cross country habits for that Toofy Grin

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philwig, I think boarding is more physically demanding than skiing. My son does both (well) but if he's feeling lazy (and especially if the snow is a bit hard and tired) he will ski.

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musher, ha ha, I am not surprised! I need a lot more fitness to consider cross country. It is remarkable how the body bounces back to a usable (albeit uncomfortable) state in most cases quite quickly. I learned to ski between children, yet the thought of skiing in pregnancy just makes me wince. Especially for beginners doing snowploughs.. argh! Missing it already though, and it's not even been three weeks since my last lesson. I also knew it was time to quit when I couldn't do up my ski trousers any more!!

You know it makes sense.

Has the OP been frightened off by talk of his possible need to improve technique?

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A snowHead

I already bought three pairs this year. I think my husband would kill me if I'd bought another one! Although no doubt I will have to when I return.. I'll be a few sizes bigger to begin with. And it'll be sale season too. What a shame Toofy Grin

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Ski exercises for long distances

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