Having a goal of a great trip down the road, should help make your training easier to do consistently, and should make the trip much more enjoyable. But we can’t forget to stretch.
Strength and flexibility focusing on the legs and trunk are vital in injury prevention specific for skiing. And balance training has been shown to be the single most important exercise for preventing ACL tears in women. Flexibility or stretching exercises should be done daily. 2 sets of each exercise holding for 60 seconds each is a good guideline. Below are some major muscle groups that need to be focused on:
- Hamstring stretches – statically in supine or sitting. Or dynamically in standing with leg swings if you are more advanced:
- Achilles stretches – with heel off a stair or curb, or with hands on the wall in a “lunge” position.
- Quad stretches – in standing or prone holding ankle with your hand or a towel if you can’t reach your ankle.
- Single and double knee to chest – in supine to stretch the lower back.
Below are 2 balance exercises that can also be done daily, 2 sets of each one for 60 seconds each:
- Standing on one leg, perform mini squats
- Single leg hop, hold landing for 5 seconds, repeat
In addition to a conditioning program, skiers need to adequately warm up – an activity that is often neglected with skiing. No one would think of running out on the football field or onto the basketball court without warming up first. But with skiing, we typically sit in the car for an hour or more to get to the slopes, and then stand in line for tickets and for the lift, before finally sitting on the chair for several minutes. By the time we have arrived on the top of the hill, we are often stiff and cold. It’s important for us to remember to warm up and stretch before starting down the hill. Often an easy, predictable run is a good idea before heading to the more challenging terrain. The few minutes spent warming up will be well worthwhile in injury prevention.