weight training exercises?

anyone have a weight training routine that they use to keep in shape during the skiing season. i find that for skiing the powder, good strong legs are essential. just wondering what other people do in terms of a leg workout. i currently do:

squat 3 sets 12-15 reps
leg press 3 sets 12-15 reps
lunges 3 sets 12-15 reps
calf raises 3 sets 10-12 reps

in order to build up endurance, I generally give about 1 min between sets and a couple between exercises. i will also do variations of these exercises, such as seated leg presses vs standing. i also switch up exercises often. anyone else have some good ski-specific exercises?

After you are done with your squat routine do the invisible chair against the wall thing. Back flat against the wall, quads parallel to floor, knees at 90 degrees, arms folded across chest. Start with one minute. After a while you can get up to 3min plus and it really helps in ski endurance. If you can't hardly stand up after doing it then you are making progress!

Another variation of my squat routine is 20 rep squats. Start with 60% of your 1 rep max. Do a usual warmup. A warmup set and then do 20reps deep with perfect form. Do not cheat at all. After you get to about rep 15 it's mind over matter. At the start of each rep you will be (or should be ) gasping for breath. Take about 5 or 6 deep gasps between reps and crank out the last 5. If the first routine seems easy that's okay. The next routine (about 4 days or so later depending on your recovery rate etc.) add 10 pounds to the bar. Do this for 6-8 weeks. It's killer!

With 20 rep squats all you do after warmup is the 1 set of twenty. Remember, you build momentum as you add weight over the course of several weeks. This a great anerobic builder. Then do the invisible chair and maybe two or three other excersizes like chins, bench, presses. Rest for couple days and hit it again. It's pretty intense so after about 6 or 8 weeks you need to back off.

Feel the burn...

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SkiOn...

Michael,
That's a good start, you should also include some running or at least stationary bike. You can alternate weights with plyometrics; hopping side to side (one leg and two legged)and box jumps (aerobic steps work well for this). Just don't over do the weights.

RTS

Don't forget about the upper torso. You don't need to lift hard and heavy, just enough to get some tone and increase flexibility. Take a look at those racers in their skin suits, you can see the rounded shoulders and biceps. Smaller than the legs but they are'nt flabby. Abs are important too. I personally like push ups - as many reps as you can before it burns, take a minute off and repeat, about 5 sets. Their cheap and can be done anywhere and anytime.

As for the lower half. This year I have been throwing in some stair running. Going anaerobic on the way up. It helps the quads but by running stairs with landings your also forced to "cut" going up and down. That has improved some side to side strength and lateral flexibility which is especially (to me anyway) important in crud and powder.

I tend to do some slightly more aerobic stuff. My main one is with an upright rower on a lat bar. I put about 70lbs (I'm 200#) on it, and to about 6-8 sets of 40-50 reps at a pretty high speed. But they are only mini squats. I don't go all the way down. I flex just a bit more than I would if I were skiing. I find this really helps with longer bump runs. Your quads won't give out nearly as soon.

I also do twisting crunches to work the abs and obliques (sp?). A strong torso helps a lot.

Kegel? Is that the secret to the Austrian team? Lol

Add OxyUp to your workout and increase your endurance and lessen your recovery time.

Freestylin, what is up with you and this oxycrap? Don't you know you can get bogus scientific studies to come up with any conclusion you want? Stop the spamming of your product here no one wants to listen to it! By the way I have this new product that changes the chemical make up water so it can be frozen and made in to snow at tempatures as high as 90 degrees, all I need is some investors so I can market it to ski resorts and since you are so hip on new and impossible products I thought you might be interested in investing in this revolutionary product. All you have to do is send me a check for a few thousand dollars and you can have part of this amazing product! I have plenty of scientific studies to back these claims up. lol

hey, yo mama had strong kegels last night.

. . . today, i took AKs advice and did a set of 20 squats. except, I did it reverse pyramid style, eventually dropping down to about 20% of my max weight. youre right, it was KILLER! i could barely drive back home.

Oh yah...20rep squats will make you a man...or make you wish you were...

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SkiOn...

hey is your name really Michael Hunt or do you just post under that name?

Hummm.. I HATE weight training(I still do it anyway)..

