| When you are in the ski field, tearing up those slopes | | | | want to start your ski holiday and half a day later |
| of fresh powder, you want to stay fit and injury | | | | finish it with an injured knee or back. |
| free for the entire holiday. Most people who plan a | | | | - Many people do the old wall squats (also know as |
| ski trip end up cutting their trip short by a few days | | | | wall sits). Wall squats are good, but NOT GOOD |
| due to an injury. Sometimes they have to give the | | | | ENOUGH. Although it's a better exercise to do than |
| whole ski season up due to that injury! | | | | the machine-based exercises I mentioned earlier, wall |
| A few reasons why we all suffer injuries on the ski | | | | squats are not all that effective to strengthen and |
| field | | | | build your endurance. You see, when you ski, your |
| - We all read skiing magazines featuring "experts" | | | | legs use a huge range of motions, and there are |
| which recommends the wrong ski-workout. These ski | | | | more than a dozen different exercises that are |
| "experts" recommend inefficient exercises that don't | | | | MUCH more effective because they designed to |
| build your legs and core properly thus setting you up | | | | support a whole range of muscles which we need |
| for an injury. | | | | when we flying down those white fresh powder |
| - Ski-specific workout programs include some of | | | | slopes. One of the main problems with most ski |
| these exercises: machine leg presses, machine leg | | | | exercise programs is that they fail to achieve a |
| extensions, machine leg curls. Please do your self a | | | | proper joint strength balance. That means equally |
| big favour and DO NOT follow these exercises as | | | | strengthen your quadriceps hamstrings etc. because |
| they won't help you building up your muscles, | | | | if you do these exercises without considering your |
| strengthen endurance and just set you up for an | | | | main goal, which is to remain strong and healthy on |
| injury. These exercises are simply not applicable for | | | | the ski field, you are wasting your time and money! |
| ski movements | | | | If you will look after your quadriceps more than your |
| - Doing exercises on a smith machine for any sort. | | | | hamstrings or gluteus just because you use your |
| Smith machine movements may (and in most cases | | | | quadriceps way more than the others, you will leave |
| will) cause you an excessive stress on your back or | | | | behind an equally important group of muscles that |
| knee or both. Let me tell you something, you don't | | | | suppose to support you leg motions while skiing. |