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Thigh Pain

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I get terrible burning pain in my thighs when skiing. Anybody else experience this and what can I do about it?

Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
jb1970, Get fit, stop leaning back, get well fitted boots, warm up before skiing, read the Naked Ape. Twisted Evil
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Take up snowboarding!
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jb1970, do you take lessons? Improving your technique would probably make the biggest difference. That's what I've found, over the years.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Stop skiing and find a bar Little Angel
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Stretch those quads thoroughl after skiing as well as before. I used to suffer really badly, fitness had/has something to do with it, but poor technique is an even bigger factor.
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Get fit certainly. Then booking some lessons with easiski may help. Under her guidance, bringing my weight forward helped my quads a lot.

And no, mods, I am not on commission from easiski Little Angel
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Buy an exercise bike and actually use it: too many of them end up as clothes-horses!


Last edited by After all it is free Go on u know u want to! on Thu 18-05-06 15:01; edited 1 time in total
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If you have the money to spend and if you want aerobic fitness, development of specific muscles and improvement in technique (the most important factor, IMO), buy a Skier's Edge machine.

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jb1970, Look at Hibernia's post on http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=15706, & look towards the end - has a bit on quads & thigh burn! Also make sure you are adequately hydrated!
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That looks a nifty bit of kit. How much is it ??
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Sparkygirl, there are a range of models and accessories. Prices range from about £1,000 to £3,000 from memory. Here's the web site with more details. Mine is the mid-range "Big Mountain" model, with a computer (which measures number of turns, percentage of max travel on each turn, calories burned, etc) a balance bar which replaces the poles and a "slope simulator", which sort of forces you to adopt a correct posture or fall off (that function can be disabed)! Actually, you soon notice how tired you get if your weight isn't properly centred. Anyway, my version came in at almost exactly £2k (in January).

I can thoroughly recommend it, and my instructor friends are impressed too!

Graham Bell is the UK distributor.

It's very solidly engineered, and also fun to assemble, if you like that sort of thing.
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laundryman, is it a noisy to use? I have a cross-trainer in my study (which is upstairs) and it's quiet enough to be used without disturbing anyone else in the house. Is the Skier's Edge quiet? Could it be used upstairs without shaking the whole house, or does it need a solid floor to base it on?
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You know it makes sense.
rob@rar.org.uk, that's difficult for me to say; it does make some noise, but I'm not very conscious of it, because it's in a detached garage and I know I'm not disturbing anyone. In addition, I'm soon in that 'zen' state that the endorphins induce! When I'm looking at other people using it, I'm generally talking about technique and such like, so it's not as though I'm trying to concentrate on anything else.

It's on a solid concrete floor, so again no worries there; I think it would be borderline on floorboards in an upstairs room.

Sorry I can't be more specific.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
laundryman, rob@rar.org.uk, yes it's a little bit noisy - but not excessively so. If you really go for it it can move about too - even on a 'sticky' surface. When I'm in the gym and there's a music programme on the tv, I can still listen without turning the volume up too high. Ours is on a judo mat on floorboards insulated from a concrete floor, in a virtually soundproofed basement, so I can't say how sound would carry if it were in a room elsewhere in the house.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
PG wrote:
If you really go for it it can move about too - even on a 'sticky' surface.

Yes, that's true.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I do have some reservations about the skiers edge, in terms of advanced skiing technique refinement.

It's a great machine for conditioning, patterning certain movements, trains extension & retraction etc.

But for me, it's missing the element that most aspiring skiers miss, that is the foot/leg rotation or pivoting movement. Crucial in finishing those turns off.

Also the ability to move the outside ski/leg through the completion of the turn, ie; fore-aft movement patterning.

Don't get me wrong it's a great machine, and has it's place. It's just that I've had to fix so *many* people that have just got used to pushing their feet/skis out laterally.


Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Thu 18-05-06 17:20; edited 1 time in total
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veeeight, I agree - it would be great if the foot plates had that extra degree of freedom - especially if, like the "slope" tilt, it could be constrained within adjustable limits.
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jb1970, Coming in a little late on this one - could be a number of things - most mentioned by other people earlier. With me it is over-tight hamstrings - essentially a stretching issue. I get it regardless of whether I'm skiing well or backseat driving - although being in the backseat is a killer.