But what I use to do a lot of was Ballet.. (Yes boys.. Ballet! ) Not only does it condition and build the muscles but it also teaches your center of balance,which is in your butt muscles. I never did weights till I was in High school and I use to blow away the guys when I could lift as much as they could with my legs.

God I wish I was in that shape again.

Oh ya.. if you don't believe me I know for a FACT that the Notre Dame Football team has to take a Ballet class as part of conditioning. Of course they are all closed to the public, I would give anything to see these guys doing Grand Plea.

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"Fly like an Eagle" -
Steve Miller Band

since I can't ski today cause I'm sick I guess I'll add one more here.

Don't forget the hamstrings. Curls or stiff legged deadlifts. Not having strong hams can lead to more likleyhood of ACL injury.

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SkiOn...

Do you know how to have NO pain after a workout...you guessed it, add OxyUp to your workout.<FONT size="1">

[This message has been edited by freestylin (edited March 04, 2001).]</FONT>

Sounds to me like I can just sit and home a do oxyup and not have to go sking or workout or anything.
hmmmmm the "the good life in a bottle"

You should do an infomercial . Maybe you'll get some takers from the couch potato croud.

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SkiOn...

prof;

ill shall try it. by the way, what malt liquor do you drink. i like OE myself. it tastes like a rats ass, but for the price, nothing hits you harder. i can't stand the 8-ball, and the 45 is just too expensive for me. worst tasting? mickeys and king cobra are equally bad.

nah sorry, as much as i would like to, i just cant get used to the blue-ox. last year at school though, i drank 3 hurricanes during hurricane floyd, and that smack wrized my shiznit!!!!!!

for abs and better balance while skiing http://www.psia.org/Education/TPSArt...pring96abs.asp

Although all this stuff is great, keep in mind that the sport we are involved in involves dynamic balance. In order to achieve and reinforce this, our workout routines must performed in a manner that will challenge our sense of balance. This means taking our workouts off the floor, benches, and weight machines, and bring them on to unstable surfaces. Only then will the transverse abdominals, which are involved in balance and stability, be utilized.
In all due respect to the young lady in the PSIA article, I'm sure that she is an adequate ski instructor. But as a fitness instructor, unfortunately, her information is dated and inaccurate. None of those exercises would actively engage the transverse abdominals. Look closely at the pictures. Unless you were extremely drunk, there is no way you would have any trouble balancing your body while performing them. So they are moderately effective for the superficial rectus abdominals and obliques, but not for the transverse.{unless you exhaled very forcefully on exertion, but even then the transverse would be utilized , but NOT challenged}.
Many good exercises were mentioned in this thread, but for the most part, they are isolation exercises. Nothing wrong with that. However, skiing is more about motor skill, and less about muscle strength. {Lest I sound too pedantic, keep in mind on this issue, I am also lecturing myself}. And motor skill is dependent upon the muscles ability to work in syncronicity. So if you isolate a muscle group, make sure you integrate it.
That will make it more functional.

If you are intersted in this, go to http://www.paulchekseminars.com.

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Be Braver in your body, or your luck will leave you. DH Lawrence

Lisamarie
Thanks for the notes. I think the main idea was that you need strong AB's for good balance and since I was not a trainer, that was the best thing I could come up with. I have been working on my AB's not from that article but more in general and they helped my skiing in crud, powder and steeps. Unfortunatly I did not study the article or have the eye to tell they were poor exercises and thanks to you we all know better. skiing is a downhill sport and requires dynamic movement but good muscles in the right places helps.
Have fun in Whistler...

Dchan: Please don't think I was critqueing you. The information you saw was all that is available, for the most, to the general public. What bothered me was the fact that someone who is a ski instructor and a fitness instructor should be a bit more on the cutting edge of our industry, which nowadays stresses the importance of functional exercise. Heck, the winner of the IDEA instructor of the year award is a ski instructor at Mammoth, whose entire program is based on balance related fitness. I guess it annoys me that people in my field sometimes fail to keep their skills up to date.
So, once again, my comments were in no way meant to be a flame against you. And there is nothing intrinsically wrong with those exercises. Actually, if you are married to physcal therapist, she can tell you what the best type of abdominal exercises are.

