When you think of pre-season ski training, your mind probably goes to leg day in the gym, running, or maybe just hoping that last season will carry over into this season and you don’t have to do too much training.
Don’t get me wrong, having a solid strength routine in the fall before ski season is extremely valuable, but it’s not the only piece of the puzzle.
You can be as strong as an ox, but if you don’t have the proper mobility an errant turn, fall, or hard carve may be the difference between a ski season into the Spring and ending the season before it even gets warm enough to Apres outside.
But, most people don’t know what type of ski-specific mobility exercise they should be doing. So, they do the same old thing, and unfortunately get the same ol results — pain while skiing, ending most days early, and an eventually shortened winter.
That’s why we at Ripple our Physical Therapists prioritize our mobility work for our skiers. Without the proper joint pre-requisite motion, a hard carve, stop on a dime, or just sending it isn’t going to happen without a high risk of injury.
Chances are you know someone that’s torn an ACL skiing, burnt their hip out mid-season, or couldn’t get down the mountain because their back hurt so bad. Don’t let that be you! That’s why we came up with our 5 Best Ski Mobility Exercises to do during the preseason and carry through mid-season to keep you mobile, healthy, and strong all season long.
Here are our 5 Best Ski Mobility Exercises
#1 Ski Exercise for Mobility- Deep squat hip IR
Ever get deep into a turn, really lean into it, and to only feel a pinch in your hip so you have to lay back? With this exercise, never feel like you can’t send it on a hard turn because of hip or knee pain. Create more hip mobility so that you can freely turn giving your hips room to move and more grace on your knees.
#2 Ski Exercise for Mobility - Ski stance pelvis tilts
When you think of injuries for skiing, the standard hip and knee are always what comes up. But did you know — most people that ski is also dealing with low back pain. Now, whether that’s from skiing or sitting at a desk all day is TBD, but we can’t let back pain turn a full day of skiing into calling it a day after 3 runs. This exercise ensures that you can stay upright all day long skiing, and not have to worry about throwing your back out.
#3 Ski Exercise for Mobility - Ankle inversion/ eversions
This one is for those that love to roll hard from one edge to the other on turns. Even though your foot is stuck in a ski boot, having the strength in both inversion and eversion to hold that position is crucial. But, without the proper mobility first, we can’t even think about strengthening the ankles. So, do this exercise first to build mobility then sign up for our 12-week ski strengthening course
#4 Ski Exercise for Mobility - Cossack Hip Rotations
Now we’re getting real ski-specific. Getting the hips to work in a ski tuck or crouch is not an easy task. So, let’s prep the technique with a hip rotation exercise in that ski crouch. We don’t want to assume that you may yardsale while in a ski tuck, but it’s best to be prepared! This exercise will give your hips the ability to be in a tuck, and if something happens where you lose a ski, the hip will have the mobility to not let any injuries happen.
#5 Ski Exercise for Mobility - Athletic Stance Spine CARs
Your spine takes a beating during the ski day. From hitting jumps to just taking on the load of a full ski day you need proper mobility in your spine to keep it strong, healthy, and fresh for a full day of skiing. We accomplish this by teaching the spine to move in its full range of motion — we add a ski twist to it by doing the Spine CARs in an athletic stance.
Now, just doing these exercises once in October isn’t going to guarantee you an injury-free ski season. You need to come at it from all angles. These exercises are meant to be done every day and throughout the ski season.
Want some further help on how to stay injury-free during ski season?