Ski fitness

With the new ski season about a month away for the northern hemisphere, you need to be thinking about your fitness to get the most out of your skiing.

Firstly for the beginners, don't make the mistake of thinking 'I won't be doing much skiing for the first week so I do not need to be fit'. I have helped teach some beginners and one thing I have learnt (because I done it myself) is when you are learning, one thing you will need to learn how to do is get off the snow after falling over!

And with all the ski gear, boots and skis on it can be tricky for the first time. The good news is there is a little technique which makes it all very simple. I will go into the technique in another blog, but for today I want to talk about the initial fitness.

Now there are a lot of programmes out there that you can follow which are very good, but the key muscles to get into shape before you go skiing are the legs (I don't say!) but also your stomach muscles abdominals and obliques (front 6 pack and sides of the stomach). The reason being is keeping the core of your body strong not only helps maintain a good skiing position but certainly helps when getting off the floor.

Oh, one other tip, if you have your ski goggles or ski glasses or anything else that can get squashed in your jacket pocket, try to put them in a top pocket that does not get squashed when you get up. A pocket that is legs and stomach may squash your ski goggles or ski glasses.