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Be Braver in your body, or your luck will leave you. DH Lawrence

As I get older its harder to exercise during the season each year. Still I know as an avid bump skier it pays tremendous dividends in being able to subdue the mountain. After returning from skiing on the weekend, I give Monday a rest. Ok lets see, during the rest of the work week 2 or 3 times :

Run a half mile. I have never enjoyed running (aka jogging) but as bipedal creatures it is an imperative facet of keeping normal fitness particularly the foot pounding is good for the joints.
Deep knee bends lifting 70 pounds.
50 sit ups with weight on head
30 pushups and curls

Have done much more in past but heh, you ski bumps all weekend woh, and you don't have to do much the rest of the week. -dave
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[This message has been edited by SSSdave (edited March 08, 2001).]</FONT><FONT size="1">

[This message has been edited by SSSdave (edited March 08, 2001).]</FONT>

What about stretching before skiing, before a long ski run after a long ride up, and after skiing?

As to specific training, I use the machines and not free weights. I try to work mostly the Quads, Hams and Calves. I work both the Hams and Calves on a leg press machine, that has a safety "stop." For the Calves I place the toes and the machine, and extend.

When working the Quads, I use a leg extension machine, but I do it two ways. First, full range of motion. Then I will extend full and only come down a few inches and back up, what I call mini reps. Then I do the same only moving a few inches from the starting poition. What this does is specifically work all those small muscles in and around the knee area we that we have a tendancy to pull or strain.

I use one of those ab-rockers, and the ab slide machines for abs. And I work the lats, pecs, biceps and most importantly the triceps, this helps the arms when poling around and when making "serious" pole plants.

Whatever I do, do, I am always thinking about protecting my back and knees from too much strain and possible injury.

I will run about 1/4 mile, use the elipse machines with the moving handles for 12 minutes, and ride the recumbant bycyle for another 12 minutes. This is done before I weight train, and I walk vigorously 1/4 mile after weight training to cool down. I do this 2-3 times a week depending upon how much I ski, and how I feel. Up to four times a week before ski season begins.

I do not ski bumps as many of you do, since the pounding is not good for me at this point in my life, and frankly they are no longer fun, since I am overly concerned about my back and knees and this makes me too tenetative. After the Michael Kennedy and Sonny Bono mishaps, unless the trees are very very far apart, I am not doing that either. Still have not made the decision to buy a helmet, and that would probably be a good move, but I still see it as a restriction of freedom, and that's one of the major components of skiing.

lisamarie,
no offense taken. Just thanks for the clarification.

I find a combination of aerobic(the bike) and anaerobic(the weights) works toward supplying the power and endurance I need to ski the way I want. As has been said, don't ignore the trunk(abs/lower back). Specifically, three times a week on the trainer (bike), at least 40 minutes, and once or twice a week, depending on how I'm feeling, hitting the legs in the weight room. The calf machine, hamstring curls, and the leg press (rather than squats). Straight leg dead lifts also work the hams and lower back.
But as has been said here before by many, there's no substitute for proper and effective ski technique.
Still am taken aback by how many obviously out-of-shapers there are RIPPING up the mountain.

Has anyone ever heard of severe leg cramping while skiing? Primarily in the quads. To the point where one can't bend at the knee. Very painful - but only from the cramping muscles themselves. It's like cinching a garbage bag closed.
I've experienced this and am wondering what can cause such cramping and how to never experience it again.
I'm in excellent physical condition and have no problem stepping out the door and running 8 miles at the drop of a hat.
Any ideas? Thanks -

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KNEEDROPPELGANGER,

i have cramped up - always the hams - when i've been dehydrated and ignored my stretching. but nothing, ever, in the quads. maybe shoot some potassium into your system? just a guess.

OxyUp will help with that.

Kneedropper, Along with staying hydrated, you might also want to find out if you have enough magnesium in your system. It can be done through a blood test. I had some problems with quad cramping this season. I work out and also run 3 to 4 times a week. I recently had a blood test during a general check up and my doc. asked me if I had experienced any cramping because the test showed I was low on mag. Might be worth a try if it continues.

Ryanation -

thanks for the input - my hammy's are typically fine. Potassium definitely couldnt hurt though. What about lactic acid buildup? Or maybe I just need to OxyDown...