You spend your whole summer thinking about skiing and riding, doing box jumps and leg blasters so that you arrive at the mountain on opening day ready to absolutely rip! Right…? Yeah, neither do we. But our partners at Marshall Medical would really like to see you start your season strong, so that you can ride injury-free all winter long. Here are a few preseason training tips to strengthen your muscles and prevent a gnarly injury from cutting short your epic season. They also included a few stretches to keep in your back pocket for when winter kicks into gear so you can start each day on the hill loose and limber. Study up!
1. Strengthen Your Muscles, Improve Your Skiing
Maintaining strength is crucial to preventing injury throughout the skiing and riding season.
There are two exercises that Marshall Medical recommends for your quads, hips and hamstrings.
The first exercise will focus on the quads. Start by sitting on a chair, pop a heel to help you balance, and then push off your other foot to stand up before slowly coming back down to a seated position, releasing tension through the quads. This is like a pistol squat, but with a chair for support. Work your way up to lifting up your heel while slowly lowering your glutes to the floor.
The second exercise will focus on your hips and hamstrings. Start by standing, then plunge one hand toward your knee like you’re deadlifting. Once you get comfortable, you can float your back leg behind you. Focus on keeping your chest up and back straight with your knees positioned slightly over your toes, and push your hips and glutes backwards while lowering your legs. This is a Romanian deadlift, for those familiar with weightlifting.
2. Don’t Ride Stiff
Time in the car can stiffen your muscles. Here’s a guide on how to release some tension before you begin your day. Start in a chair—you can do this in your car seat with the door open— and cross one ankle in front of the other. Begin to learn forward and feel the stretch in your hips. Remember to always equal out your exercises by stretching out each side.
Next, stretch out your Hip Flexors. Start by setting one foot on the seat of the chair while rocking your knees over your toes, feeling the stretch in your hip flexors.
Finally, you can warm up your calves by finding a stairwell and use one foot at a time to put pressure on the back of the extended foot.
Now that you’re warmed up, you can go out and enjoy your day on the mountain.
