If you’ve lived in Denver as long as I have, you’ve seen plenty of people get ready for skiing by getting in the gym and doing squats and lunges. While both the squat and the lunge are both good exercises for skiing, they aren’t true to the ski movement and you can really improve your skiing ability with some key adjustments.
I wont deny it though, the squat is a fundamental movement pattern – many skiiers will do it in an attempt to improve their skiing ability. However, if we take a moment to analyze the skiing moveement, we realize that in skiing we rarely do anything from a standard squat position. Instead, our skiing happens from a variety of stances.
Look at this pic of my friend at Copper Mountain and note the foot position:
If you look at Johnnys form, it looks pretty textbook. Notice how wide his feet are from each other in this skiing stance. there’s something else you should notice as well, but I won’t let on just yet. Lets take a look at a standard squat stance:
sq
How wide are the feet in the squat stance? How wide are they in the skiing stance? Does it make a difference? You bet it does! When the stance is wider different muscles are switched on and others are lengthened. I have been personal training in Denver for about 10 years now and I see this common problem repeatedly. If you want to improve at a sport, train for the movement you want to improve.
Interested in coming along to a ski conditioning class and seeing how I get my clients ready for the mountain? go to www.fitnessbyatlas.com or drop me a line right here. I am currently training the full gamut, from former team USA skiiers to regular folks. All levels are welcome.
Having established that foot position counts, does leg length count? I would again say hell yeah! Check this out:
sadly, the synchronized skiing event never made it to the olympics
Looking at the skiing positioning here as this guy makes his sharp turn down the mountain, it becomes obvious that one leg is more bent than the other. When we train, would it make sense to have one leg more bent than the other?
Try putting a block under one leg and squat. see how it feels different. Our friend here almost seems to be skiing on one leg…
Ever done a 1 leg squat? Maybe it’s time 
Whatever training you do, remember to keep mixing up your workouts to keep your results coming. If you want to know more or would like to try a sample class in the downtown denver area, please don’t be afraid to get in touch. info @ fitnessbyatlas.com is the email I use for my ski conditioning classes in denver, so try me on that for a free couple of classes.
Yours in health,
Jamie Atlas
www.fitnessbyatlas.com
(720) 203 3084
