Training for Skiing

January 11, 2005 8:18 AM

I've agreed on short notice to go skiing next week, and realize that I'm out of shape. Is there anything I can do to prepare myself so that I'm not putting myself at risk of injury, or that will keep my legs from feeling very sore after the first day? I only have 8 days.
posted by stovenator to sports, hobbies, & recreation (10 comments total)

hmmm. Do you have any large hills there in Austin? I would start by walking, jogging, running up that. I guess a stairmaster would work too. Basically you want to warm up your quads, I think that's what will bother you the most. But, I don't think you want to do anything that will make you sore just yet. Just up the ante a little each day and then take at least 2 days off before you go.

When you do start skiing, take it easy at first and work your way up to it. Be sure to stretch in the morning before you go out. And if you're hotel has a hot tub make use of that. I ski several times a week and my hot tub saves me.

If you don't know where you're going yet I have to say that you should Ski Utah. We've been getting dumped on here all winter.
posted by trbrts at 8:30 AM on January 11, 2005

Well, normally I'd say that someone should do squats before going skiing... but 8 days isn't much time for the muscles to recoup. Maybe some squats with a minimal amount of weight?

Also, stretching before and *AFTER* I ski seems to help me. And trbrts is dead on about the hot tub.
posted by theFlyingSquirrel at 8:36 AM on January 11, 2005

I'd highly recommend you book yourself an ECG test (Electro Cardio Gram) which is a very quick (about 10 minutes) rather inexpensive (i paid 20 euro) test that will show a heart doctor if there's any problem with your heart. This is important because skying can be a rather fatiguing sport.

Ideally you should have an under-stress EGC test (which is the same ECG test as above, but done while pedaling on a cyclette or a tapis roulant) which shows how your heart behaves under "load" (running, skying)

It's a good idea to just have the basic ECG (if you never had one) to see if there's anything -serious- (hopefully not) not showing during everyday life

As for regaining elasticity I can't help you much..it -probably- involves slowly regaining muscolar tone and articulation elasticity.
posted by elpapacito at 8:37 AM on January 11, 2005

This sounds obvious, but for some reason it's not: stop when you're tired.

When you've put in a long day on the slopes, and you're doing that one last run, your muscles will likely be too fatigued to protect you from injury.
posted by Coffeemate at 8:53 AM on January 11, 2005

If you go skiing all day 8 days from now, you're going to feel sore the next day, and probably very sore the day after. But it's not the end of the world.

When starting exercise from an otherwise sedentary life, your muscles basically have a poor blood supply. The waste products (lactic acid, etc) are going to collect faster during exercise than the blood and your lymphatic system can remove them.

A personal anecdote: When I was about 20 and really hadn't exercised since high school (although I'd done cross country and track in high school), I went paint-balling with some friends for 4 hours. Lots of short sprints followed by crouches. I felt fine that night and the next morning. By the following evening I could barely even walk up or down stairs. The stiffness and soreness lasted three days. (I'm better now - I run 2 miles in 13 minutes or 5 in 38.)

Things you can do to help: Do some lower body exercise today. Forward and backward lunges, squats, toe raises for your calves (not hugely important for skiing). Leg raises (from all fours, raise one leg up by flexing your buttock), and what I like to call the "dog pisser" (also on all fours, but raise your leg out, I think you get the picture). Doing crunches and obliques (touch left elbow to right knee and vice versa) will help build your core.

Do enough reps of each until you feel muscle fatigue, then keep doing 5-10 more. It shouldn't be pleasant, but you should also be able to tell if the pain means you're -hurting- yourself, in which case you should stop. Do 3-4 sets of as many reps as you can do.

For cardio, what trbrts said - walk up some hills or stairs. Start with jogging 1 minute, walking 2. Do that for 20-30 minutes.

Repeat every other day (although since the ab muscles are smaller they recover faster, and you could theoretically do abs every day. I personally have found it's better to tell yourself you'll do fewer days and stick to them than try to do it every day and then let yourself down when you start skipping days.)

Don't forget to stretch. Stretching before you warm up won't do that much. Jog in place or do jumping jacks for 2-3 minutes before beginning, then stretch, then work out, then stretch again. If you're only going to have time to stretch before or after, stretch after.

Sitting in a jacuzi or sauna will help circulation, as will icing your muscles, although the jacuzi and sauna are a lot more pleasant. You could combine the jacuzi with a cold shower, I suppose. :)

Oh, and I almost forgot - drink lots and lots of water, and then drink more. This will help flush the waste products in your muscles. Especially important in the cold, because you're less likely to notice you're dehydrated. Also, eating protein immediately after a workout decreases recovery time as well.

Have fun on your ski trip!
posted by cactus at 8:57 AM on January 11, 2005

One thing that might help: go out to a couple of bars a night and get in fights. Getting over the beating you will receive will move you along towards coping with the beating you will get from skiing all day after being out of shape.

Seriously, though, get out there and work those legs of yours. It is hard to prepare for skiing, I've found, because it seems that one doesn't use those same muscles for anything else. Still, maybe you can use this 8-day prep period as an opportunity to make a life-changing exercise habit. Just don't over-do it because you'll want to quit.
posted by crazy finger at 9:07 AM on January 11, 2005

You could also get one of these.
posted by trbrts at 9:38 AM on January 11, 2005

Let me emphasize how important stretching is. In addition to stretching before and after skiing, do as much stretching as you can starting right now. You're not going to build up any muscle tone or stamina in 8 days, but you may be able to make some small gains in flexibility. This will help prevent injury and will mitigate some of the soreness after you hit the slopes.

Be sure to stretch out your quads, hamstrings, and especially your lower back, which will take a lot of the pounding. Whatever stretches you do, hold them for at least 30 seconds at the point where you feel tightness in your muscles but not pain.
posted by googly at 10:03 AM on January 11, 2005

I'll third the point about stretching afterwards. I'm a fat slob, yet stretching for 20 minutes after playing touch football or something is (for me) the difference between barely being able to walk the next day and a barely noticeable soreness.
posted by hootch at 10:56 AM on January 11, 2005

The waste products (lactic acid, etc) are going to collect faster during exercise than the blood and your lymphatic system can remove them.

Actually, DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness, the kind you get the day after doing an activity you haven't recently done a lot of) isn't caused by lactic acid- this was an old theory that's since been thoroughly disproven. It's likely due to a large amount of microscopic damage to muscle tissue, which the body then responds to by becoming better at avoiding. Interestingly enough, studies with NSAIDs and COX-2 inhibitors as treatment for DOMS found essentially no effect on the soreness. Ditto for stretching and massage.

The best thing to do is work your body really hard ASAP... a really thorough workout with heavy weights (squat, bench, deadlift) once or twice this week, followed by lots of food and rest before next week, should leave you in much better shape for the stresses of a new activity (skiing).
posted by rxrfrx at 2:46 PM on January 11, 2005