As per the title, do you do a warmup before you hit the slopes?  If so, what do you do?

I've been working on putting together a dynamic warmup for skiing that can be done on snow, in boots, and with only poles and skis.  The result is a 9 exercise program that activates or stretches everything you need to get ready for skiing.  5 reps each side for each takes 6 minutes (may take longer at first).  

Here's the draft video that I shot yesterday.  (I'll shoot a proper version next week at the hill, with audio instruction). 
[EDIT:  I just uploaded the final and so removed the draft video from Youtube - here is now the final video, shot at Camp Fortune (where I teach), with audio:]


It includes:
1. Pec stretch (with poles)
2. Lower trap activation
3. Thoracic spine rotation
4. Forward leg swings
5. Diagonal leg swings
6. Hip flexor activation
7. Glute medius activation
8. Lunge stretch with lateral reach
9. Lateral squat with hip rotation (toe touch and heel touch)

Would you do a 6 minute warmup on snow?  If not, how much time would you spend?  

I also am recommending that people then do a few exercises on their first run to get their balance and their body moving and ready for the day:  
Six turns of each of the following (order can be changed to accommodate where the terrain is steep/shallow): 
1000 steps (walking while skiing)
Tall then small (multiple flexions / extensions during each turn)
Roller blade turns (Remain tall and tip your skis from edge to edge
Linked hockey stops
Lift inside ski during the first half of the turn.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think.  

Elsbeth


Edited by evaino - 1/20/10 at 6:16am

 Elsbeth, I look forward to seeing the finished product.  Let me know when it is available on MSP.  I will post it on our sites on Facebook, MSP Homepage, and our Twitter acct as well.

Good stuff,
Jon

I like this.  I would call much of what you are doing, joint mobility with some mild stretching.  I really need to do that, but I don't.  I find it hard to know what to do.  So it could be useful.  If the 6 min. is too much, one can always drop something.

One thing that I do is full squats with a somewhat wide stance.  My hips are problematic and this is an easy way to get things moving. - very benificial.  I do this often so it's a bit of a skill.

Warm-up in general is important and often over looked.  I need to ski "easy" for a run to settle into my boots and to establish a bit of confidence.  Sometimes when I ski with others, they just go and that seems to take away later.  Having a program to follow would facilitate the whole process.  It is rare to see other skiers warming up in any serious fashion.

Nope.  For 50 years I've been clicking in and skiing off.  Works just fine, never been hurt on first run, ski as well as ever from the first turn to last, never needed to "activate" anything,.

I also try to park where I can be on my skis without walking more than ten steps.

So your the "ONE" in the handicap parking zone. I stretch before skiing and like to roll up on my edges,ect to get a feel for it. But I never see anyone else do it.

Looks good.  Consider modifying some of these slightly to have a snowboarder run through them (obviously without poles) as well.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.  I hope to get it filmed properly this week and will post. 

Paul - you're the second person I respect who's suggested I include squats - look for them in the finished version.  :)

Newfydog - good on ya for having a long and healthy ski career without warmups.  I would suggest that you are the anomaly - like the 90 year old pack a day smoker...it does work for a few people but not something I'd recommend.  

Elsbeth

And I would suggest that I am not special in any way.  There is little to no double blind medical evidence to the benefits of stretching.  The first one I googled up is from another Canadian:

Stretching research clearly shows that a stretching habit isn’t good for warmup, injury prevention, preventing or treating muscle soreness, enhancing athletic performance … or even flexibility!

by Paul Ingraham, Registered Massage Therapist, Vancouver, Canada
 

Abstract: Stretching just doesn’t have the effects that most runners hope it does. In particular, plentiful recent stretching research has shown that stretching doesn’t (1) warm you up, (2) prevent soreness or injury, or (3) enhance peformance. No other measurable and significant benefit to stretching has ever been proven. Even if it worked, stretching would be inefficient, “proper” technique is controversial at best, and many key muscles are actually biomechanically impossible to stretch — like most of the quadriceps group (which runners never believe without diagrams).  If there’s any hope for stretching, it might be a therapeutic effect on muscle “knots” (myofascial trigger points), but even that theory is full of problems.

 