The point with this one is it is not something that instructors tend to notice when you are skiing - largely because you have ski pants on. It was first spotted with me on a skier's edge machine - more than one use for the things. Maybe worth thinking about when you've eliminated the obvious.
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Quote:

With me it is over-tight hamstrings


The normal symptom for tight hamstrings is a lower back pain/ache, in skiing.


Quote:

not something that instructors tend to notice when you are skiing


Trust me, I do! Or rather the ones with knowledge in biomechanics do.
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have a look at quadriceps strenghts paragraph in this article ( you need to scroll down )

http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/news/item.asp?intCategoryID=1&intItemID=3811
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Spent a couple of hours at a lecture by the resident osteopath and biomechanics expert at my daughter's school this afternoon. A real eye opener. Makes you wonder just how much pain and injury can be avoided by correct posture, safe stretching, balanced poise. And so many so-called stretching exercises we do just put massive and dangerous pressure on parts of the spine for example, rather than achieving the goal of extra flexibility.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
If I get this - and I do - it is a mistake in my technique: too much leaning to the back. Stand up better and have the weight in the middle, not in the back. That gives you tons more strength in a few seconds. The more your weight is in the back, the more you'll burn your thighs, the more you make mistakes and lean back probably and just get into a vicious circle of suffering! Trust me, I know from experience!
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I get this, but much less now - Euan did me some good (oops...who I met er..somewhere..but not at any SH event near the end of the season or anything...rolling eyes)

It was a case of bend a bit more at the knees, hips forward, so not leaning back as much - you end up holding yourself with your quads otherwise.
Still get it when I'm tired and the technique goes out the window though.
Squats & lunges with weights are good too, get in a body pump class down the gym.
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Nick Zotov, you sure you're not on commission? I need another lesson.
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Helen Beaumont, yup. And do have one - or book a session. Some of the most effective instruction I've ever had. Plain-speaking style - but I am sure you'd cope. Oh - and Lutins bar in the evening alert. Very Happy
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Quote:

And so many so-called stretching exercises we do just put massive and dangerous pressure on parts


Couldn't agree more. And please - no stretching cold muscles. Shocked


Quote:

It was a case of bend a bit more at the knees


Do you mean ankles?
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
veeeight wrote:
Quote:

It was a case of bend a bit more at the knees


Do you mean ankles?


Do our (North) American cousins use a different word for knees, then? That must be reeeallly confusing rolling eyes wink
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
jb1970, there's only one reason for thigh pain when skiing - your weight is too far back. No other reason at all. I don't remember this being an issue in LDA, but you've skiied a couple of weeks since - was it? I'm sure you didn't mention it! Anyway, there are lots of positioning exercises you can do which will put it right on their own (providing you actually do them). PM me if you're thinking of skiing before the PSB (you said you might come this year). Very Happy
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I get bad thigh burn as well, I did not think it was my fitness as I am a very active runner/gym user.
This thread now makes it clear that is my technique. As I am hoping to go the PSB. easiski, I may just give you a PM later in the year when I can confirm my attendance, plus you could teach me how to ski down nursery slopes without face planting Wink
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 Poster: A snowHead
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easiski My weight probably is too far back. This wasn't an issue for me in LDA (at least not all the time!). When I took some private lessons in Selva in February, the instructor told me to be more "forward". Obviously, I just to have to try and maintain this as it is too easy to get into the habit of leaning too far back thus putting too much weight on the thighs. Would lunges and squatting exercises help to strengthen my thighs?

Don't know if I am coming to LDA this year, but hope to go to the EOSB.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Quote:

Do our (North) American cousins use a different word for knees, then? That must be reeeallly confusing



Just clarifying Very Happy


After all, if you just put more bend in the knees, this puts your stance further back, which leads to more thigh burn! rolling eyes

If you flex your ankles more, and proportionaly follow with the other lower joints, this keeps your stance centred!

