As an older adult and master’s athlete, your body takes more time to get warmed up and ready to rock and roll than a 20-year-old. Skiing is an inherently dangerous activity. Don’t risk getting injured on a great snow day because you didn’t properly warm up.
A good ski warm-up does a couple of things:
- It elevates your heart rate priming the muscles you’re about to use with blood and oxygen.
- It prepares your body and muscles for the loads and movements you’re about to put it through.
Let’s be honest, I’m fairly certain most people don’t do a ski warm-up before jumping on the tram/lift. You probably treat the first couple of runs as a warm-up. Big mistake.
Second, the ‘warm-ups’ I do see in the parking lot are static stretching where you try to touch your toes to ‘limber up’. This doesn’t elevate your heart rate, and it isn’t a movement you do while skiing. Do yourself and your back a favor-stop doing it.
Simple 4-move dynamic ski warm-up
You can (and should) do this warm-up right at your car before you put your boots and skis on. This doesn’t take the place of getting in your off-snow conditioning. It should take less than 5 minutes and will do wonders for helping you ski better. Don’t worry about what people will think. If you catch people staring it’s probably because they realize they should warm-up too and are looking to copy you moves.
In this dynamic ski warm-up we’re going to start with slower/controlled movements and work up in speed which will get that heart rate up and mimic the speed of movement while skiing.
Bodyweight squats (10 reps)
Skiing requires a lot of leg and quadriceps strength. This is a great priming the pump movement.
Go slow and controlled and try to achieve a 90 degree angle at your knee.
Car door hip hinges (10 reps)
Most people have back pain and they also have weak hips. This movement will help the hips wake up and start doing their job which can help alleviate back stiffness and pain.
If done right, you should feel this in your hamstrings (back of your thighs) and glutes (butt).
Lateral leg swings (10 each leg)
Now we’re picking up the tempo. Each rep try to tease out an inch more in your range of motion. Mobile hips will help you feel stronger and more stable on your skis.
Dual knee circles (10 slow, 10 medium, 10 fast)
This is a fabulous drill that mimics your skiing very closely. It will also help mobilize your ankles, knees and hips.
The first round do as big of a range of motion as you can while keeping your heels on the ground. On the second round go a little faster and stay in a slight croutch. On the third round of 10 reps, stay low and go as fast as you feel comfortable while getting maximum range of motion and keeping your heels on the ground.
That’s it. You can now strap on your skis and hit the slopes for an amazing day of skiing.