When it comes to skiing, the most important part of your body is your legs.  I know that sounds rather obvious, but it points to where we need to focus our attention in any ski exercise routines.  However, let’s also remember that your level of aerobic fitness is also important.

Experts recommend 20 minutes of aerobic exercise at least three times a week as a starting point, but you’ll need to go beyond that to become a better skiier.  Everyone has his or her favorite aeorbic exercises, so you can do what you like to satisfy that requirement.  I personally like to do running on Mondays, power walking or cycling on Wednesdays, and then another brief running session on Fridays.  I choose these because I can do them inside or outside.  Usually, I choose to do them outside, especially during the cold winters so help build my endurance.

But let’s talk about strength exercises for the legs.  Here are the parts of your body that need some pre-season workouts:

• Your quads (quadriceps)
• Your calf muscles (lower leg)
• Your shins
• Your hamstrings
• Inner and outer thighs
• Hips
• Abs (abdominals)
• Your back

See, there’s a lot to it!  The best way to improve the fitness of your lower body is through strength training with weights.  Aerobic exercise will improve your ability to breathe well and stay full of oxygen, but strength training will actually develop your muscles and make you a better skiier.

A good idea is to invest in a set of simple free weights that you can use at home.  Those will be great for the times you can’t get out to a gym or training facility.  If you live in or near ski country, I suggest you check out your local YMCA (or YWCA), your local rec center, health club, or even adult ed programs for specialized classes.  These are normally scheduled in the weeks before big ski seasons and are targeted at whipping your lower body and key ski muscles into shape!

If you’re a racer, you’ll want to work on special drills to increase your overall agility and hone them.  I’ve become a bit of a ski racer, so I work on some pretty intense workouts to improve my balance and strength.  For example, there are some woods near my home, so I’ll often run through the woods dodging trees and rocks so I can build my agility, balance and control.  Then, I’ll do some squatting jumps, laterally from side to side to flex both my knees and hips.  A great exercise is to jump forward and land with your feet apart, then jump back landing with your feet close together, and then repeat the action 10 times.

There is a common misconception that you can ski yourself into shape.  That is so false and dangerous to believe.  I have a friend who is an experienced skiier, and he used to believe you could just go out and ski alot to get into shape.  He found out it didn’t work that way.  He was always tired out after one run, and even broke his ankle one season doing a very simple downhill run.   If he had only taken time to do some simple strength-based ski exercise routines before hitting the slopes he wouldn’t have had to sit out most of one ski season.

So, remember, your success in skiing is dependent on you being in good physical condition.  That involves a combination of aerobic and strength conditioning to improve your overall fitness.