Short reply, I'm just out off skiing for the morning. Will digest any responses later! NehNeh
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jb1970, Exercises would help to strengthen the thighs, but no matter how strong your thigh muscels are, if you have your hips behind your heels you'll get aching legs! The thing is, many people, when told to "get forward" try to lean the upper body forward, which often results in the bottom sticking out and back to counter-balance! Try to stand up from the knee, with your ankle flexed. this will keep your hips sufficiently far forward. However you do need to do certain exercises while skiing, otherwise you'll become very stiff and "robotic" in your efforts to stay in the right place. I'l PM you tomorrow with a couple of things you can do between skiing trips. Laughing Laughing
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Quote:

I'l PM you tomorrow with a couple of things you can do between skiing trips.

easiski, could you post them in this thread? A lot of us could probably benefit.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
easiski wrote:
jb1970, Exercises would help to strengthen the thighs, but no matter how strong your thigh muscels are, if you have your hips behind your heels you'll get aching legs! The thing is, many people, when told to "get forward" try to lean the upper body forward, which often results in the bottom sticking out and back to counter-balance! Try to stand up from the knee, with your ankle flexed. this will keep your hips sufficiently far forward. However you do need to do certain exercises while skiing, otherwise you'll become very stiff and "robotic" in your efforts to stay in the right place. I'l PM you tomorrow with a couple of things you can do between skiing trips. Laughing Laughing


Thanks very much, that would be really appreciated. Smile
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pam w, No - this is a secret exercise!!!!! I'll PM you if you like, but you don't have this issue do you???
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Similar posts were aired upon in the SCGB forum last November and I will make the same statement now as I did then. The quadriceps muscle group play a small part in the sport of downhill skiing. They are certainly not the main muscle group used in skiing. This misconception seems to be shared not only by a great percentage of skiers but also by many ski fitness instructors. I've lost count in the amount of skiers that have said to me that no matter how much they work on their quads & Hams before going skiing, they still suffer from burning thighs whilst skiing and their legs are knackered at the end of a skiing day. I'm not surprised... This misconception not only leads to bad skiing posture, but also potential irreparable knee injuries. Anyway, here are a few eye openers rolling eyes
The Muscles of the Upper Leg consists of 4 large muscle groups. When you are taking part in a skiing activity all these 4 muscle groups come into play at one time or another. In the front of your leg you have your Quadriceps. The quadriceps are crucial for optimum performance from a skier when engaged in negotiating bumps (moguls). These are the muscles that straighten and flex the thigh & knee joint when in dynamic action. Virtually acting as pistons when in full motion. But other than that, the quadriceps play no part in the actual sport of downhill skiing.
At the back of your leg you have your hamstrings, they act as antagonists to your quads. In other words they are opposing muscles to the quads, and like their counterparts, they play an important part in keeping your knee caps stabilised whilst in full motion. If you have weak hamstrings and strong quads, or visa versa, their is a very high potential of knee injury.
The large muscle group that makes up the inside of your leg (groin) are the Adductors. This muscle group acts as the prime movers for downhill skiing. This is the muscle group that performs the mechanics of skiing. The adduction, flexion and rotation of thigh, hip, knees and tibia are executed in one smooth and concerted movement. The adductors come into full play when you are steering your skis, when you are parallel skiing, carving, edging, slip sliding, skidding, herringboning, edging uphill sideways and emergency stops. The large muscle group on the outside of your leg are the abductors, they act as antagonists to the adductors.
So for next season, i strongly advise all those who suffer from burning thighs and leg fatigue and minor knee problems to make your adductors as your priority when employing ski fitness conditioning exercises.
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Stephen Neal, I've been using the open and close machines in the gym... although as a bloke they can be damned awkward getting on and off them hehehe rolling eyes
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Scarpa, I use to call them the "woman’s machines" for the obvious reasons Smile but I have start to use them now.
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Nick_C, I do use the
Quote:

woman’s machines"
in the gym but Stephen Neal, what sort of weights and what amount of repitition should I be doing snowHead
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