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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Bill Jennings: There’s still time to shape up for ski season

Bill Jennings

After persisting as if it would last forever, our bone-dry arctic interlude is coming to an end.

Moisture is in the immediate weather outlook and mountain resorts should finally start seeing snow. Looking on the bright side, in addition to the endless sunshine, this dry spell has given you extra time to get in shape for skiing and riding.

Brian Cronin, a physical therapist and partner at U-District Performance Training, said it takes the average weekend warrior about six weeks to get results from a sport-specific workout program. If you haven’t started prepping your body for the slopes yet, it’s never too late.

“You never know when the snow’s coming, but you have to make sure you’re not hitting the panic button,” Cronin said. “If you try to cram six weeks’ worth of ski or snowboard training into a couple of weeks, you’re probably going to develop some muscle or joint issues.”

If you’re not careful, you’ll end up hurting yourself before you have a chance to make your first turn of the season. To protect yourself once you get there, Cronin recommends shifting focus from exercises most people associate with ski conditioning, such as wall-sits, leg presses and squats. While developing the muscles involved with these exercises are still important, smaller stabilizer muscles need some love.

“The first thing you need to start with is balance,” Cronin said. “Balance exercises usually involve standing on one leg on a surface other than a stationary floor, because you have to use those little stabilizer muscles to hold that basic squat or lunge stance.”

Most gyms have different types of equipment available for balance exercises, such as Bosu balls, or inflatable balance discs. Try doing a single-leg squat with no weight on a Bosu ball. The strength of your stabilizer muscles – and their connection to your brain – will become absolutely clear.

Your upper body also needs attention, but bench presses won’t be doing you any good. Think about your back, not your chest.

“You have to have a firm upper back to help with posture as you’re going down the mountain,” Cronin said. “What we’re finding on the injury side is that when fatigue sets in at the end of the day, upper-body weakness and instability is going to direct pressure downward, particularly toward the knee.”

The third essential element of a preseason fitness program is aerobic conditioning. A lot of people think skiing and snowboarding are anaerobic. That’s true, but only for about the first 10 seconds. If you want to keep linking turns longer than that, don’t ignore your cardio.

“There needs to be some kind of heart rate elevation,” Cronin said. “If you can handle running, that would be great, or biking or elliptical if you have health concerns.”

Unless you have some level of endurance training, Cronin suggests starting with about 10 or 15 minutes at a significantly elevated heart rate. If you’re consistent, you should be able to go for about 30 to 45 minutes at 60 to 70 percent of maximum effort in about six weeks.

“I think one of the cool things that I’m seeing as a physical therapist is that more people are opting for conditioning programs instead of trying to ski themselves into shape,” Cronin said. “On the other hand, every winter and early spring we’re still getting that bump in knee-type injuries, shoulder injuries and back injuries . For most of those people, it’s either the last run of the day, or their first or second time up and they’re just not conditioned.”

Snow is on the way. Get the most out of your season. Be in shape and be safe.