Preparing for the ski season with training is essential for several reasons:
1. Helps prevent injuries: A preseason ski conditioning workout can help you ski better, stay out longer, and have more fun. The plan strengthens the lower-body muscles (quads, hamstrings, glutes) you use most when skiing. It also aims to improve your mobility and balance to help you control your skis better and support areas, such as your knees, that are more prone to skiing injuries.
2. Improves performance: Training for skiing can help you perform better on the slopes. Various low-intensity exercises are the best way to train the aerobic system for skiing. Being fit in strength, aerobic fitness (cardio), and flexibility will allow you to ski all day without risk of injury or exhaustion.
3. Builds strength: Building strength for skiing is essential to avoid injury and improve performance. It is best to begin by building up the time you train and work up to a goal, then add weight to continue adding difficulty to your workouts. For skiing, you will want to focus on specific muscle groups that are especially important.
4. Increases endurance: Skiing requires a lot of endurance, and training for skiing can help increase your endurance. Aerobic fitness is essential for skiing; low-intensity exercises such as hiking can help build endurance.
5. Improves balance and coordination: Skiing requires good balance and coordination, and training for skiing can help improve these skills. Exercises such as leg blasters, band walks, and weighted single-leg box squats can help improve balance and coordination.
In summary, training for the ski season is important because it helps prevent injuries, improves performance, builds strength, increases endurance, and improves balance and coordination. Training for skiing can involve low-intensity exercises, strength training, and mobility work and should be started several weeks before the ski season begins.