 hotly debated in cycling circles for decades...
there, at the moment, seems to be no real way to correlate 'stretching' with performance ehancement or injury reduction. Contrary, there is now 'Evidence' that stretching reduces best performance (also crappage). Yet, there seems much empirical and anecdotal evidence that stretching does help many things in body structure fitness.
Especially funny is that quote above, from a Massage Therapist, considering that Massage suffers from the same scientific abyss of verifiable evidence. Yet for sure, many athletes could not function in multi-day events without an extended massage - ask any pro cyclist.
Not to get into it and start another debate here, but flexibility issues are a key component of aging. If you can;t comfortably touch your toes, among other flexibility issues, you will be prone to more possibility of injury, expecially under sudden and unexpected movements.
Animals stretch Instinctively - at least many do. I'm not sure if elephants find it necessary, but those which hunt for their food, or need to run away, certainly do.
The difficult part is finding the proper balance of 'warmup' before doing active stretching which does put considerable load on muscle, connective tissue and joints.
For example, a very active Yoga practice is always preceded with an extended period of very gradual 'warmup'. I would offer the same suggestion for any active stretching program.
Anedotal evidence - after 2 blown discs (L4 & L5 area) from racing in the late 60's - early 70's and now being a full inch - 2.5 cm - shorter than I was 35-40 yrs ago, I can attest that without stretching, yoga and massage (including other aspects of a comprehensive fitness) I couldn;t do most of the things I now do, at the level I do them. MY flexibilty and stretching day starts as soon as I wakeup and before I put a foot out of bed.
Not to be hugely critical of the 'video', but trying to do reasonably effective warmup and stretching might be best accomplished before you get into all the clothes and locked into ski boots. A good, quickening pace walk is a great way to warmup before some Brekkie and serves well enough for some further warmup & stretching, indoors, before suiting up.
If you're standing in front of the lift, and suddenly think its a good idea to do some stretching, that's really just an after thought.
Maybe offer a 2 part program, 'In-Lodge' & followup 'Top of the Lift- 1st Run' further warmup.

I ski with a doctor, former physician for the US Cycling team who pretty much agrees with moreoutdoor.  He points out that there is no medical evidence for any benefits from stretching. but does it himself, because he feels better.  For the record he does nothing before we ski.

To compare someone who doesn't stretch to a pack a day smoker is absurd however.  To me, the only benefit to that video is that you are done flapping around like an idiot in a merciful six minutes.

there's a big diff between slow, passive stretching and more dynamic types of stretching/warming up.  And actually lots of data showing the passive type bad for peak athletic performance, more-active good.

"Warm-ups" which may depending on the sport including some stretching have been shown to be pretty essential to things ranging from power-lifting to sprinting.

I think the vid Evaino posted is in the more-active, "good" category, for sure.

[very brief hijack:  some other posts in a recent thread have addressed specificity.  Stretching's another good example.  I like going to "hot" yoga occasionally, myself, but the stretching and balance/anaerobic endurance work done there, while for me fun in their weird way, won't have much crossover to skiing or snowboarding because those types of yoga classes tend to be pretty nondynamic.]

I watch my dogs, cat and cattle...they all stretch in the morning, so thats what I'll do.

Thanks Elsbeth.

^nutshell

I ice my knee, then sit in the hot tub until the ibuprofen kicks in. 




I've never been a big stretcher, but I am adding more yoga moves to my daily work out.

I'm with newfy on this one. Click and ski. And that's usually after 2.5 hours of driving too. It's gotten me though the first 40+ years.

Side note....if I did see or walk by someone engaged in 6 minutes of "routine" slopeside I would have a good chuckle for sure. But hey, to each their own.

Thank you for sharing your excellent manners.

It's just not working for me anymore.  I am finding more and more I need both a physical warm-up and a mental one too.  It might be from my tree incident last year, but I need to establish confidence.

Not so sure on stretching myself.  I will say that my experience with swimming performance says stretching is a must.  But for many sports, loose muscles may deminish strength.

But I believe that joint warm-up or joint mobility is extremely important at least for some, and that would be me.  Moving the joint wakes it up.  Using the most common movement that works for me is the squat.  Without spending some time getting the range of motion, I am nothing but rust.  Range of motion is not necessarily stretching.  Getting to a full squat is something that I ease into.  This really helps the hip come alive.

The exercise where Els lifted her boot is also something that helps me.  I will also do some joint mobility for my shoulders.  Two hands on the knees - circular motions works.  Neck joint mobility is worthwhile - I think.

There is a broad range of stretching.  Doing intense partner stretching is not appropriate prior to workout or skiing.  But lifting your arms over head and elongating the muscle - that's mild stretching and at worst it's harmless.  I find it helps - for the most part.

The massuse(sp) is talking about stretching, and in my view on stretching there is a very broad range.  Joint mobility!

 Usually I just walk to the ski lift to warm-up, but sometimes I throw in some ski brushing. The stuff in the video might work better though.

You asked me what I thought.  Sorry if my manners offend you, but I answered your post truthfully.  Now you know, it might be a hard sell among those of us you consider like ninety- year old, pack- a day smokers.
Edited by newfydog - 1/4/10 at 4:45pm

Can't bear to get into the whole stretching thing... I'll just say I love stretching, but I usually do it in the evenings, to stay generally flexible. to get ready for skiing, I might do anything from a bit of stretching, to handstands to click and go.

Once on the skis, 1000 steps is a favorite.

But, especially in teaching, I like to squeeze a "psychological" warmup in between mobility exercises and ski exercises. If I get someone who is a decent skier who has not had a run before the lesson, I always ask them to make their first several turns as sloppy as possible. I started doing this because people were always making the first few turns and then saying "I usually ski better than this." 

So it's mostly a psychological warmup. I want to give them the freedom to ski poorly without getting tense, uptight or apologetic. I want to wake them up for the day without having any pressure whatsoever to show their best stuff. It seems to work for a lot of people.

