Skiing Doesn’t Get Easier As We Age
Skiing Doesn’t Get Easier as we Age
Help Your Body and Your Body Will Help You Enjoy the Slopes
With the first snow coming any day now and the ski slopes opening in a month’s time, it’s not too early to start preparing your physical body for schussing down the hills.
Getting ready for the upcoming ski season doesn’t get easier as we get older, but it doesn’t have to be as drastic as signing up for boot camp either. Low impact exercises are always the key to joint preservation as we get older and stiffer. Avoiding joint pain at younger ages pays big dividends later on in life. After over forty years of competitive sports - both playing and coaching - I have had to seriously rethink my workout routines.
Running or jogging is a high impact activity that particularly attacks the feet and knees, and down the road leads to joint replacements! Running, if not done properly and with the proper footwear, will cause you more headaches than you bargain for. Although I loved running, I was never a huge fan of running on hard road surfaces. Running on hiking trails has so many more benefits; the softer and uneven surface of a nature trail cushions the impact and strengthens the ankles at the same time. Balance and agility also increase as you avoid roots, rocks and other obstacles.
You can avoid running completely by switching to walking, but walking alone doesn’t increase your lung capacity and takes considerably longer to get an equivalent workout. One way to intensify your walk is to find different grades by walking both up and down hills rather than flat roads. Switch to walking up a ski slope or similar steep hill as an effective way to increase both your aerobic workout by increasing your breathing and heart rate in a shorter length of time. You can double the benefit of walking up a ski slope using ski poles, or better yet specifically designed adjustable waking sticks. By combining your upper body, using both your arms, you will increase your distance and shorten the time it takes to cover it. Your sticks help you maintain balance as well by avoiding injury from trips or falls, especially on the downhill descent.
The real secret to getting into shape effectively is always stretching before rigorous exercises. Take it slow in the beginning. Getting into shape is not going to happen overnight, but at the same time it’s not going to happen exercising just one day a week. Spread out your workouts to several days a week doing them for short periods of time - this way you’ll stay motivated and still get you on the fast track to getting into shape quickly.
As mentioned, the critical factor to getting effective workouts without injury is never beginning intense workouts without stretching, and don’t attempt to stretch cold muscles. So how do you do this correctly? Begin any exercise by a short walk or light jog to warm up the muscles. Focus on stretching all muscle groups - for skiers or hikers pay particular attention to those legs. Don’t rush your stretches, as it takes several repetitive stretches to completely stretch out those muscles thoroughly. Each repetitive stretch cycle increases the range of the muscles. Stretching is the number one exercise that increases your range of motion, preventing and reducing the severity of physical injury during a misshape or fall and it also increases your agility and reflexes. Stretching will put that spring back into those rusty old bones!
To stretch out your legs, start with hamstring stretches by trying to first reach your finger tips as close to the ground as possible. My favorite way to do this is simply stand with your knees locked and feet shoulder-width apart. Bend over, and without bouncing, try to touch your toes. Don’t worry if you are a foot short. At your maximum reach, hold the stretch position for the count of ten. Next, stretch out your quads (that large muscle on the fronts of your legs). Try to kick your foot up to your butt and grab your ankle. Hold this one for a ten count as well. Finally, stretch your calves by standing with your feet together at arm’s length from the wall. Step one leg further back, keeping the heel on the ground and bend the other knee towards the ground. You will do each calf for a count of ten and repeat all stretches three times always to the count of ten and then you are done! By doing these leg stretches properly, you’ll also be stretching your arms and shoulders.
After a good stretch, you are ready for that walk or hike. But we aren’t finished yet! You know that sensation of skiing a long run down the hill when your thighs feel like they are on fire? Well you can fix this beforehand by sitting against the wall as part of your daily exercise routine. As if sitting in a chair, but with no chair to support you, use a wall to lean your back against. Hold the position again for a ten count and do it three times. Your lower leg and thigh need to be at a 90-degree angle to get the most benefit. You can do this along with your other warmup stretches, but it is more effective as part of your cool down stretch routine after the walk.
Finally, try to incorporate an agility exercise into your workout. A great one is to stand with your feet shoulder width apart in a good skier’s crouch. Keeping your feet together, hop clockwise 90-degrees and then immediately hop back. Repeat counter clockwise, doing sets of ten each way. To increase the level of intensity, hop 180-degrees as well and if you feel really good, try a 360-degree spin and back!
When you a planning a major ski vacation to some really big mountains with your family or friends, make sure to get in shape early so you’ll have that best time schussing like an Olympic downhiller and not sitting alone sipping hot toddies in the chalet!
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Indrek Kongats is an artist, traveler, outdoorsman, and business owner residing in Ellicottville. He operates River Dog Art Gallery in Houghton, NY, and his Breakaway Classic Adventures specializes in adventure travel destinations. Learn more about him at breakawayclassicadventures.com.