Peak Piste Fitness

By David Higgins, Master Trainer and Co-Founder of TenPilates

I’m always amazed by the number of people (mostly men, admittedly) who seem to think that the perfect preparation for a week’s skiing is 51 weeks’ couch surfing.

Skiing is a demanding sport, and with any sport, our performance and ability to avoid injury is dependent on how well (or not) we’ve prepared for it.

For anyone who’s too busy (OK, lazy) to spare an hour or two a week to get ready for the slopes, here are a couple of exercises that even the most dedicated gym-dodger can fit into his TV watching schedule and that will at least start to get him/her prepared.

- Static squats (With ski pole, or broomstick)

Hold the pole/broomstick at arms length in front of you. Squat down, lowering the pole down to hip-level, and then raise it up back up to eye level as you stand tall. Breathe in as you squat, and out as you come up. Keep your shoulders back and down, core engaged and chin up throughout the exercise.

- Step ups

Find a step and starting with your right foot, step up and down imitating a walking motion. Swap leading leg after every 1 minute. Always keep you core engaged and shoulders back.. Alternatively find a flight of stairs and climb up and down repeatedly. Either way, do it for 4 minutes in total.

- Stretches

Hold each stretch for 30 seconds. Stretch to the point of discomfort but not blinding pain.

Hamstrings: Touch your toes.

Hip flexor / Quad stretch: Step the left foot forward so you are in a lunge position with your back knee down. Keeping your chest tall bring your left heel to your bum, stretching down the front of your thigh. Repeat for the other leg.

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