On skis, BTW, I usually start with

- 1000 steps just to get the legs moving
- linked 360 spins - a few each side, because it's a good warmup for edge control and fore/aft balance, loosens me up a little.

evaino,

instead of a pre-ski stretch, how about sorting out something that's a 7th-inning stretch, i.e. when the muscles are already fatigued.?

IAH, IMO, FWIW,  there's really no point to doing all this in the parking lot when the next thing we're going to do is sit on a cold chair lift for minutes at a time.      I have my own routine for while -on- the chairlift and immediately after, but I only use it towards the end of the day after fatigue.

Does skating to the lift count?

Actually, I noticed you have a bunch of things called 'activation' rather than stretching.  I'm not an expert but I don't know that stretching helps that much compared to just "waking up" ones muscles.  Now maybe some stretches also help wake stuff up.  So, stretch your quads and the real benefit you got was waking up your hamstrings.

I may think about more about the "activation" part of it.  Skating to the lift activates a heck of a lot of the same muscles you use to ski.  Then consider what else might be good.

Yeah, but they don't ski.....

I've never deliberately stretched before skiing, nor do I stretch before my gym workouts. Warm-ups there are doing some cardio to get my mind and muscles ready for whatever comes next.  I always stretch after workouts--it feels so good!

 

As for stretching before skiing, well, I usually ski in CO where the base of the mountain is between 8-10,000'.  By the time I lumber into all my gear, teeter my way across the icy parking lot to catch the bus, hoist my skis on and off the ski rack on the outside of the bus, I'm "pretty warm."  Am I ready to ski?  Maybe, maybe not. 

The exercise that lifts the toe and heel of the boot...I can see some benefit for my legs and hips there. I have chairlift exercises I do that Robin Barnes taught me, those are my "get forward on my skis" exercises and help warm up my non-flexible ankles too.

Quote:

I like comprex' idea of the 7th-inning-stretch stretches.  Just need some popcorn and peanuts to go with!

I also drive for three hours before skiing.  The first time out in 06 I pulled a muscle in my back just putting my boots on

However, after wrestling with boots and gear, taking the variable length walk from the vehicle to the lift I try to spend a few minutes stretching either before the first or second run of the day.

I did a poll on this topic awhile back

Do you stretch before skiing?

I've been active in something most of my life, and well,........I never stretch.   It's said it's best to do after you are warm anyway, not before.

After I broke my leg really bad, and 13 weeks no weight bearing, yea it needed a lot of work because everything shrinks.  Tendons get really tight etc. when you break a leg.  

Anyway I'm 49 yrs now, never stretched, and never had a problem because of it.   Some people who have super knee extension are more prone to a skiing injury anyway.  More common with girls, and women who have done thing to increase flexibility.

So that's it.  I do not stretch except that little bit we all do when we have been sleeping, or sitting for a long time.  Just like a dog, or cat when they wake up!

Lots of great replies.  Thanks.

I need to give the 7th inning stretch suggestion some further thought - my initial thought is that popping your skis off at the top of the hill and doing a few jumps or squats would be good - as they have the biggest bang in terms of activation - although it wouldn't necessarily be a long term effect!  So maybe best done as a way to squeeze one more run out as opposed to several.  I'll give this thought for sure.   

I should clarify - or confirm what Paul Jones noted:  this is not really stretching - or at least not in the traditional sense, or the in the sense addressed in the study abstract.

- There are in fact a few studies that show that static stretching prior to activity can reduce power output by as much as 30%. 
- However there are also more recent studies that show that static stretching followed by a dynamic warmup negates any power loss from the static stretching.
- There are many, many studies that show increase in performance and reduction in injury as a result of a dynamic warmup, which typically includes activation exercises and dynamic stretches - those that are typically held for 1-3 seconds.  This is why most professional and college sports teams have moved toward dynamic warmups before games/practices, although not all - I suspect they will all be there within a few years though.

The reason activation exercises tend to be included in a dynamic warmup, is that many people have certain muscles that are overactive and others that are underactive.  For example: TFL (tensor fascia latae) is overactive in most people who spend a lot of time sitting, while the psoas and glutes tend to be underactive.  Regularly "activating" the psoas and glute medius can help to correct this. There is a correlation between poorly function glute medius and knee injuries/IT band syndrome. There is also a correlation between psoas dysfunction and both hip and back pain. 

Does this mean that if you don't work to activate these muscles that you will necessarily have knee, hip or back problems? Of course not - our bodies are not so simple! But it can play a part in reducing the risk. That combined with the proven benefits of dynamic warmups for sports is enough for me to recommend it.

For someone who has no neck, back or knee problems at all, then going without a warmup would probably be fine - although I still think including a warmup is better. But I would suggest that even for those people that the diagonal leg swing and the lateral squat with heel and toe touches would be worthwhile exercises to help you feel the full range of your hip internal and external rotation as they are so crucial in turning on skis.

What's the effect of then sitting on the chair lift?  That is a great question, and I'm not sure - but will give it more thought.  Although I do know that most sports teams do their dynamic warmup at least half an hour prior to game time, so by analogy, sitting on the chair for a lift up shouldn't make a difference. 

Elsbeth