Most people just do ‘dryland’ training, mix some squats in, or ride their peloton in prep for the ski season.  Mobility work? What’s that? Yet, they’re still stopping halfway down the run, huffing puffing, and feeling the leg burn.

It’s confusing trying to figure out how to train for the ski season.

If you look on Instagram ski workouts are on these crazy ski exercise machines, fancy ski treadmills, or ski exercises that have you balancing on a ball while doing a ski squat.

You don’t have to do that.

If you think about what your body is doing while skiing you understand that yes, your legs need to be strong but they also need to be able to fight the burn of a long run. Carving multiple turns together and getting down a black diamond in one swoop doesn’t equate to being able to squat as much weight as possible. Instead, it’s all about how long your legs can sustain and control a contraction!

Skiing is all about how well you can control your body as it lowers into a turn, hold strong in that position, then power yourself back to an athletic stance only to do that all over again. If you struggle to lower yourself into a turn, hard carve, or POW turns your legs are going to BURN and you’ll only make 5 turns before you pull off to the side and need a break. Don’t be that person, you’re in everyone’s way.

That’s why, it’s best to focus on one key principle while doing your ski workout — eccentric training.

What is eccentric training?

Eccentric strength training is training the muscle while it lengthens. When thinking about traditional exercise, the eccentric portion of a squat is the lowering portion. This is in opposition of concentric exercise, or when a muscle contracts when it’s shortening — think the bicep during a bicep curl, or an isometric contraction when you simply hold the contraction where it is.

Why eccentric training for skiing?

We now know that eccentric contractions occur when the muscle lengthens, or when you lower your body to the ground. Remind me again what you do when you’re skiing? A ski run is just a series of eccentric contracts while you slowly lower yourself into a turn, then come out of it. If that’s what you're doing hundreds of times over and over, why wouldn’t you train that way during your ski workouts?

3 Examples of Eccentric Exercises for your ski workout

#1 Eccentric Ski Squat

Now, don’t start here. This is a complex movement, and if you don’t have the proper mobility in the ankles and knees, this won’t work for you. Check out our 5 mobility exercises first, then come back to this. If you feel comfortable, give this ski squat a shot! Start without weight, then when you’ve got the motion down, add some lbs!

How to do it: lower for 5s, small pause at the bottom, controlled fast up

#2 Eccentric Lateral Lunge

The lateral lunge has to be a staple in your ski workout. This gives you the strength from side to side allowing for hard turns, and gives you the single-leg strength to keep your hips and knees healthy all ski season long.

How to do it: lower to the side for 5s, small pause at the bottom, drive through the same side foot up

#3 Eccentric 2:1 Split Lunge

Ah, the ol’ 2:1 exercise. Not sure what that is? Consider yourself lucky. A 2:1 exercise is when you complete a full eccentric rep, go halfway back to the start point, drop back down into the bottom of the exercise, then come all the way back up. So — for the lunge it would be an eccentric lower to the bottom of a lunge, halfway up, then eccentric lower back down to the bottom then drive yourself all the way back up. This sound like skiing bumps? I thought so.

How to do it: Lower for 5s just before you hit the ground, come halfway back up the lunge, 2s lower back to just before the ground, controlled drive back to the starting position

These exercises are great examples of eccentric training — if you’re looking for more check out our top 3 ski exercises to do all season long.

Now you know how the most important part of your ski workout is — get out there and do it! Your legs in the first month of skiing will thank you for it.

Want more?

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