{"id":384,"date":"2018-08-30T19:30:20","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T19:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/mtncollectiveblog\/?page_id=384"},"modified":"2019-02-06T22:10:38","modified_gmt":"2019-02-06T22:10:38","slug":"conditioning-for-skiing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/greatnorthamericanskiadventure.com\/index.php\/conditioning-for-skiing\/","title":{"rendered":"Conditioning"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Getting In Shape For Skiing<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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A five or six hour day of skiing can easily involve the equivalent of 3,000 squats. Let that sink in for a bit. If you’re having problems getting your imagination around that, start doing squats. After about five minutes you\u2019ll get it. If you\u2019re an athlete, it may take 10.<\/p>

Lots of avid skiers are ex-professional athletes or current amateur athletes. I came to realize that most of my ski buddies fell into this category. As I got older and larger, I also came to realize that I was their fat friend. My friends trained year round or had jobs that had them physically active outside of ski season.\u00a0I haven\u2019t trained year-round at a sport since college. I was an office jockey for twenty-two years before I had an opportunity to start spending ski seasons on the slopes. I still worked off-season in front of a computer up to 16 hours a day.<\/p>

Every July or August, after the end of ski season, and not working out for four or five months, I\u2019d begin my effort at getting into ski shape.\u00a0Not great shape. Ski shape. Or what I defined as good enough shape to be able to chase my friends over 50 down the slopes without getting killed. My aspirational goal was skiing, turn for turn with one of their kids, for at least one run.<\/p>

My older ski friends were instructors, patrollers and ski bums. Keeping up with them was no small feet. But I could do it, if I worked hard for 4 months in the gym. As for their kids: most of whom periodically competed in extreme contests or were amateur racers, my aspirations were much smaller. One run was all I aspired to. I made that run when conditions were at their best. And, if I was diligent about getting into shape, I\u2019d succeed. Sixteen hundred vertical with an extreme skier. Felt good.<\/p>

I hate the gym as much as I hate working out. So my gym routine or equivalent had to be pretty simple. I took Tae Bo classes. I was fortunate because the founder of Tae Bo, Billy Blanks, has a daughter that lives in my town. If I wanted to enhance my workout, I\u2019d add some free weights, quad exercises and bike work.<\/p>

Michael will offer some simple conditioning options soon, and over time we\u2019ll try and share with you some of the very best ski conditioning exercises we can find. But let\u2019s get started with the basics that you\u2019ll need to know if you want to get smart about ski fitness.<\/p>

The best way to think about ski conditioning is to understand what parts of your body are most involved. With this general knowledge of what parts and muscle groups are most important to great skiing, you can research exercises to help strengthen these parts of your body. Michael and I will also point you in the right direction.<\/p>

To get started, you need to know what parts of the body are most essential to skiing. Although these areas are sometimes described in differing ways, the following areas, and their descriptions will get you started.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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GNASA Best Practices<\/h5>