Why A Customized Sport Specific Plan Is Essential For Alpine Skiers
June 23, 2009 by Jean-Luc Boissonneault
When you go to the doctor’s office does the doctor give you just any medication? One that the general public your age usually needs without any thought to your situation? Of course not, he or she will first determine what the problem is and then customize a solution for you to help you improve.
When it comes to improving skiing performance with exercises it’s the same thing. You shouldn’t just decide to start running or join a gym to perform generic exercises. You need to understand what weaknesses you posses and figure out how to fix them with the appropriate exercises. Only then will you be able to perform the proper exercises to improve your performance in a way that translates to your skiing skills. I’m not talking about a bootcamp style workout where you need to push yourself to the max, I’m talking about a systematic, step-by-step approach that will help you get anywhere from beginner level to wherever you want to take it.
For a ski program to be effective, you must have a good understanding of cross-training, body mechanics, muscle contractions and energy systems used to improve performance.
This may be a lot to figure out at once but it’s crucial not only in improving performance but also in preventing injury. When you consider that injuries to the knees account for 35% of all alpine ski injuries, I would think it would be of great importance to figure out the balance of muscle groups in your lower extremities.
When it comes to cross training, off-snow training should start a week after your ski season is over. The off-season training should start with a general strength phase, followed by a transition to a specific phase as you get closer to the next ski season. If you haven’t started yet, it’s fine but now is a better time than never.
The exercises you choose in your workouts are also very important. As you already know, to be a good skier you need strong legs, and to tell you the truth; many exercises are useless when it comes to transforming your efforts in the gym to performance on the slopes. One of the exercises that has been proven to give a great return for alpine skiers is the box jump. (PS: If your knees are bad there would be a definite modification of this exercise because of the impact that’s involved.)
If we take a closer look at the box jump, you see what kind of muscle contraction is needed: quick, fast, explosive jumping done in a sub-plyometric form using the same muscle group that you would use in skiing. Now contrast this with the general program of someone going in and using the leg press machine. With the leg press machine you would take 3 seconds to lower the weight and 2 seconds to raise the weight. See the difference? Not the same contraction at all.
As you can see there are a lot of details that go into creating a ski specific program and that’s not even considering the 6 main modalities that you must gain: explosive endurance, maximum strength, speed, agility, balance and flexibility. But the benefits of a more effective and safe performance on the slopes will far outweigh the time spent working out if you love skiing.
Jean-Luc is the co-owner of Free Form Fitness personal training centre in Kanata, ON, Canada. He is the author of the book” Abs on the Go” , a speaker and a certified personal trainer (PICPP, IFBB) with 8 years of experience having trained athletes in many different sports. He has helped create many champions from the regional level to the national level. He has also himself placed 1st in Canada as a natural bodybuilder and has placed 7th in the world. He has a passion for helping people succeed and teaches his training team to do the same.
